The Itty Bitty Series on Rollerblades, The Dump and MOD Pizza

I got up around 8:30 that morning.  I usually hear them get up with the dogs really early but didn’t this time.  I must have been tired.  It was so nice to not get up at 4:30.  I went and did my bathroom things and got ready for my day.  I had planned on doing some geocaching between Naches and Gleed.  There was a series called Itty Bitty and they were mostly bug containers.  At least there was a variety instead of the same old boring film canisters.   Willmarth went to work and Shannon was out in the backyard mowing and cleaning up tree debris.  She asked me what I had planned for the day and I said probably geocaching and rollerblading.  I should be done before noon.  She mentioned going to the dump when he got off work.  I told them I would be back to help them.  She said to be safe and to have fun.

I gathered all my stuff together but my query didn’t load for some reason.  I relied on my phone instead.  I went down the hill and got a few things at Fred Meyer.  I bought some cheap batteries, some soda, goldfish crackers and some lunchables for lunch today and tomorrow.  It was easy traveling food.  I looked to see where the best place to park was and it was off Hwy 12 near the fruit stand on blah blah avenue.  There was an actual parking lot and bathroom for the trail goers.  I parked, strapped my rollerblades on and had a great work out as well as found over 30 caches.  There were some that were missing and bummed me out.  Oh well.  Maybe I can pick them up next time I am here.

I got done just before noon and covered about just over 7 miles on the rollerblades there and back.  I was hot and sweaty when I got back to the Escape.  I took the rollerblades off and put my shoes back on and went and got two more caches along the Yakima River near the small dam.  River Rush (GC1CYFM) was on a guardrail on a small pull out and the other one was along the road just below the Indian Painted Hills State Park, hence Indian Painted Hills (GC2PZ4F).  I was here a few years ago and tried to find it but I think it was missing.  According to the logs it was back and in a new container.  I found it with ease.

Since I was in Yakima and I didn’t know when I would be here again I went and got the heritage cache just down a few blocks from their house.  This place was huge!  I was a massive building that shared property with a water park, a well known park and places for people to hang out and have picnics or birthday parties.  The cache, WHSH 125:  Yakima History Museum (GC6JE3A), was up by the wheelchair ramp and thus we had to be very sneaky when we retrieved it.  Of course when I went to find it, there were a few kids with their grandma who just got out of the museum, watching me look for it.   I had to wait until they went to their car before I pulled it up.  This one wasn’t a bend over and grab…I had to jump and lean onto the structure with my waist and reach down to pull it up.  If I was a few inches shorter I wouldn’t have been able to get it and would have to hoist myself over and stand in their landscaping to get it.

I went into the museum just to see what was in there.  I guess you had to pay to get in and I wasn’t about to shell out $12 just to wander around for a few minutes.  I talked to the desk lady and told her about the cache in the front and she had no clue what I was talking about.  It’s weird to be that we have this series and the people in charge of the places these are hidden at don’t tell their staff about the cache.  I would but then again, I would have one hidden at my work place anyway and everyone would know about it.  I got back in the Escape and went to the house.

When I got there, they were loading up all kinds of debris and garbage cans.  Shannon wanted all of it gone but it all just wasn’t going to fit in the truck.  I helped them load the giant garbage can just so no one got hurt or strained themselves.

I found out the dump was in Moxee, just northeast-ish of Yakima.  I’ve been through Moxee a handful of times to and from Pullman.  When we got to the dump I expected it to look a lot like the one in Rainier or Hawks Prairie.  It wasn’t even close.  It was a warehouse that you backed up into and just threw everything on the cement and a bulldozer would come and push it to the edge of the building.  I was appalled.  It seemed like no one recycled.  So much of that “garbage” could be recycled.  Also we saw several pairs of brand new expensive hiking boots that were thrown in there.  The store throws their inventory away rather than donating them to homeless people because it’s cheaper and can report it as a loss.  We tried to gather some but we got caught and had to put them back.  I was so disappointed. 

We got back to the house to hang out until the new couch came.  I did some internetting..logged my caches, looked up some in the TriCities, Facebooked a few people and just some general browsing.  The couch finally came around 2ish and they installed it quickly.  He used some of the extra money he’s been saving, because like my family we’ve always got hand me down furniture, this time he wanted something brand new and customized.  The couch was a sectional, light brown color with cup holders that light up, recliners and USB connections so you can charge your electronic devices.  I’ve never seen a couch like that before.  It was awesome! 

Willmarth and Shannon were going to Hoopfest that weekend so they needed a dog/house sitter while they were gone for a few days.  Some of Shannon’s friends came over to go over some of the things they would be doing.  They stayed for about an hour.

Then we went to the “white” Walmart just down the road to pick up a few things and to get some camping chairs so Shannon had somewhere to sit while WIllmarth and her nephews played basketball.  They needed to be lightweight so she could carry them around Spokane.  Between looking at the chairs and walking down the aisle, we lost him within the store.  We did not venture too far from the chairs.  We knew he was a wanderer but how could he disappear that fast?  After sorting it out, we paid for the chairs and other random things he found and left the store.  It was dinner time so he took us to MOD Pizza.  I’ve heard a lot about this place but have never been yet.  The place was busy and it took us a long time to decide what we wanted.  Of course Shannon could not make up her mind until we were almost at the counter to order.  It was basically like Subway except it was pizza.  You could also get a salad and drinks to add on to your order as well.  Shannon insisted that I get the huckleberry lemonade with my pizza.  I would definitely come again.  It’s pretty good.

We went back home and just chilled on the couch while we were on our computers, Kindles reading or sleeping like the dogs were.  We watched Battle Bots on TV, a show I used to watch in high school, they resurrected it.  Around midnight I got cleaned up and went to bed around 1.

Next Adventure:  The Drive to the TriCities, Caching and the Meet and Greet