Down in the mailroom I won first place for best costume!
Happy Halloween!
Next Adventure: Go Cubs Go!
Monday, October 31
Halloween Costumes at Work
I wore a penguin costume to work this year. My co-worker Suzanne wore a Boo outfit from Monsters Inc. Upstairs on the 3rd floor, the imaging department, every year they have a Halloween photo booth run by the photography club. At lunchtime Suzanne and I went upstairs to get our pictures taken. It turned out great!
Sunday, October 30
Seahawks and Some Rainier100 Caching
We got up late and went up stairs to have French toast and bacon for breakfast while we watched an early version of the Seahawk game at New Orleans. I really hate these 10:00 a.m. games. I am glad this is the last one of the season. Our offense has been struggling the last few weeks and I hoped they would have figured it out by now. It was frustrating watching us not do anything on offense or even get the first downs that we desperately needed. It was back and forth through most of the game and we got the ball three times in the fourth quarter and failed to convert a first down until the last time we got the ball. We had the ball last to win the game. We had no more timeouts we had to get down the field for a touchdown a field goal would not win the game. With the remaining seconds of the game Russell Wilson threw the ball to Kearse and both feet were not in bounds when he caught the ball. Game over. We lost the game 20-25. Our second loss of the season. I sure hope our offense figures it out.
I wanted to go get some of the Rainier100 caches since it wasn't raining and we had some more daylight left plus we were depressed after we lost our game. Our daylight would be turned back next weekend and we would lose and hour of our day. I really hated this time of year...lots of rain, windstorms and darkness.
I got on the internet and wrote a few of them down. The remaining ones near the Enumclaw area were our in the Federation Forest and Greenwater. Greenwater is a small CDP located in Pierce County at the confluence of the White River and the Greenwater River.
I made sure to bring my selfie stick.
We drove the Escape up Hwy 410. It took us about a half hour to get to our first one, Rainier100 4: White River (GC6MGNA). Ben remembered that we've been here before and he was right. We have been to this exact location to get another cache the last time we were our this way...about 2 years ago when we came out to play disc golf. We noticed that the river had eroded a lot of the cement structure away. We walked the wrong way and quickly turned around the find it hidden underneath one of the large boulders near the highway. We signed the logbook, put it back and got back in the Escape to move onto the next one.
Rainier100 1: Federation Forest (GC5VQBP) was on the outskirts of the state park. We didn't need the Discover Pass to get this one, which was nice anyway because we left our pass inside Ben's car. In fact, we just parked right off the road in a small pull out.
The coords were terrible in this area. I kept referring to what other geocachers wrote in their logs. We might be here a while. I told Ben this is going to be one of those times where we give up and go back to the car and find it. He had to go use the restroom really quickly while I continued looking. I swear I looked at the bottom of every tree. The coords kept taking me about 50-80 feet away from where we ended up finding it. We had to have been there at least a half hour looking for it. I stopped looking at the GPS and just started looking. Just as I said earlier. I basically gave up and was walking to the Escape and I turned around to talk to Ben and I saw a pile of moss. There it is!! Ugh! The misery of looking in the forest was over. We signed the log and got the heck out of there.
We followed Hwy 410 towards Greenwater. There was an interpretive center on the right that I have never paid attention to until now. Rainier100 2: Catherine Montgomery (GC63GEQ) was a two step multi cache around a short walking loop. Montgomery, a backpacker, teacher and conservationist who, in 1926, was the first person to envision the Pacific Crest Trail. This interpretive center was built with funds provided by the Washington Federation of Women's Clubs. Because we didn't have our Discovery Pass, Ben opted to stay in the Escape while I looked for the first waypoint. I had to have been out there looking for it for a while. It kept taking me all over the place and it never pinpointed on a specific spot. I got frustrated and went back to the Escape. I had no idea what to look for. Then I had an idea but needed Ben anyway. I wouldn't have been able to reach it anyway. He reached up and grabbed a tin containing the final coords to the cache. I still worried about not having out Discover Pass but we both walked down the loop and found the cache behind one of the logs near a informational board. We signed our names and put it back better than we found it.
We walked back to the Escape. I put in the coords into Nuvi for the next one. Rainier100 1: Naches Trail Monument (GC5VPYH) was on the left as you entered Greenwater. The last time we came through here was about two years ago when we had just started our relationship. He took me out here to play disc golf. Before that, I drove out this way in 2012 heading to Yakima because Hwy 12 was closed for the summer. This way was definitely longer. We pulled over near a small picnic area and it was next to a pointed monument. It states
We had to find the wooden sasquatch statues in town to complete Rainier100 3: Cryptozoology (GC6JJM9), the other multi cache. We went inside the ski shop to look at some of the coats, snowboard gear and some of the disc golf equipment. We even talked to the shop owner for a couple of minutes. We went back outside and completed the multi. The coordinates took us outside of town and I knew where it was going to be. The parking coords took us right to the disc golf course. We tried avoiding the mud as best as we could and it was suppose to be in one of the stumps just inside the forest. We both checked a few of the stumps and didn't find it. I expanded my search area and as I looked Ben called out, "found it!" He wrote our names on the logbook and we put it back.
We headed back to Bonney Lake with daylight left to spare. Halfway back to the house it started raining. So glad it decided to wait until we were done. We got back and decided to have dinner with everyone before we left. I got our stuff packed up while Ben helped change Amy's faucet in her bathroom. As 9:00 p.m. arrived I told Ben I had to leave and head home since we drove separate vehicles. He totally understood since I have to get up at 5 to get ready for work. It would take me about an hour to get home. Ben stayed another hour to finish getting the faucet done. He got home about an hour after I did. We already had showers so I just had to get my stuff out of the Escape and get ready for bed. This was a long weekend.
Next Adventure: Halloween Costumes at Work
I wanted to go get some of the Rainier100 caches since it wasn't raining and we had some more daylight left plus we were depressed after we lost our game. Our daylight would be turned back next weekend and we would lose and hour of our day. I really hated this time of year...lots of rain, windstorms and darkness.
I got on the internet and wrote a few of them down. The remaining ones near the Enumclaw area were our in the Federation Forest and Greenwater. Greenwater is a small CDP located in Pierce County at the confluence of the White River and the Greenwater River.
I made sure to bring my selfie stick.
We drove the Escape up Hwy 410. It took us about a half hour to get to our first one, Rainier100 4: White River (GC6MGNA). Ben remembered that we've been here before and he was right. We have been to this exact location to get another cache the last time we were our this way...about 2 years ago when we came out to play disc golf. We noticed that the river had eroded a lot of the cement structure away. We walked the wrong way and quickly turned around the find it hidden underneath one of the large boulders near the highway. We signed the logbook, put it back and got back in the Escape to move onto the next one.
Rainier100 1: Federation Forest (GC5VQBP) was on the outskirts of the state park. We didn't need the Discover Pass to get this one, which was nice anyway because we left our pass inside Ben's car. In fact, we just parked right off the road in a small pull out.
The coords were terrible in this area. I kept referring to what other geocachers wrote in their logs. We might be here a while. I told Ben this is going to be one of those times where we give up and go back to the car and find it. He had to go use the restroom really quickly while I continued looking. I swear I looked at the bottom of every tree. The coords kept taking me about 50-80 feet away from where we ended up finding it. We had to have been there at least a half hour looking for it. I stopped looking at the GPS and just started looking. Just as I said earlier. I basically gave up and was walking to the Escape and I turned around to talk to Ben and I saw a pile of moss. There it is!! Ugh! The misery of looking in the forest was over. We signed the log and got the heck out of there.
We followed Hwy 410 towards Greenwater. There was an interpretive center on the right that I have never paid attention to until now. Rainier100 2: Catherine Montgomery (GC63GEQ) was a two step multi cache around a short walking loop. Montgomery, a backpacker, teacher and conservationist who, in 1926, was the first person to envision the Pacific Crest Trail. This interpretive center was built with funds provided by the Washington Federation of Women's Clubs. Because we didn't have our Discovery Pass, Ben opted to stay in the Escape while I looked for the first waypoint. I had to have been out there looking for it for a while. It kept taking me all over the place and it never pinpointed on a specific spot. I got frustrated and went back to the Escape. I had no idea what to look for. Then I had an idea but needed Ben anyway. I wouldn't have been able to reach it anyway. He reached up and grabbed a tin containing the final coords to the cache. I still worried about not having out Discover Pass but we both walked down the loop and found the cache behind one of the logs near a informational board. We signed our names and put it back better than we found it.
We walked back to the Escape. I put in the coords into Nuvi for the next one. Rainier100 1: Naches Trail Monument (GC5VPYH) was on the left as you entered Greenwater. The last time we came through here was about two years ago when we had just started our relationship. He took me out here to play disc golf. Before that, I drove out this way in 2012 heading to Yakima because Hwy 12 was closed for the summer. This way was definitely longer. We pulled over near a small picnic area and it was next to a pointed monument. It states
The GPS took us to the small tree line and we started looking inside the rock crevasses. I saw a great place for it but sadly after about five minutes we were looking in the wrong set of rocks. Ben found the container. We wrote our names on the log and we admired the small creek nearby before going back to the Escape."Marker erected in memory of pioneers who came over the Naches branch of the Oregon Trail. Financed by students of Yale College. Pierce County Pioneer Society and other friends . Sponsored by Washington State Historical Society. 1941."
We had to find the wooden sasquatch statues in town to complete Rainier100 3: Cryptozoology (GC6JJM9), the other multi cache. We went inside the ski shop to look at some of the coats, snowboard gear and some of the disc golf equipment. We even talked to the shop owner for a couple of minutes. We went back outside and completed the multi. The coordinates took us outside of town and I knew where it was going to be. The parking coords took us right to the disc golf course. We tried avoiding the mud as best as we could and it was suppose to be in one of the stumps just inside the forest. We both checked a few of the stumps and didn't find it. I expanded my search area and as I looked Ben called out, "found it!" He wrote our names on the logbook and we put it back.
We headed back to Bonney Lake with daylight left to spare. Halfway back to the house it started raining. So glad it decided to wait until we were done. We got back and decided to have dinner with everyone before we left. I got our stuff packed up while Ben helped change Amy's faucet in her bathroom. As 9:00 p.m. arrived I told Ben I had to leave and head home since we drove separate vehicles. He totally understood since I have to get up at 5 to get ready for work. It would take me about an hour to get home. Ben stayed another hour to finish getting the faucet done. He got home about an hour after I did. We already had showers so I just had to get my stuff out of the Escape and get ready for bed. This was a long weekend.
Next Adventure: Halloween Costumes at Work
Saturday, October 29
Haunted House Trial Run and Halloween Night
Saturday, November 29
We got up the next morning around 9:30, got ready and basically headed out the door around 10ish. We didn't eat any breakfast so we stopped at Safeway for Seahawk doughnuts and other snack foods to get us through out day. We stopped at Ben's Espresso after finding some pants for Ben to wear for the haunted house at the Goodwill next door. We were now on our way to Puyallup before Wendy called wondering where we were.
We got there and I expected Chris to have a lot of the plastic done like he said he was going to the night before. We should have known. Nothing got done outside that morning. It frustrated us. We all went outside and tried getting as much of the plastic done as we could. A few hours later a bunch of people came over to help.
By 3:00 a lot of the walls, plastic and decorations were done. We hung strobe lights, black lights, red lights, stapled chicken wire to the walls of the "padded" room with the straightjacket patient.
We ate some food and did last minute additions before we got into our clothes and make-up.
We really weren't sure how many people would come through the asylum but we were going to soon find out. We got into our spots, Ben and I were at the beginning of the haunted house so we got to see our victims before they started crying.
An entrance fee was to bring a canned food item so they could donate it to the local food bank. At the end of the night there were quite a few bags sitting in the box. It was a great start to the weekend.
Not as many people came through as I thought there might be. It was rainy, it was a Saturday night (a lot of people were probably at parties) and maybe some people just didn't want to come out.
Afterwards we all went into the house and sat in the living room with cider and shared our stories. We talked about what worked, what didn't work and what we needed to change for Halloween night.
Halloween Night
On Halloween Ben and I had to work so I headed up to Puyallup after I got off of work. I got there around 4:30 just in time to have some food and scramble to get ready for the evening. Ben got off work at 6 so he would be late and we would have to have a stand in until he arrived.
We did make some changes to the set and some of the personnel were different since some of the kids would not be able to make it to both nights. We had a short meeting in the living room of where everyone was going to be and the changes that were made. Not major ones but some simple fixes to make the experience for us and our guests better. Wendy told us that the first night we actually made one little kid pee his pants.
I remember getting onto my platform to scare some children and we had another girl standing in for Ben. An adult couple came in and was so taken by surprise with the girl doing Ben's job, one of the ladies actually punched the girl in the boob. I couldn't help but laugh. We weren't suppose to touch them and they weren't suppose to touch us. Occasionally a guest will touch one of us out of reflex.
Another time during the night I had some parents sacrifice one of their kids after they took a look at my face. We had some children come in and start crying and wanted to be escorted out. There were some adults come in and nervous laugh the entire time.
Ben arrived just after 7, got ready really fast and made his way to his hiding spot. A lot more people screamed at him because of his face. His face was pretty creepy in the dark.
We had more people on Halloween night but probably could have had more if it wasn't raining. No one really wanted to stand outside and wait their turn and get soaked. Part of my area started getting wet from a leak in the ceiling. We wrapped it up around 8:30 when we started getting less and less people wanting to come through.
Again, we picked up our stuff, returned Wendy's costumes to her craft room and sat in the living room to share stories. I had to cut that night short because I had to head home and go to bed because I had to work the next day.
Overall it was fun and I can't wait to see what our theme is next year.
Next Adventure: Seahawks and Some Rainier100 Caching
We got up the next morning around 9:30, got ready and basically headed out the door around 10ish. We didn't eat any breakfast so we stopped at Safeway for Seahawk doughnuts and other snack foods to get us through out day. We stopped at Ben's Espresso after finding some pants for Ben to wear for the haunted house at the Goodwill next door. We were now on our way to Puyallup before Wendy called wondering where we were.
We got there and I expected Chris to have a lot of the plastic done like he said he was going to the night before. We should have known. Nothing got done outside that morning. It frustrated us. We all went outside and tried getting as much of the plastic done as we could. A few hours later a bunch of people came over to help.
By 3:00 a lot of the walls, plastic and decorations were done. We hung strobe lights, black lights, red lights, stapled chicken wire to the walls of the "padded" room with the straightjacket patient.
We ate some food and did last minute additions before we got into our clothes and make-up.
We really weren't sure how many people would come through the asylum but we were going to soon find out. We got into our spots, Ben and I were at the beginning of the haunted house so we got to see our victims before they started crying.
An entrance fee was to bring a canned food item so they could donate it to the local food bank. At the end of the night there were quite a few bags sitting in the box. It was a great start to the weekend.
Not as many people came through as I thought there might be. It was rainy, it was a Saturday night (a lot of people were probably at parties) and maybe some people just didn't want to come out.
Afterwards we all went into the house and sat in the living room with cider and shared our stories. We talked about what worked, what didn't work and what we needed to change for Halloween night.
Halloween Night
On Halloween Ben and I had to work so I headed up to Puyallup after I got off of work. I got there around 4:30 just in time to have some food and scramble to get ready for the evening. Ben got off work at 6 so he would be late and we would have to have a stand in until he arrived.
We did make some changes to the set and some of the personnel were different since some of the kids would not be able to make it to both nights. We had a short meeting in the living room of where everyone was going to be and the changes that were made. Not major ones but some simple fixes to make the experience for us and our guests better. Wendy told us that the first night we actually made one little kid pee his pants.
I remember getting onto my platform to scare some children and we had another girl standing in for Ben. An adult couple came in and was so taken by surprise with the girl doing Ben's job, one of the ladies actually punched the girl in the boob. I couldn't help but laugh. We weren't suppose to touch them and they weren't suppose to touch us. Occasionally a guest will touch one of us out of reflex.
Another time during the night I had some parents sacrifice one of their kids after they took a look at my face. We had some children come in and start crying and wanted to be escorted out. There were some adults come in and nervous laugh the entire time.
Ben arrived just after 7, got ready really fast and made his way to his hiding spot. A lot more people screamed at him because of his face. His face was pretty creepy in the dark.
We had more people on Halloween night but probably could have had more if it wasn't raining. No one really wanted to stand outside and wait their turn and get soaked. Part of my area started getting wet from a leak in the ceiling. We wrapped it up around 8:30 when we started getting less and less people wanting to come through.
Again, we picked up our stuff, returned Wendy's costumes to her craft room and sat in the living room to share stories. I had to cut that night short because I had to head home and go to bed because I had to work the next day.
Overall it was fun and I can't wait to see what our theme is next year.
Next Adventure: Seahawks and Some Rainier100 Caching
Setting up the Haunted House and Some Geocaching
This year we actually got to do our haunted house in Puyallup. The planning/building began the first weekend in October. We decided to do last year's theme (which we didn't get to do because of the weather) of insane asylum. We basically had everything except some of the small projects and the actual build out in the back yard. Wendy showed us the plans and which rooms contained certain props. She also shared where the actors were going to be. I saw my costume and where I was going to be in the asylum.
For the next few Wednesdays, Ben's day off, he drove up there to help them get the walls ready and the other small projects that involved cutting wood and painting. I was at work so I didn't really get to see what they got accomplished each time. This was going to be a more involved haunted house than the previous ones.
Ben had several days off at the end of October to get the build out ready. He actually spent the night at his mom's house a few nights so he didn't have to drive back and forth from Lacey. After work on Friday I headed out to Puyallup. It wasn't raining so I picked up a few caches along the way. The first one was out towards Elk Plain down Hwy 7.
Let's Talk About It (GC6FKKA) was down a side road surrounded by a fence. I wasn't sure where it was going to take me exactly but as far as the logs went, it was an easy park and grab. I found a place to pull over off the road and got out. I found it hanging off of the power pole by a magnet. Yep, an easy park and grab. I signed my name and put it back as quickly as I could.
I headed towards Spanaway now on Hwy 7 and pulled over near the K-Mart so I could get Mushroom Tree (GC6HDHR). This one was not hidden very well and I could see it from the Escape. It was basically a small Altoid tin tucked near a rock under a tree that is shaped like a mushroom. It seemed like a throw down cache and would probably get muggled a lot.
The next one, Lightening McQueen (GC6AVGK) was actually on the backside of K-Mart. I made sure it was there because this one doesn't get found all that much. I knew it was going to be a nano and the hint took me right to it. It took me a few minutes to actually locate where the nano was. It was a great moment when I saw it in the corner. Yessss!!
I couldn't help myself I had to get the last one near the Halloween store behind the same complex. G's Lamp Post #4 (GC6HDG6) was pretty hard to actually get without anyone seeing you. I parked as close to the cache as I could to kind of shield the traffic from me. I knew where it was and I had to get it out of the lamp skirt as quickly as I could while traffic wasn't stopped. I signed the log and put it back just as quickly. Now I had to get out of this congested area and head to South Hill.
For the next few Wednesdays, Ben's day off, he drove up there to help them get the walls ready and the other small projects that involved cutting wood and painting. I was at work so I didn't really get to see what they got accomplished each time. This was going to be a more involved haunted house than the previous ones.
Ben had several days off at the end of October to get the build out ready. He actually spent the night at his mom's house a few nights so he didn't have to drive back and forth from Lacey. After work on Friday I headed out to Puyallup. It wasn't raining so I picked up a few caches along the way. The first one was out towards Elk Plain down Hwy 7.
Let's Talk About It (GC6FKKA) was down a side road surrounded by a fence. I wasn't sure where it was going to take me exactly but as far as the logs went, it was an easy park and grab. I found a place to pull over off the road and got out. I found it hanging off of the power pole by a magnet. Yep, an easy park and grab. I signed my name and put it back as quickly as I could.
I headed towards Spanaway now on Hwy 7 and pulled over near the K-Mart so I could get Mushroom Tree (GC6HDHR). This one was not hidden very well and I could see it from the Escape. It was basically a small Altoid tin tucked near a rock under a tree that is shaped like a mushroom. It seemed like a throw down cache and would probably get muggled a lot.
The next one, Lightening McQueen (GC6AVGK) was actually on the backside of K-Mart. I made sure it was there because this one doesn't get found all that much. I knew it was going to be a nano and the hint took me right to it. It took me a few minutes to actually locate where the nano was. It was a great moment when I saw it in the corner. Yessss!!
I couldn't help myself I had to get the last one near the Halloween store behind the same complex. G's Lamp Post #4 (GC6HDG6) was pretty hard to actually get without anyone seeing you. I parked as close to the cache as I could to kind of shield the traffic from me. I knew where it was and I had to get it out of the lamp skirt as quickly as I could while traffic wasn't stopped. I signed the log and put it back just as quickly. Now I had to get out of this congested area and head to South Hill.
I got there around dinner time because they had just taken the pizza out of the oven. I grabbed two pieces and sat on the couch. We talked about work and other random things. I saw how much they didn't get done today. I thought they would have been further along. I helped Wendy work on some small projects inside while Ben and Chris worked on the walls.
By 9:00 I was getting antsy to head to his mom's house and start winding down for bed. I know they wanted to get as much done as possible but they had all day to work on it. We stayed until 10 and I was getting tired. When we finally left and headed to Bonney Lake, it was around 10:15. We told them we would be over as soon as we got up and had some breakfast. We had a lot of work to do the next day and I hoped we had more help than just the 5 of us.
I got a shower and we watched some TV as we winded down. We chatted with Trish and Amy for a bit. I needed to go to sleep since we had a long day the next day. I was so done with Friday.
Next Adventure: Haunted House Trial Run and Halloween Night
Sunday, October 23
Pumpkin Carving Game Night and the Seahawks Tie
This month we decided to do a day pumpkin carving game night on a Sunday afternoon. All of our Saturdays were full so I had a great idea to watch the Seahawk game while we carved pumpkins. Later on during the month, I looked at the schedule again and was like, we can't carve pumpkins during the game...it's a Sunday night football game. Whoops! I guess we were going to carve pumpkins and then go home to watch the game.
We all decided on having tailgating type of foods on our Facebook group discussion.
Ben and I got up that morning late like we always do. Since we both get up really early for work during the week this is the only time we get to enjoy sleeping in. Sometimes we sleep in too long. We've been really busy and he has been going to Puyallup on Wednesdays, his day off, to help with the haunted house. We ran out of spare time so he wasn't able to get a pumpkin yet. I asked him which patch he wanted to go to for a pumpkin to bring over to Celeste's. We decided upon Hunter's, which is right down the road from us plus it was on the way.
It was busy!! But we assumed that everyone was trying to get their pumpkins before the Seahawk game later on that day. We found a parking spot and walked towards the entrance. We've never been here before so we had no idea where to go. This was definitely catered more towards children. There were goats you could pet, a pumpkin sling shot, tractor rides, a slide, food, stuff for sale, it was crazy. We just wanted to know where to go get a pumpkin so we asked one of the workers. We grabbed a wheelbarrow and saw Ben being weird with it and smiling. I turned around and there was Isaac and Celeste!
We walked down to the patch together and talked about various things. These pumpkins were on steroids! Their stems were huge! Isaac, Celeste and Ben all picked out a pumpkin and we took it back to the check out.
This place doesn't weigh them but compares their sizes to other pumpkins with prices on them and that's what you end up paying.
We took them to our vehicles and told them we would see them in a bit since we were going to Celeste's house. We stopped at Safeway in Yelm along the way because Ben needed some food. We ended up getting some doughnuts. They were delicious. We got to the house way to early. I thought it started at noon instead of one. Whoops.
We helped them prepare some of the food and everyone started to trickle in. I was really excited to carve my pumpkin. We have this running joke every year about our Facebook group's cover photo being seasonally appropriate again since we only change it after we carve that year's pumpkins.
Nicole made a very tasty Halloween dip, Celeste made her famous jalapeño poppers, I brought cupcakes, Megan made some buffalo cauliflower and we all brought our own drinks. Everything was tasty but we really wanted to get onto carving pumpkins.
I wasn't sure what I wanted to carve so I looked through my phone for various patterns. I found a simple one that wouldn't take very long to carve. Nicole was done really fast so she got bored waiting around for everyone to finish.
Ben took the longest because he couldn't decide and he took a long time carving it. We didn't get to any games because carving took up most of the time and everyone really wanted to get home to watch the Seahawks vs. Cardinals game.
We left just before 5 and Del and Nicole followed us to our house. We still had to pay Del for letting us buy tickets to one of the preseason Seahawks games in September. They stayed for a few minutes while I fumbled with our computer to get the game on. We missed kickoff but we still made it close to the start time. Del and Nicole still had at least a 15 minute drive to her house in Tumwater.
We watched the game. High anxiety. Our offense played like garbage but our defense played phenomenal. We went into overtime and had several chances to win it. There were two missed field goals at the end that cost the game for both teams. We ended up in a 6-6 tie. I sure hoped that did not factor into post season.
Next Adventure: Setting up the Haunted House and Some Geocaching
We all decided on having tailgating type of foods on our Facebook group discussion.
Ben and I got up that morning late like we always do. Since we both get up really early for work during the week this is the only time we get to enjoy sleeping in. Sometimes we sleep in too long. We've been really busy and he has been going to Puyallup on Wednesdays, his day off, to help with the haunted house. We ran out of spare time so he wasn't able to get a pumpkin yet. I asked him which patch he wanted to go to for a pumpkin to bring over to Celeste's. We decided upon Hunter's, which is right down the road from us plus it was on the way.
It was busy!! But we assumed that everyone was trying to get their pumpkins before the Seahawk game later on that day. We found a parking spot and walked towards the entrance. We've never been here before so we had no idea where to go. This was definitely catered more towards children. There were goats you could pet, a pumpkin sling shot, tractor rides, a slide, food, stuff for sale, it was crazy. We just wanted to know where to go get a pumpkin so we asked one of the workers. We grabbed a wheelbarrow and saw Ben being weird with it and smiling. I turned around and there was Isaac and Celeste!
We walked down to the patch together and talked about various things. These pumpkins were on steroids! Their stems were huge! Isaac, Celeste and Ben all picked out a pumpkin and we took it back to the check out.
This place doesn't weigh them but compares their sizes to other pumpkins with prices on them and that's what you end up paying.
We took them to our vehicles and told them we would see them in a bit since we were going to Celeste's house. We stopped at Safeway in Yelm along the way because Ben needed some food. We ended up getting some doughnuts. They were delicious. We got to the house way to early. I thought it started at noon instead of one. Whoops.
We helped them prepare some of the food and everyone started to trickle in. I was really excited to carve my pumpkin. We have this running joke every year about our Facebook group's cover photo being seasonally appropriate again since we only change it after we carve that year's pumpkins.
Nicole made a very tasty Halloween dip, Celeste made her famous jalapeño poppers, I brought cupcakes, Megan made some buffalo cauliflower and we all brought our own drinks. Everything was tasty but we really wanted to get onto carving pumpkins.
I wasn't sure what I wanted to carve so I looked through my phone for various patterns. I found a simple one that wouldn't take very long to carve. Nicole was done really fast so she got bored waiting around for everyone to finish.
Ben took the longest because he couldn't decide and he took a long time carving it. We didn't get to any games because carving took up most of the time and everyone really wanted to get home to watch the Seahawks vs. Cardinals game.
We left just before 5 and Del and Nicole followed us to our house. We still had to pay Del for letting us buy tickets to one of the preseason Seahawks games in September. They stayed for a few minutes while I fumbled with our computer to get the game on. We missed kickoff but we still made it close to the start time. Del and Nicole still had at least a 15 minute drive to her house in Tumwater.
We watched the game. High anxiety. Our offense played like garbage but our defense played phenomenal. We went into overtime and had several chances to win it. There were two missed field goals at the end that cost the game for both teams. We ended up in a 6-6 tie. I sure hoped that did not factor into post season.
Next Adventure: Setting up the Haunted House and Some Geocaching
Thursday, October 20
Lunch, Pumpkin Patch and Tumwater Falls with Momma
Mom had a few days off and wanted to do something fun. I told her that I couldn't get those days off but we could go do something after I get off work at 11:30. Originally she wanted to go up north to take some pictures of this Kubota Garden between Renton and Seattle. I told her with the weather we've been having and traffic on the way back down south, this just isn't the best time. It would have to be a weekend with less rain in the forecast.
I called her on my break and asked if she wanted to come out to Tumwater to have lunch at Eagan's. She said sure and I told her to meet me around noon. I finished my work, grabbed my stuff and headed to the burger place. Mom had ordered food so now we just had to wait a bit. We talked about what she wanted to do the rest of the afternoon. She wanted to go to the pumpkin patch. I asked her which one and rattled off a few of them in the area. Since we were closer to Rutledge we decided to go there after she got gas at the nearby Pilot, the cheapest gas station in Tumwater.
We were basically the only ones there so the girl who was working was pretty bored. She told us where to get the pumpkins and the wagons and to come see her once we were ready to weigh or pumpkins. I grabbed the wagon and we were on our way. We wandered down the paths and looked for a pumpkin to take home.
Mom spent some time taking pictures of the pumpkins, of us and the haunted corn stalks nearby. A few years ago Ben and I went through the corn maze and had a great time being goofy. This year we wanted to go to one but we ran out of spare time.
Mom found her pumpkin and I was being really picky choosing mine. I wanted one with a fairly long stem, a stem that wasn't soft or rotten, a decently round but somewhat tall pumpkin with not a lot blemishes. After searching for about 20 minutes I finally found a winner!
Mom continued to take pictures on our way to weigh or pumpkins. I put mine on the scale and then mom put hers on the scale. She was really excited for some reason. But then the last time I remember going with her to a pumpkin patch I was under 10 years old and I don't think she's been to one ever since. Both pumpkins weighed almost the same and we paid 10 bucks for both of them. We took them to the vehicles and mom wanted to go to Tumwater Falls.
We got onto the freeway and headed north to Tumwater. We parked inside the park, which was pretty empty at this time, grabbed our cameras and started walking the loop. There was a lot of water sloshing around but not as much as I thought there would be with all the rain we had this October. This year we set the record for the most rain and the warmest temperature on average in October, ever. Ugh rain! We decided to take the right side of the loop around. Mom took pictures of the small waterfalls, the river, the leaves and other random places along the walk. We found out we definitely need a macro lens.
When we got to the bridge we admired all the water coming down the falls. The mist was cold but refreshing. We took the small side trail down to the platform to see the waterfall easier. Mom even wanted a selfie with the waterfall. Haha! When mom asks for selfie I have to laugh just because it's just so unlike her to want a selfie. Well at least in the past...it might be different now. We noticed an unusual amount of seagulls in the area. Why were they here!? We looked closer and the salmon were trying to swim upstream after laying their roe and milt. At first glance they didn't look like salmon because they were so beat up.
We watched them swim around for a while and then I showed mom a not so well known area to the left of the platform. I first discovered this area two May's ago when I was exploring with Lacey. As we got closer and closer it smelled more and more but you didn't see anything until we were right up on it. Hundreds of dead salmon! Ewww! I thought of it as a great photo op. Majority of the salmon's eyes were rotted out of their heads which made it even better.
On the way back up to the platform and the rest of the loop, we walked by two girls and one of them had a baby on her back. Mom speaks up, if you wanna see something cool, there are some dead salmon down below the platform. They both look at us very excited like. It could have gone either way, we could have been the creepy locals that like dead things or the locals who showed us something really awesome. The one girl was visiting from Arizona and has never really been around a climate like this one, you know the green, luscious trees, refreshing rivers etc. They were pretty stoked to go and check it out. We took more pictures on the way back to the cars.
We walked past the two girls again and they thanked us for telling them about the dead salmon. The one girl said it made her trip! Haha!
We went back to Tumwater and headed to the store for a few things. I asked mom if she had fun today and she said yes. We will have to come up with other places to go and take pictures at. We both went home.
Next Adventure: Pumpkin Carving Game Night and the Seahawks Tie
I called her on my break and asked if she wanted to come out to Tumwater to have lunch at Eagan's. She said sure and I told her to meet me around noon. I finished my work, grabbed my stuff and headed to the burger place. Mom had ordered food so now we just had to wait a bit. We talked about what she wanted to do the rest of the afternoon. She wanted to go to the pumpkin patch. I asked her which one and rattled off a few of them in the area. Since we were closer to Rutledge we decided to go there after she got gas at the nearby Pilot, the cheapest gas station in Tumwater.
We were basically the only ones there so the girl who was working was pretty bored. She told us where to get the pumpkins and the wagons and to come see her once we were ready to weigh or pumpkins. I grabbed the wagon and we were on our way. We wandered down the paths and looked for a pumpkin to take home.
Mom spent some time taking pictures of the pumpkins, of us and the haunted corn stalks nearby. A few years ago Ben and I went through the corn maze and had a great time being goofy. This year we wanted to go to one but we ran out of spare time.
Mom found her pumpkin and I was being really picky choosing mine. I wanted one with a fairly long stem, a stem that wasn't soft or rotten, a decently round but somewhat tall pumpkin with not a lot blemishes. After searching for about 20 minutes I finally found a winner!
Mom continued to take pictures on our way to weigh or pumpkins. I put mine on the scale and then mom put hers on the scale. She was really excited for some reason. But then the last time I remember going with her to a pumpkin patch I was under 10 years old and I don't think she's been to one ever since. Both pumpkins weighed almost the same and we paid 10 bucks for both of them. We took them to the vehicles and mom wanted to go to Tumwater Falls.
We got onto the freeway and headed north to Tumwater. We parked inside the park, which was pretty empty at this time, grabbed our cameras and started walking the loop. There was a lot of water sloshing around but not as much as I thought there would be with all the rain we had this October. This year we set the record for the most rain and the warmest temperature on average in October, ever. Ugh rain! We decided to take the right side of the loop around. Mom took pictures of the small waterfalls, the river, the leaves and other random places along the walk. We found out we definitely need a macro lens.
When we got to the bridge we admired all the water coming down the falls. The mist was cold but refreshing. We took the small side trail down to the platform to see the waterfall easier. Mom even wanted a selfie with the waterfall. Haha! When mom asks for selfie I have to laugh just because it's just so unlike her to want a selfie. Well at least in the past...it might be different now. We noticed an unusual amount of seagulls in the area. Why were they here!? We looked closer and the salmon were trying to swim upstream after laying their roe and milt. At first glance they didn't look like salmon because they were so beat up.
We watched them swim around for a while and then I showed mom a not so well known area to the left of the platform. I first discovered this area two May's ago when I was exploring with Lacey. As we got closer and closer it smelled more and more but you didn't see anything until we were right up on it. Hundreds of dead salmon! Ewww! I thought of it as a great photo op. Majority of the salmon's eyes were rotted out of their heads which made it even better.
On the way back up to the platform and the rest of the loop, we walked by two girls and one of them had a baby on her back. Mom speaks up, if you wanna see something cool, there are some dead salmon down below the platform. They both look at us very excited like. It could have gone either way, we could have been the creepy locals that like dead things or the locals who showed us something really awesome. The one girl was visiting from Arizona and has never really been around a climate like this one, you know the green, luscious trees, refreshing rivers etc. They were pretty stoked to go and check it out. We took more pictures on the way back to the cars.
We walked past the two girls again and they thanked us for telling them about the dead salmon. The one girl said it made her trip! Haha!
We went back to Tumwater and headed to the store for a few things. I asked mom if she had fun today and she said yes. We will have to come up with other places to go and take pictures at. We both went home.
Next Adventure: Pumpkin Carving Game Night and the Seahawks Tie
Sunday, October 16
Mom's Seahawk Birthday
I slept in as long as I could but I knew we had to get up and get moving so we could grab an ice cream cake and head into Rainier. Ben called a few places but we settled with Dairy Queen off of Lilly. We were also in luck. The cake decorator was on shift that morning so they could do a Seahawks logo on the cake for us. Score! We told them we would be by in a bit.
We got our stuff ready, the nacho makings, the presents and headed out the door. I couldn't even remember the last time I was at this Dairy Queen. We walked in and we told them we were there to pick up a cake. They were like you're picking up the Seahawk cake?! Yep. They were all really excited and opened it up for us to look at it. It was perfect. We paid and hustled to Rainier. I don't think we were going to make kickoff but we were going to try.
We didn't end up making it before kickoff but we were sure darn close. I knew the game with the Atlanta Falcons was going to be tough. Their quarterback has been putting up the numbers the past few weeks. I wasn't worried about our defense but more for our offense. I hoped our offense scored some touchdowns today. We will need them. The first half went well. We went into the locker room 17-3. It looked like we were going to do well since we were mostly a second half team. During halftime, I got up and started cooking the chicken nachos.
Then the defense fell apart in the 3rd quarter. They allowed 3 touchdowns back to back! I could not stand watching them let Atlanta do that! I was getting really worried mostly because our offense wasn't really doing anything either. I did not want it to come down to the last two minutes and the Falcons kick a field goal and we lose. Somehow we managed to take the lead late in the 4th quarter and we magically kept them from scoring with under two minutes to play. There was a controversial call with Sherman and Jones and luckily it went our way. We can not keep playing like this because we will not always be on the lucky side of the game. Mom got her 26-24 Seahawk victory on her birthday.
I waited until we won to get mom's cake out of the freezer to thaw it out enough to cut it. I went and got her presents and her card and set them out on the table where we were all sitting. It would have been a depressing birthday party if the Seahawks would have lost.
I corralled everyone over into the living room with the cake and some candles on it. We sang happy birthday to mom and she blew out the candles. She giggled. Dad took the cake into the kitchen and cut it for us. Mom got the first piece and we all got the rest. She opened her card and the three presents I got for her. I got her two small metal stars, a frog cookie cutter and a Seahawks headband she picked out at the mall a few weeks ago.
We hung out for a little bit longer and went home because we had some chores we had to get done, you know like laundry, dishes and stuff. She thanked us for coming over and celebrating her birthday with her and dad. I was really glad the Seahawks won for her because that game was getting really bad there at the end.
Ben and I got home and started getting our stuff done before we had to go to work the next day.
Happy birthday momma!!
Next Adventure: Lunch, Pumpkin Patch and Tumwater Falls with Momma
We got our stuff ready, the nacho makings, the presents and headed out the door. I couldn't even remember the last time I was at this Dairy Queen. We walked in and we told them we were there to pick up a cake. They were like you're picking up the Seahawk cake?! Yep. They were all really excited and opened it up for us to look at it. It was perfect. We paid and hustled to Rainier. I don't think we were going to make kickoff but we were going to try.
We didn't end up making it before kickoff but we were sure darn close. I knew the game with the Atlanta Falcons was going to be tough. Their quarterback has been putting up the numbers the past few weeks. I wasn't worried about our defense but more for our offense. I hoped our offense scored some touchdowns today. We will need them. The first half went well. We went into the locker room 17-3. It looked like we were going to do well since we were mostly a second half team. During halftime, I got up and started cooking the chicken nachos.
Then the defense fell apart in the 3rd quarter. They allowed 3 touchdowns back to back! I could not stand watching them let Atlanta do that! I was getting really worried mostly because our offense wasn't really doing anything either. I did not want it to come down to the last two minutes and the Falcons kick a field goal and we lose. Somehow we managed to take the lead late in the 4th quarter and we magically kept them from scoring with under two minutes to play. There was a controversial call with Sherman and Jones and luckily it went our way. We can not keep playing like this because we will not always be on the lucky side of the game. Mom got her 26-24 Seahawk victory on her birthday.
I waited until we won to get mom's cake out of the freezer to thaw it out enough to cut it. I went and got her presents and her card and set them out on the table where we were all sitting. It would have been a depressing birthday party if the Seahawks would have lost.
I corralled everyone over into the living room with the cake and some candles on it. We sang happy birthday to mom and she blew out the candles. She giggled. Dad took the cake into the kitchen and cut it for us. Mom got the first piece and we all got the rest. She opened her card and the three presents I got for her. I got her two small metal stars, a frog cookie cutter and a Seahawks headband she picked out at the mall a few weeks ago.
We hung out for a little bit longer and went home because we had some chores we had to get done, you know like laundry, dishes and stuff. She thanked us for coming over and celebrating her birthday with her and dad. I was really glad the Seahawks won for her because that game was getting really bad there at the end.
Ben and I got home and started getting our stuff done before we had to go to work the next day.
Happy birthday momma!!
Next Adventure: Lunch, Pumpkin Patch and Tumwater Falls with Momma
Saturday, October 15
"Epic" Wind Storm, Clothes Drive and Brandon and Victoria's Wedding
Throughout the week we had several newscasts of a potential historic storm coming in from the south pacific. That sent a lot of people into panic mode. They were comparing it to the storm of '62 which could be similar. These massive storms are remnants of typhoons (in this case, Typhoon Songda) that weaken as it makes its way up to the cooler Pacific Northwest waters. It broke up into three pieces. We were to get the first one on Thursday night, one on Friday and the worse one was suppose to hit Saturday.
The one on Thursday night was pretty mild. We got a lot of rain.
The storm on Friday night brought a lot of rain, mild wind and some severe thunderstorms in certain areas. The two places that were hit hard were Tillamook County, Oregon and Long Beach, Washington had reported waterspouts. The one that hit the small town of Manzanita, Oregon started as a waterspout then went onto land as an EF2 tornado which destroyed at least 20-30 homes in town but luckily no injuries were reported. It was weird seeing all of this bizarre weather unfold.
Washington wasn't hit all that hard. Some trees fell over, cars were damaged and some residents lost power but this "epic" storm really wasn't all that "epic." It actually got weaker as it reached land on Saturday morning.
It looked worse than it really was. This is a satellite view as it reached Western Washington. The highest recorded wind gust was at the southern tip of Vancouver Island at 69 m.p.h. It was officially named the Ides of October Storm.
Saturday morning really wasn't that bad. I got up around 9:30, got dressed in my rain gear, ate breakfast and packed the bags of clothes into the Escape. I hustled to the dentist office in Yelm for our relay for life clothes drive. Of course mom would pick the worse day to do this on and I had to be at a wedding at 4. Luckily the weather didn't really start getting windy until after 2 p.m.
I stayed at the dentist office with her until about noon. I ate my leftover pizza and we watched part of a college football game while we waited for people to drop stuff off. We had about 5 people stop by. I rushed out to grandma's house and picked up some stuff she had then raced home to help dad finish getting the suburban ready to go and packing up the bags and boxes of clothes and stuff. I packed the Escape so full it looked like hard core Tetris was being played. Then we put stuff into the suburban until it was crammed full. Then we attached the trailer for the stuff that mom had at the office.
We were on our way back to the office to load the rest of the items people dumped off. When we got there Dr. Blackner, his wife and kids were there unloading their stuff. They helped us load the trailer. We thanked them and we were now on our way to donate it to Value Village. We got there just after 2. The guy came out with the carts. We unloaded the Escape and mom's car first and then the trailer and the stuff inside the suburban. Once we looked at how much we really had we were like WOW! That's a buttload of stuff! We had over 1500 lbs of stuff!
The one on Thursday night was pretty mild. We got a lot of rain.
The storm on Friday night brought a lot of rain, mild wind and some severe thunderstorms in certain areas. The two places that were hit hard were Tillamook County, Oregon and Long Beach, Washington had reported waterspouts. The one that hit the small town of Manzanita, Oregon started as a waterspout then went onto land as an EF2 tornado which destroyed at least 20-30 homes in town but luckily no injuries were reported. It was weird seeing all of this bizarre weather unfold.
It looked worse than it really was. This is a satellite view as it reached Western Washington. The highest recorded wind gust was at the southern tip of Vancouver Island at 69 m.p.h. It was officially named the Ides of October Storm.
Saturday morning really wasn't that bad. I got up around 9:30, got dressed in my rain gear, ate breakfast and packed the bags of clothes into the Escape. I hustled to the dentist office in Yelm for our relay for life clothes drive. Of course mom would pick the worse day to do this on and I had to be at a wedding at 4. Luckily the weather didn't really start getting windy until after 2 p.m.
I stayed at the dentist office with her until about noon. I ate my leftover pizza and we watched part of a college football game while we waited for people to drop stuff off. We had about 5 people stop by. I rushed out to grandma's house and picked up some stuff she had then raced home to help dad finish getting the suburban ready to go and packing up the bags and boxes of clothes and stuff. I packed the Escape so full it looked like hard core Tetris was being played. Then we put stuff into the suburban until it was crammed full. Then we attached the trailer for the stuff that mom had at the office.
We were on our way back to the office to load the rest of the items people dumped off. When we got there Dr. Blackner, his wife and kids were there unloading their stuff. They helped us load the trailer. We thanked them and we were now on our way to donate it to Value Village. We got there just after 2. The guy came out with the carts. We unloaded the Escape and mom's car first and then the trailer and the stuff inside the suburban. Once we looked at how much we really had we were like WOW! That's a buttload of stuff! We had over 1500 lbs of stuff!
I told mom I had to go get ready for a wedding. I wasn't going to have that much time to get ready. I really wanted a shower but we were at Value Village too long. I made it home with basically a half hour to get ready. I ended up wearing the same outfit I wore to Nick and Nickey's wedding about a month ago. It worked so I was going to stick with it. Ben couldn't come with me because he was at a training at the Littlerock station. He might get done so he could go to the reception out in Roy. Both the ceremony and the reception were suppose to be in Roy but because of the weather the ceremony was changed to the Violet Prairie grange outside of Tenino. I hurried as fast as I could to make it before the 4 p.m. start time. I got behind some slow people on Ol' Hwy 99 and the trees made me nervous since the wind started to pick up a bit more. There was a lot of tree barf on the roads and some good sized limbs.
I got there with about 15 minutes to spare. I talked to Monica for a bit and then went inside because it started raining. The grange was tinier than I thought it would be. I sat with Lacey and her new "friend" because I wasn't sure who all was coming or when they would arrive. The ceremony started just after 4. I watched the wedding party walk down the aisle and wondered who was in the wedding. Our friend Rebecca, who I haven't seen in at least 4 years, was one of Brandon's groomsmen, the Best Woman, and she was wearing a pretty slick pant suit. I saw Megan, Matt, their kids, Amber and her boyfriend Josh, Lindsay and Justin in the back corner. It was nice to see Amber again and finally meet her boyfriend we hear about.
The ceremony was quick and painless, some shots were taken, humor was prevalent in just a way to where it screamed Brandon. I hadn't met Victoria yet until that day and she seemed to fit Brandon perfectly. She was dressed in a really nice dress and Brandon looked like a college professor but in a good way.
Afterwards, I went into the back gave Brandon and big hug and met Victoria for the first time. She was so happy to meet me since we've been friends on Facebook for over a year. I said hi to Rebecca quickly because they were doing photos. I chatted with everyone and met Amber's boyfriend for a few minutes and then everyone cleaned up everything as quick as they could and we headed over to the reception in Roy. I wasn't planning on attending the reception but I was talked into it.
I should have brought some extra clothes but I didn't. I didn't realize people went home and changed into warmer clothes either. Oh well. I survived. I have never been out to the Tacoma Polo Club before so I followed Nuvi's directions off of the address we were provided with. The address did not match. I followed some of the other people and ended up at someone's house. He told us which way to go. When I arrived the place was huge! I have never been inside an outdoor horse arena. Good thing I wore my hiking shoes! The floor was dirt with some muddy spots since there were a few leaks in the roof. I talked to a few people that played horse polo at WSU. I can't believe we all remembered each other. We reminisced about the parties we went to at Brandon's apartment.
My friend arrived shortly after and we found a table to sit at. We ate some chips and dip and some fruit cups while we waited for the main course. We chatted, caught up and visited most of the time. The main course were make your own tacos, beer, cider and wine. There was some dancing, cake eating and visiting next to burn barrels. We took a few pictures and I caught up with Brandon and Victoria again before it was time to go home. I was getting cold and the fires were starting to make the area smoky.
I headed home around 9:30, took a shower and jumped into bed. It was so nice to be clean, warm and laying in bed. Today was a long day and I was tired. Congratulations to Victoria and Brandon! May your lives together bring you fun and adventure! #alcottery
Next Adventure: Mom's Seahawk Birthday
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