Deschutes Falls Park Mini Adventure

I really wanted to go somewhere for the day because it was dry and we haven't been out on an adventure in a while.  Well, not since the cache machine in December.  I just had an itching to go out and explore somewhere I haven't been before.  I called mom and asked her if she wanted to go to the new Deschutes park out in the Bald Hills and she said sure.  We ate some breakfast, got our stuff ready and headed out to Rainier.  We stopped by the recycle before heading to my parent's house.

When we got there we expected mom to be ready.  I had to get her going so we could leave.  She grabbed her stuff and her camera and we were off to the Clear Lake area.  On the way there we noticed a lot of new houses being built around Lawrence Lake which was too bad this lake will have houses around every square inch of it.

We went through Cougar Mountain and noticed a few changes since we've been out here.  The store has been closed for quite some time and there was more graffiti covering the building.  I was out here last with Lacey about two years ago grabbing some of the newer caches in the area.  When we got out past the Clearwood area I noticed all the trees have been cut down making the area more open and unfamiliar.  This is what happens to those trees; they get planted and cut down by Weyerhaeuser because this is their land.  We saw the new county park sign and that reassured us we were going the right way since I've never been out here on this road.

We found the driveway and the small parking lot.  There were actually people here today.  This park opened last Fall so we weren't sure how much the word has spread.  There were a few articles written about it in the Nisqually Valley and the Seattle Times.  The park closed in the 1980's and then sold to Thurston County in 1992.  No trespassing signs were posted all over the place for a few decades.

We found a parking spot, grabbed our day packs, hid the stealables under the seats, locked the car and started for the trail.  On their way back up to the parking lot were Rebecca's parents, Michael and Dorothy.  I haven't seen them in years!  We visited for about fifteen minutes before they got into the van and headed out.  Mom, Ben and I started down to the falls.

I wanted to grab the cache, Deschutes Falls (GC7CRKW), first before we explored so Ben and I read the hint and followed the GPS coords to the spot.  It was hidden near some fallen logs under some bark.  It was one of those really big ammo cans.  We signed the log, I dropped about ten trackables I've carried around with me for the past two years and we took a couple of photos before we put it back in its hiding spot.  I made sure it was hidden very well before we left to meet back up with mom.

We walked over to the falls first and took a couple of pictures.  We had to be careful because the run off into the river carved out many mini rivers and you had to watch where you stepped.  I stood there remembering the last time I was out here and told Ben the story.  Since this area was closed to the public, both the park side and the Weyerhaeuser side, about seven years ago we were escorted out through the gates on the Weyerhaeuser side over by Vail to have a memorial ceremony for my cousin Jay, who passed away near the falls in 2010.  We walked out to where he was last seen while his sister Kirsten told us about what they thought happened that night.  That ledge was so little and so close to the edge.  They also installed a wooden memorial to remind those of what happened that night and to establish the no trespassing warning.

We walked to the other area and looked for mom while she was taking pictures.  We ran into her as we left the falls and got back onto the main trail to see what was east of the falls.  The area was well manicured (for the current time of the year) and obviously this place will get more traffic as the weather improves over the next couple months.

We made our way to an open area where you could tell (when the park used to be open) people often spent a lot of time here playing in the water and possibly camping.  It was nice to be able to explore without anyone there to bother us.  We definitely came on a great day and the weather wasn't too bad either.  We continued exploring and looking at the different rocks and crevasses that have been eroded over the course of time.  This place was pretty awesome!

We were out there for about an hour or so before we decided we've seen pretty much all of it and started walking back to the main trail.  We all said we would like to come back in the summer or the fall to take more pictures.  We made our way to where we entered the trail and walked back up the hill to the Escape.

We unloaded our stuff into the back of the Escape and headed back towards the house.  I told mom now that she knew how to get here that she should take dad here for a walk one evening when it got lighter and nicer out.  She said she might just have to do that.

I dropped mom off at home and Ben and I headed back into Lacey to get some of our chores done and relax a bit.  It was nice to get out and do something outside.  I could not wait until the weather got nicer so we could do more things like this during the weekends.

**Update as of 4.10.18**  I found out that this cache was disabled because a month after we found it someone took the cache and all the trackables I dropped off in it.  I felt so bad after reading that happened.  All of those TB's are now gone.

Next Adventure:  February Game Night - Comfort Food

Ben's New Car

The day after his accident he took a day off from work just to take care of stuff.  That included calling his insurance company, talking to the woman's insurance company, the chiropractor, Korum (where he got his car), his bank, etc.  I got the rear view mirror from his Subaru and wrote its dates on it.

The Saturday after his accident we took the day to figure out where we could rent a car.  It just would have been really hard for me to drive back and forth to get him in Tenino twice a day.  I just didn't want to do the wear and tear if I didn't have to.  I would rather have him drive the crap out of the rental car.  He called a few places for pricing.  He would also have to pay out of pocket until the insurance kicked in and covered it.

The best local price we found at Enterprise.  Unfortunately, we didn't bring any bills mail to prove our address so we had to drive all the way back home, grab some bills with our names on it and head back to Enterprise.  It was annoying.  He got all of his paperwork filled out, the guy scanned his license and insurance, Ben paid for a week's worth of rental car and we headed back home.

He had the car for about two weeks until he had some time to shop for another one.  He went to Puyallup to have lunch with his mom and to find another car he could afford for now.  I got home before he did.  He called me about an hour later to have me come outside to see his new car.  He ended up leasing a black 2018 Hyundai Elantra because the monthly payments would be cheaper than outright owning the car.  Of course he wanted to own it but he just couldn't afford the payments at this time.  I found out that when you lease a car you have to keep it under a certain mileage each year so that meant we would be taking the Escape on longer trips rather than the car.  I walked outside expecting something else.  It totally reminds me of a mom car.  I now call it Ben's mom car.  He scowls at me every time I say it.

Next Adventure:  Deschutes Falls Park Mini Adventure

A Day Off in Dupont for Geocaching

I had the day off from work because of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.  It was a nice day (which means it wasn't raining) and I wanted to do some geocaching since I haven't done a lot of it since July.  The night before I got together a few caches nearby.  I haven't been to Dupont in a while so I centered my search around there.  I also had a few mystery caches I've had solved for years and just never went and got them.  We had breakfast and got some warm clothes on.  Even though it was sunny it was nippy outside.

We headed down Yelm Highway towards Reservation Road.  Just before you get to the freeway there is a few pullouts along Mounts Road.  On December 18, 2017 at 7:33 a.m. Amtrak train #501 derailed, killing three people and injuring hundreds.  Both passengers and interstate travelers acted heroically in caring for the injured immediately after the derailment.  The southbound lanes of the interstate were closed for three days during the time of assessment and later removal of the train cars and the engine.  Nearby JBLM opened alternative routes around the closure.  A cacher placed In Memory of Train #501 (GC7GVZD) just before you merge onto I-5 on Mounts Road, exit 117.  I found a pullout of course someone was parked in the way.  We parked nearby and waited until they left, Ben decided to stay while I jumped out and grabbed it behind the tree.

We dove across the bridge across the freeway and made our way to the solved puzzle This One Time in Belize (GC24PZD) which took us to a rock wall behind a fenced housing development.  I should have read the hint because that would have saved us so much time at the rock wall.  It was underneath one of the rogue road median blocks about 40 feet from the rock wall on the hill.  I was beginning to think I solved the puzzle wrong and we were in the wrong place.

Music Series #5 Hard Habit to Break (GC6CAT9) took us into the town of Dupont.  It was near the Starbucks parking lot nestled into the rock wall.  I tried to park as close as I could to it so the Escape could act like a shield to the coming and going muggles.  I really didn't want to give the location away.  Unlike some rock wall hides this one was fairly easy to find and didn't take up a whole lot of time.  We signed the log, put it back and got back in the Escape before someone wondered what we were doing.

Another one I solved a few years ago and still hadn't gotten was Baby Steps 6 - Rusty Bucket (GCXAGJ) so we headed down one of the other main streets and managed to find a close parking spot at the park n ride/transit station.  We walked across the street to the rusty metal structure and found the "rusty bucket" we were looking for.  I let Ben pull it out of its hidey hole so we could sign it and put it back quickly just in case a bus load of people drove by.  We walked back to the Escape.

We followed the road that paralleled I-5 to the Old Glory Cache (GC5FXZQ).  I knew we were going to have to park in the lot near the State Farm building and walk to the cache since there wasn't any available parking along the road.  We found a few side trails and took the one down the middle because we figured this one led us to the road we turned off of, plus you could see the flag and the flagpole.  We found the small trail that lead into the oak trees and the cache was pretty easy to find.  We signed the log and put it back as we found it.

I wanted to get at least one more cache to make it an even six for the day.  I knew I didn't want to go into the woods for them mostly for the amount of time we had left before the end of the day and it got dark.  I knew there was one at City Hall just down the road.  I haven't been here in years and I was glad that we didn't have to walk the trail, again mostly for the amount of time we had left.  Summer Fun #10: Exploring Nature (GC7B4VT) was just off the trail next to a bunch of trees inside of a smaller stump.  We acted like we weren't doing anything when the people and their dogs walked by.  We signed the log and put it back quickly.

We left the lot and headed back to the freeway.  As we drove towards Lacey and drove under the overpass where the train derailed.  It was surreal to me because just a few weeks earlier in this same spot people died and were injured.  It's just something that never happens and when it did and I heard about it on the TV it was hard to wrap your head around.  This actually happened less than five miles from our house.

We needed to stop by the store on our way home for some milk since we were out of it.  We picked up a few other things as well so we could make dinner and get prepared for our upcoming week ahead.  When we got home, we made dinner, got cleaned up and I did some blogging and logged my caches that we found today.

Next Adventure:  Ben's New Car

Ben's Car Accident

I got home from work and Ben asked if I wanted to go with him to Tenino to go get sized for his bunker gear.  I had told him no because I just got home from work and I wanted to go wear sweat pants and relax.  I told him I would have dinner done when he got home.  He told me okay and he headed out.  I told him to drive safe like I do every time he leaves. 

I put on sweatpants on, grabbed my computer, sat on the couch and watched some TV for a bit.  I got up and started making some dinner because I was getting hungry.  I wasn't sure how long he was going to stay in Tenino so I saved him some to heat up when he got back. 

Around 7:30ish, I got a phone call (I usually get a phone call when he leaves work just to know he left and when to start or heat up dinner) with him stating that he needed me to come pick him up.  His voice was a bit shaky.  Giving me a couple seconds to internalize, why?  you still in Tenino?  what happened? were all the things I thought about in those few seconds.  I spoke up, why? He said, oh I just got into a car accident. He seemed very calm about it.  Probably because of the adrenaline.  My reaction was what!!? were are you? did they hit you?  was it their fault?  He told me he would tell me everything once I came and got him.  He added that he wasn't too far from home off of Balustrade and Prism.  That was literally right down the street and maybe less than a mile from our house. 

I put some warmer clothes on and my shoes (since it was a rainy day), got in the Escape and headed to Prism.  I had no idea what to expect or even if Ben's car was still drivable. I saw the flashing lights from cop cars preventing people from driving through the wreckage.  There were pieces of car parts scattered all over the road...most of it was Ben's car.  Ugh.  I hope he isn't injured.  As I got closer I couldn't tell what Ben's car looked like because I was on the other side of the destruction.  I got as close as I could.  I got out and asked a million questions.  He answered them as quickly as he could because we had to take all of his stuff out of the car and transport it to mine.  Meanwhile, I was horrified at the front of the passenger side...you could barely get the door open because of the damage.  I kept asking Ben if he was okay.  He said he was.  He had a scratch on his shin and some signs of bruising and he said he was going to be sore tomorrow.  We had to hurry and get his stuff out so the tow truck could take his car away.  It was totaled.

 

I spent some time taking pictures mostly for documentation later for the insurance and to let everyone know that he was alright but the car wasn't.  He had tons of stuff in his car.  The back of my Escape had tons of stuff in it.  We took one more sweep before we released the car to the towing company to make sure we didn't leave anything behind.  I stole Ben's rear view mirror as a souvenir since I knew he probably wasn't going to see it again.  I wrote the car's information and date on it when we got home.

Ben and I stood at the corner, we noticed a bunch of the people that lived on this corner were out on their porches or yards watching the accident clean-up.  I was able to hear how the event unfolded and who hit who.  Of course the people in the suburban were trying to throw Ben under the bus as they talked to the officer on scene.  The woman was crying and her boyfriend and/or husband was trying to comfort her.

Basically Ben was driving down a one way street towards our house.  There is another one way road going the opposite direction.  There is also side roads going through those two one-way roads with stop signs at each of them to enter the arterial.  Well there is an area between the two roads where you are suppose to yield if going straight or turning left.  Well Ben was approaching that intersection and a lady driving a suburban didn't yield preceded through the intersection and Ben smashed into her.  She did not give him any time to stop plus the road were wet from the rain.  There was another vehicle involved in the accident at the opposite stop sign of Prism waiting to turn and his vehicle was hit by the suburban.  Visually Ben's car and the man's vehicle looked totaled.  I wasn't sure about the suburban.  As I see it the woman totally barreled through the small intersection and Ben had little to no reaction to avoid from hitting her.  Case closed.  The officer totally agreed with us too. 

We watched the tow truck guy load up Ben's car. He cleaned up the debris the car left behind and swept it into a bucket.  He got back into the tow truck and started to drive away.  It was an end of an era as we watched it drive away into the non-existent sunset. 

Ben had just celebrated having the car for three years as of  December 31st.  So many things has happened to this poor little car in those three short years.  When we got home, I got the rear view mirror that I had written the car info and date on and we played Taps for it.  I was surprised Ben didn't know what Taps was.  Well now he does. 

The following night we posted on Facebook to let everyone know what had happened and that Ben  was alright.

"Last night, I got a phone call from Ben asking me to pick him up and I asked why.  I knew he was in Tenino getting sized for his bunker gear and he usually calls when he is on his way home. Well, about a mile from our house, on this way home, a lady in a suburban plowed right through the neighborhood intersection without yielding.  Ben had no time to react and ended up hitting her into another vehicle coming out from another side street.  His car is officially totaled and he's only had the car for three years.  In fact, he celebrated his car's three year birthday just last week. I showed up to the scene to help Ben take all of his belongings out of his car.  For fun we took the rear view mirror as a souvenir. We watched the tow truck driver load up his car and drive away with it.  Ben is okay but sore."

Next Adventure:  A Day Off in Dupont for Geocaching