NYE, Sparklers and Friends

This year we celebrated NYE at Lindsay and Justin's house.  This was the first NYE at their new place since they moved in together and got married.  Nicole, Lindsay and I got together during one of our lunch meetings we have every month and talked about what we were going to do this NYE.  We came out of that conversation with Lindsay hosting and she was going to make chili.

We've always tried to get most of the NYE's world traditions into our celebration.  You know, stuff like black eyed peas, marzipan pigs, grapes, ring shaped food, etc.  Unfortunately Megan and Matt were not able to attend this year.  Since Lindsay had a solid hold on the chili, Nicole made some gluten free corn bread, Celeste brought a dip shaped like a ring, I brought grapes and made some deviled eggs.

We all arrived around 6 and figured out how to align ourselves properly in her driveway.  We got all of our food ready and ate while we visited.  Since some of us only see each other once a month we got caught up on what everyone was doing.  I told everyone that Ben and I were going to Boise in February to go visit his friends.  They all seemed like that was a weird time of the year to be doing that.  I agreed.

After dinner Lindsay had been trying to play this game the last few times and finally we got to play it.  It was a murder mystery escape room game that you can only play once.  We all had to work together to move on to the next task before time ran out.  Some of the tasks were hard and took all of our brain power to figure it out.  The game itself took us about 2+ hours to finish but we prevailed!

We had some time to play another one and we all chose Code Names.  The game is pretty simple but gets hard when you can't come up with a word that can satisfy as many cards as possible.  Plus, different perspectives on how the cards can be interpreted can make it difficult to win.  I enjoy being the guesser rather that they code giver.

Around 11 is when we started to prepare our marzipan pigs, our lemon pigs and the rest of our goodies we prepared.  The lemon pigs were a new item this year.  It consisted of a lemon, toothpicks for its legs, cloves for eyes and cutting the lemon skin just right for its mouth, ears and tail.  Lastly, you inserted a penny into its mouth.

We got everything ready to go and the countdown began, 10.....9.....8.....7.....6.....5.....4.....3.....2.....1!  Happy New Year!  Just then I was so glad to be done with 2018.  It was the most painful year I've ever had to date however, it was hard to let it go because that was the last year I will ever spend with my grandmother, who left us in August.  The last half of the year was hard for us all.  We all found our significant others and gave each other smooches.

I brought some sparklers that we didn't use in July so we all went outside (bundled up because it was a cold night) and we each did a few sparklers until we got cold.  It was a blast.

We went back inside and a few of us stayed until almost 2 a.m.  Ben and I were getting tired so we thanked Lindsay and Justin for hosting and we headed home.  We didn't get to bed until 3.

I hope this year was better even though our family gatherings will always be sad without her.

Happy 2019!

Next Adventure:  Weekend of Cutting Trees

Shelton Cache Machine

I haven't been to a cache machine in a while.  Mostly due to not having a reliable vehicle, no money or I worked my weekends away.  Now that I was on the positive end of that horrible spectrum, I was able to do more geocaching trips away from Thurston County.  Luckily, this one was near home in Shelton.  I decided to do my own route, basically grab the ones that I didn't have and then met up at the dinner afterwards.  I spent some time the night before planning a route and a list of caches to grab.  I wasn't really thrilled on how the weather was suppose to be tomorrow but you just never know.

I got up and got ready.  I put the recycle bins in the Escape and headed to mom and dad's house to check up on Jonas and the pellet stove.  They went to the ocean to celebrate their 37th wedding anniversary.  I hung out with Jonas for a while because I knew he was missing mom a lot.  He sat in my lap while we enjoyed the warmth from the stove.  I told Jonas that mom and dad would be home the next day and to be a good cat and guard the house.  I headed out.

I had my list of caches and my last minute route.  I was now on my way towards Shelton.  The weather was holding up for now.

My first cache was Randall Preserve (GC7YXK1).  This was off of Mud Bay Road in a little quaint preserve right off the highway.  I had no idea this was even here.  It had a small parking lot and I was really glad I was the only one here.  I could take my time and not feel like I was in the way.

The cache was not too far from the parking lot.  I took the small trail and found ground zero.  The container was hidden inside of a downed trunk.

I signed my name, put the cache back and walked back to the Escape.  I had to keep going since it wasn't raining yet.

Back in February 2001, I was a junior in high school and I had just started my math test.  All of a sudden we heard a really large rumble bang noise and then the school started shaking.  I got under my desk and held the legs because it was trying to walk away.  The school suffered a little damage but the Olympia area got hit the hardest.  This cache, Earthquake Slide 2001 (GCGN06) was placed here to remember that said event.  For years, water had been flowing underneath this area and when the quake hit it destabilized the area causing a slide.  The road and part of the bridge was destroyed and had to be rebuilt.  I found a place to park and ran across the road to the cache.  It was a plastic Oreo cookie container hidden amongst the rocks.  It didn't take me very long to find it.

I continued the back way towards Steamboat Island Road off of Hwy 101.  Honoring WD (GCH31V) was not where I was expecting it to be.  I had to do a couple of U-turns to figure out a place to park.  Then I trekked across an open field towards the tree line (you could see Hwy 101 from here the entire time) and found the correct tree.  I had to step down a dirt incline to grab the container.  Apparently it used to be an ammo can but now it is a sandwich Tupperware container.  I signed my name, put it back and jogged back to the Escape.

The rain started to fall and I was unhappy.  I was going to get soaked.

I got onto Hwy 101 for a short time and then immediately got off on the Old Olympic Highway.  I haven't been on this road in years.  Probably the last time was when I did Mile Post (GC1B112) back in July 2011.  Wow, it's been that long?!  Anyway, I parked down below the gated road off to the side and headed up the short hills into the trees.  The coords were a bit off so I had to expand my search area by about 30 feet.  I tried to keep this short and sweet because the rain was coming down steady.  Once I found the bark it was hidden under I made quick work of it.  Then my screen protector started to come off my phone.  The moisture from the rain had seeped underneath it and took all the stickiness away.  Ugh.

TB Café and Cache Machine Hotel (GC7QH3Z) was a cute container and I grabbed the one trackable that was inside.  I hid the cache back in its spot and headed back to the Escape.

Just up the road I stopped again and found a pull out just near the bridge.

As I got closer to where I thought the cache, Kennedy Creek Bridge (GC7QH3H) was I could see tons of Seagulls and smelled the rotting fish.  I approached the bridge and saw all the dead fish being eaten by the flock of birds.

The smell was bad so I was hoping to find the cache fast.  I checked the guardrail near the posted coords and came up short.  Then I had another idea.  I climbed up on top of the guardrail and checked the yellow and black slash sign.  It was a bison tube hanging from a wire on the back of the sign.

I got my name on it, put it back and walked back to the Escape.  The rain had let up a little bit.

I followed the road to the next cache, Old Olympic Highway Revisited (GC7QH25) which was essentially a park and grab.  It was a film cannister hidden in a nook of a large tree.  It didn't take long and I didn't have to really be in the rain either.  Double win!

My next one was across Hwy 101 near the water on the other side of the Old Olympic Hwy.  I saw there was another person sitting in their car near the pullout.  At first I thought it might be another geocacher but they never got out of their car.  I sat there for a few minutes and they decided to leave.  I got out and walked down the small trail to Mudflat Buffett (GC6ZDJD).  I made it into a quick find since I didn't really want to be out in the rain for too long.  I signed my name, put it back and jogged back to the Escape.

I followed the road until I had a choice to keep following Old Olympic Hwy or turn onto Hurley Waldrip Road.  I got onto Hurley and followed it to the end where it meets up with Hwy 101 again.  The cache Rock of Ages III (GC687X1) was hidden in an underground water meter box next to the power pole.  There was a small pullout for one vehicle.  I made quick work of it.  Sadly, my phone got too wet and my screen protector finally fell off.

I crossed over Hwy 101 again and still remained on Hurley Road to my next cache.  That one was my 11,300th cache not that I am counting or anything.  R/R Crossing (GC33DM7) was on someone's property and the cache owner did get permission.  I am still not a fan of going onto another person's property unless it is indeed the cache owner.  I have one in my yard but I am also a geocacher which makes it less weird.  I see the Altoids tin on the back of the R/R sign.  I am also short.  How was I going to grab this one?  I figure if I can get a running start I could jump up and grab it.  I got it on my second try.  I signed my name and ran and slapped it to the back of the sign.

The next two were further down the road, Guard Rail Cache (GC6A88A) and The Swamp (GC6A87B) both had dogs barking at me and both were film cannisters.  It was steadily raining so I made these finds as quick as I could.

I followed the road to where it dropped me onto Hwy 108 which took me into Kamilche and I got onto Hwy 101 and headed north towards Shelton.  I had solved Mariner Mojo (GC10HQM) a few years ago.  It is one of R-L Painter's caches.  I put the coords into the GPS because I read some of the logs stating that driving in and turning around was weird.  It was a dirt driveway and it was a bit wonky turning around to drive out.  I made sure I read the hint since we were in the trees.  I basically saw the stump it was hidden in and found the ammo can instantly.  I logged my find, got my picture and traded some stuff before putting it back.

I probably should have waited until a nicer day to do the next cache.  Eh, I'm here so might as well right?  Let's do this!  I follow the coords to this wide pullout near a corner of a less used road.  I see a girl in a sweatshirt walking down the road and she is sopping wet. At this point the rain is coming down harder and I wait to see if this girl disappears.  I have this phobia that if I leave my Escape while I grab a geocaching and it is not in my sight that someone is going to break the windows to steal the stuff inside.  I sit there for another five minutes debating whether or not to go grab it.  Finally I just go for it and head down the trail.  The cache, Bayview Overlook (GCJ36X) was about .25 of a mile away from where I parked.  I hustle up the trail trying to avoid all the blackberry bushes.  This cache hasn't been found since 8/2017.  The weather was absolutely disgusting.  I was soaked.  I could literally wring out my clothes.  I get to the cache site and start looking near all the stumps in the area.  I see the obvious spot and bam, there's the container.  I get my name on it and put it back and I start jogging down the hill.  I had to get out of the rain.

I finally get into Shelton and I stop to grab A Little Library (GC74BYR) and I am stuck in the downpour.  Ughhhhhh.  I barely get my name on the log and I am running back inside the Escape.  Gross!

I stop to take a picture of the iconic Welcome to Shelton sign.  I'm not sure if there used to be a cache here in the past but it could have used one today.  I'm sure the view is nice from here as well on a nice day.

I drive down the hill and notice there was another one, Knees? [OPG2] (GC7ZJHX) in Kneeland Park.  I feel like I've been here several times over the years grabbing caches as I passed through.  This one was part of the Olympic Peninsula GeoTour.  A series I have never done and probably won't do.  I parked and walked to GZ.  I had to avoid giant mud puddles.  It was in the corner near the fenced off area and for some reason I couldn't find it.  I walked around to the outside and saw a piece of the container but couldn't reach it from the outside.  I walked back into the park and grabbed the cache.  I took the TB, signed my name and put it back.  I jumped over the puddles again and back into the Escape.

I headed up the hill towards the hospital part of town.  I pulled over in an open lot to grab the Rhododendron Forest Cache (GC5E9H7) which was across the street.  When I found the cache, it was nowhere near a rhodie.  It was also a glass jar (which I rarely find) with a toy pony sitting next to it.  I thought it was weird.

I drove over towards the hospital and stopped a Son of a Boulder (GC81024) which was a quick park and grab.  I needed to hurry because it was starting to get dark and I wanted an even 20 for the day.

I looked around on my mobile app to see if there were a couple more easy ones I can just park and grab.  I got back onto Hwy 101 and headed north out of Shelton towards the airport.  There were two caches that were easy to get to but not park and grabs.  The first one was at the tractor supply just outside of Shelton.  I park in the lot next to a small pedestrian trail and found She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy (GC7CPMD) in the crotch of a tree.  It was a very quick find.  I needed one more before it got dark.

Old Snag (GC2X9G3) was the last physical cache of the day.  The rain was coming down steadily and it was getting dark.  Plus, I wanted to get to the restaurant before it was packed.  I knew no one was going to be on this road with me so I just parked, left the Escape on with the windshield wipers on while I ran into this area that was worn around a tree snag.  It was a quick find.  I was so soaked.

I drove down the hill and back into downtown to find Sister's.  I found a spot right in front and went inside.  I figured there would be a sign stating that there was an event here or something that said reserved.  The waitress knew nothing about it and was pretty adamant about not knowing anything and added that she was the only person working at the moment until 5.  I just found a place to sit and I ordered a burger and a Coke.  I texted Bob and Bev to let them know I was at the Shelton Cache Machine Dinner (GC80D8C) event.  They said they should be there soon.

I sat there really wishing I had brought some dry clothes to change into but I didn't.  I was getting cold waiting for my food.  My food finally came and Bob and Bev came through the door.  More people started to file in.  I found out the owners of the restaurant were geocachers and to remind the waitress what was happening.

Most of the time was talking to Bob and Bev and Gabe when he walked through the door.  He and his wife got divorced some time back and he had started dating again.  He said he was going to meet her in Tacoma after the event.  I talked to Frisbee'r, Peach & Pete before I decided it was time to go.  I was going to stop by the mall to see if Best Buy had another glass cover for my phone.  Around 67 people attended and logged the event dinner.  That was quite a few people for a cold, rainy, winter Pacific Northwest day.

I found a glass cover that would work at Best Buy and I went into the Seattle Team Store to check out the merchandise.  I found a 2018 Sounders jersey for a reasonable price.  I bought it for Ben's birthday that was coming up in February.  I headed home, got cleaned and warmed up and relaxed a bit.  I don't know what my next cache machine will be.  It would depend on where it was and what was going on.  I sure hope to soon.

Next Adventure:  NYE, Sparklers and Friends

Christmas Eve and Christmas

Christmas Eve

I got up and went to work for the day.  I knew it was going to be a really boring day because a lot of people chose to take the entire week off or just a few days during Christmas.  Liz was off for the day so the day was truly boring.  My work went by pretty quickly and I didn't have many phone calls either.

Mom didn't want to host Christmas Eve this year because the house was halfway done and she didn't feel like cleaning or cooking so she asked Doug and Jenn if they wanted to host.  They said sure and prepared for the evening.  They already had their tree and an idea for dinner.  I brought over a table and some chairs.

We got everything together and headed to their house.  We, historically, has always celebrated Christmas Eve with just the five of us.  As time went on people were added.  This year we celebrated with seven people.

We ate chicken, potatoes, salad, bread and had different kinds of drinks.  We ate and talked about random things.  It was weird celebrating Christmas eve at Doug's house rather than at mom and dad's.  After we ate, we went into the living room and passed out presents.

Mom got a InstaPot, I got a Seahawks crock pot, I gave Doug some work out clothes because he expressed interest in starting to go to the gym, mom got some sloths stuff, I got her a DVD of the Seahawks season where they won the Super Bowl, dad got some cool stuff, Doug and Erika got dinosaur onesies.  Doug's was Yoshi and Erika was an actual dinosaur.  It was funny watching them run around being goofy.

We stayed for a while playing with their new puppy, Charlie.  They really didn't need a puppy but they got one anyway.  We thanked them for hosting and that we would see them tomorrow for Christmas.  We had a lot of work ahead of us and I had to get up early to start the breakfast.  The hardest part about tomorrow was trying to keep it together on front of everyone.  This will be my first Christmas in 34 years without Grammie and internally I was having a rough time.

Christmas Day

My alarm went off at 7 and I dragged myself out of bed.  I was exhausted.  We went to bed too late the night before.  I told Ben to start getting up because I was going to need some help.  We got ready for the day and headed out to the kitchen.  I put the casseroles in the oven while Erika cut up the fruit.

I had Ben sweep the stoop area and I put the finishing touches on the tables.  A few weeks ago, we went over to Grandpa's house to help him with some outside chores.  I had asked him if I could borrow some of Grammie's dishes that we used to eat on, the silver serving spoons and some of the cloth napkins.  He said I could have them and I cried a little on the inside.  We tried really hard to find the napkin rings but we couldn't find them.  Maybe some day.  It was very important to me to use Grammie's dishes for Christmas.

I got the muffins cut up into fourths and put everything inside bowls with serving spoons.  We were pretty much ready for the Christmas morning feast with Grammie.

Everyone showed up just after 9 that morning.  Trish invited Aunt Jean to come celebrate with us.

Jenn brought breakfast balls for us to try.  They were almost pancake-like.  They went pretty fast and so did the casserole.  We chatted about various things but most of all you could see it on everyone's face, we were all missing Grammie.  For more than half of us at the table this was the first time in our lives Grammie wasn't here to enjoy Christmas breakfast with us.  Deep down I know she really was there with us.

We went into the living room and everyone found some space on our large sectional couch.  I ended up passing out the presents to everyone.  It was a Christmas paper massacre!  To top it off we threw paper at each other like Grammie would have wanted.  I looked at everyone's demeaner and it just wasn't the same as it was when she was here.  She brought the light with her wherever she went.  She literally lit up the room with her presence.  I miss the way I felt when I was around her.  A huge piece of us was missing.

Mom, Ben and Grandma helped me clean the table and got the dishes running in the dishwasher.  I washed all the cloth napkins and started in on getting the ham ready.  It needed to cook for about 4.5 hours.  We glazed it with brown sugar and fastened slices of pineapple with toothpicks on the outside.

Meanwhile, a handful of people went outside to play with their helicopters from Grammie.  Erika and I had found these in her room in September when Grandpa had us come over to look through her clothes.  Between the two of us we brought home some of her iconic outfits from over the years.  I just couldn't bear to part with them.  I brought home two garbage sacks full of her clothes.  I never want her smell to go away.

Everyone helped clean up the balled up pieces of Christmas paper, the random boxes and bags and we stuffed them into two garbage bags for the recycle.  I put Ben and my stuff into our bedroom away from the Christmas chaos.  The rest of the time people spent picking up their stuff and their gifts and taking them out to their cars to head home and rest for a bit.

The day before I had bought Christmas flowers for Grammie along with a holiday wreath and a Coke.  In between everyone leaving and dinner time I headed out to Tumwater to spend time with Grammie for Christmas.  I was so overwhelmed with emotions it was hard not to break down and cry.  You will never know what it feels like until you actually lose a loved one.  I told her how Christmas was going so far and the presents I got.

This was my post for the day:

"Merry Christmas Grammie!  I stopped by to give you a festive Coke, a wreath and some flowers in your vase.  I picked yellow because you were always wearing your yellow iconic jacket.  We missed you today at breakfast and when we opened presents.  You always were ruthless when you threw the bundled up gift wrapping at us.  We will miss you at dinner time as well.  Love you lots!"

On the way home, since it was a nice day, I stopped by Pioneer Park to find a cache.  I didn't end up finding it because I wasn't looking in the correct places plus there was a lot of standing water in the cache area.  I should have listened to my intuition because I would have found it right away.  I had to come back a few months later to find it.

I headed home to rest a bit before everyone came over.  I checked on the food and played a game of marbles in honor of Grammie because she was pretty competitive at board games...especially this one and the card game pinochle.

We started the potatoes, stuffing and gravy while watching the ham.  It was almost done.  While that was cooking I got all the plates, silverware and napkins on the table.  Touching those teal plates made me really sad but I knew she was glad I was using them...almost like she was proud of me.

Everyone showed up around 4 and food was almost done.  We still were working on cutting up the ham.  Once that was done, all the food was on the table ready to eat.  Everyone filed in and got food with the exception of Kevin and Karla, they went to her parents house for dinner.  We sat at the table, ate and chatted about random things.

After we were done, I had help gather the dishes so we could get everything cleaned up.  People stayed as long as they wanted to.  A few of us played marbles for quarters.  I lost every single game.  I felt like people were cheating.

Around 7ish everyone gathered their things and decided to go home for the night.  I thanked everyone for coming and Ben and I spent the remaining part of the evening cleaning up and putting food away.  We survived another Christmas unfortunately this one was the saddest of them all.  I am so glad I took tomorrow off from work.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Next Adventure:  Shelton Cache Machine

Figgy Does OMD

I brought out Figgy again this year.  I had no idea how my new unit would react to him.  I went for it anyway.  This year I had Erika help me out with some of the more ambitious Figgy scenes.  I try to do one everyday starting with the first Monday of December and I go until Christmas Eve.  There are some days I don't do it if I am not at work.  This year I wasn't at work the day after the Seahawk game.  It turns out everyone loved him and are excited to see what I do next year.

Instagram post:    My unit plays trivia everyday and if you lose you are fed to the sharks.  Figgy was getting tired of losing at trivia so he killed the shark before he was fed to the shark.  #figgy, #elfontheshelf, #gocougs, #sharks, #trivia, #omd

Instagram post:  The gang is all here!  Coach Leach, Minshew and Butch!  #elfontheshelf, #gocougs, #omd, #minshewmustache, #football, #coachleach, #butch, #washingtonstate, #cougs

Instagram post:  Figgy and his antics again.  He thought he would climb to the highest point to get the advantage in the snowball fight.  And the good news is none of the ornaments fell off!  #elfontheshelf, #omd, #gocougs, #christmastree, #snowballs

Instagram post:  The summer golf lessons might have no#t paid off for Figgy, but he does his best for the OMD unit.  Camo golf pants might have not been the best choice either.  #elfontheshelf, #golf, #gocougs, #omd, #putting

Instagram post:  Due to the lack of snow this winter, Figgy wanted some snow to he made it happen.  He spends the day sledding and drinking hot chocolate.  Let's be more like Figgy. #elfontheshelf, #sledding, #gocougs, #omd, #snow

Instagram post:  Because the Seahawks are playing Monday Night Football tonight (and I get to go) Figgy decided to state tailgating early!  He may or may not share.  #elfontheshelf, #tailgating, #football, #mnf, #bbq, #gohawks, #seattle, #seahawks

Instagram post:  Figgy and his penguin friends hanging out at the igloo (made by @erika.k.larson) enjoying the snow, the hot chocolate, candy canes and the fire.  They know how to have a good time.  #winter, #elfontheshelf, #snow, #gocougs, #penguins, #igloo, #omd

Instagram post:  After taking several advanced classes for medical school, Figgy finally is able to put his skills to god use here in the Office of the Medical Director.  He is also able to prescribe medications.  #elfontheshelf, #omd, #gocougs, #doctor, #RX

Instagram post:  So bear with me...I built this with my bear hands (Figgy helped a little) because we just bearly made it through the week.  Haha get it?  #elfontheshelf, #badbearpuns, #gocougs, #bears, #christmas, #omd

Instagram post:  If you like Star Wars puns, you're looking in Alderaan places.  Hahaha!  Figgy once again was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got caught by Vader while snooping around.  Chewbacca, Yoda, R2-D2 have fought off some of the Storm Troopers so far.  #gocougs, #starwars, #elfontheshelf, #omd

Instagram post:  Uh oh!  The pigs have started to steal the eggs again.  Figgy decides to help the Angry Birds out by launching himself into the pig structures before the pigs can eat the eggs.  *No birds, pigs, eggs or elfs were actually harmed in the making of this sceen* #elfontheshelf, #gocougs, #angrybirds, #omd

Instagram post:  Figgy and the Ninja Turtles want you to have a totally tubular holiday season and don't let elves steal your pizza!  #gocougs, #elfontheshelf, #omd, #tmnt, #holidayseason

Instagram post:  Erika (@erika.k.larson) has really outdone herself this time with this magnificent castle she made.  Figgy has always wanted his very own castle so he can hang out with dragons, horses, ponies, and yes, wear his princess dress.  He does what he wants because he is the mischievous elf!  Muahahaha!  #elfontheshelf, #gocougs, #castle, #dragons, #ponies, #horses, #omd, #princess

Instagram post:  Now the year is complete! A Furby/elf picnic campout.  I bet you have never seen one of these until today.  I know the weather is a little frightful for camping but that doesn't stop any of them from enjoying the great outdoors!  #elfontheshelf, #furby, #campout, #picnic, #omd, #gocougs

Instagram post:  Figgy got himself a new kitty on Christmas eve.  Kitty doesn't have a name yet so if you have suggestions let me know and we will vote on it.  #elfontheshelf, #gocougs, #omd, #newpet, #kitty, #christmaseve, #happyholidays

That's a wrap for the 2018 holiday season with Figgy.  I will try to have different scenes for next December.  Until then, Go COUGS!

Next Adventure:  Christmas Eve and Christmas