A Mount Rainier Day Trip to Longmire

While Jenn's parents were here we tried to suggest activities for them to do.  Since they were from Mississippi, where the weather is significantly warmer than up here, it was hard to do stuff with them.  Doug had a hard time when they wanted to go to the beach only to be there for less than 10 minutes and then wanting to go home.  It was like an hour and a half drive to Ocean Shores so Doug was frustrated and felt like it was a waste of time.  I don't think her parents planned very well when it came to dressing warmly.

Historically, November is our rainy month in Washington State with an average of 9.5 inches in Olympia.  However, this November it was fairly dry and cold.  I like the dry and cold weather because you can still go out on adventures without getting soaked and cold.  It was my ideal winter day.

Doug had asked us if we wanted to go up to Mount Rainier with him, Jenn and her parents and I thought that would be fun.  I haven't been up to Mount Rainier in a couple years.  He added that they really wanted to see some snow.  So we planned a day to go up there.  The weather was suppose to be cold, clear and dry which was perfect for going up to the mountain.  We knew the weather would be decent and we'd be able to see the mountain.

Erika, Zach and Ben didn't go and Jenn's dad, Gary decided he didn't want to go either.  So it was Doug, Jenn, her mom, me, Mom and Dad.  We decided to meet up at Mom and Dad's house at 11 a.m. and we would take one vehicle.  Since Mom's Expedition was big enough for everyone, we took hers and Doug drove.  Mom was a little apprehensive about how it would drive in the snow and ice, if we encountered it, because she needed to get new tires. 

We headed out and drove towards Eatonville, which is about a 40 minute drive from Rainier through Yelm and McKenna.  No one packed any food so we stopped at the Subway.  I got my typical 6 inch turkey and cheddar on white bread with mayo, lettuce and pickles.  We paid for our sandwiches and got back in the Expedition.  

Along the way through Elbe and Ashford, we talked about various things.  We had intended on driving up to Paradise when we got there,  The entire highway was free from snow and ice.  When we finally got to the park entrance, Doug paid our entrance fee and we headed on up, luckily we didn't have to wait in a long line to get in.  As we got higher in elevation we noticed the snow piles getting bigger and soon we were in a winter wonderland minus the snow on the trees.

We got closer to Longmire and there were patched of compact snow and ice sprinkled along the road.  You could feel the Expedition slip a little bit.  That is where we decided that it was smart just to enjoy Longmire instead of trying to drive up to Paradise with bad tires and no chains.  We found a place to park near the Inn and from there we just wandered around for about an hour and a half.

We first went into the gift store and looked at stuff for a while.  It's been a while since I came to Longmire and explored.  I think the last time was with Grandma Karen, Mom and Ben back in August 2014.  I know we didn't come all the way up here to check out the gift store and to see snow in the parking lot so I suggested that we do the Trail of Shadows Loop.  I've never done it in the winter so it could be fun.

We walked across the street and onto the loop trail.  The trail was a little under a mile and it passed by a few mineral springs, a cabin, a marsh and a meadow.  There was a lot to enjoy and take pictures of.  This time we had snow in our pictures which made for some cool backgrounds for some selfies.  We spent some time at each interpretive point along the trail.  It was fun to read about them again after five years.

We took our time walking the loop because we were taking pictures, reading the signs and had to be careful in some areas because they were slippery.  I think Jenn was the only one who slipped when we got to the forest area but other than that we all did alright.  I thought Jenn's mom would fall because she wasn't wearing the best pair or shoes or warm clothes for that matter.

We finished the loop and headed back towards Mom's Expedition.  Before we loaded up, we all used the restroom again just because.  Doug decided to drive again so while he drove I ate my sandwich.  I told him once I was done we could trade and I would drive while he ate his sandwich.  He agreed.  We drove down the swirly road and got out of the park.  Doug pulled over near one of the cafe's along this highway and we traded spots.  I drove the rest of the way to Mom and Dad's house.

It was a nice little jaunt even though we didn't get to go up to Paradise.  Maybe next time when we have better tired on our vehicles.

Next Adventure:  Erika's Birthday

Thanksgiving #1 and #2

This year we had two Thanksgivings.  The first one was at Kevin and Karla's house the day of and the second one I hosted at my house on Black Friday.  I bought a turkey and all the fixings because ultimately we wanted to make turkey noodle soup out of it.  So we planned on having some people over for food and to celebrate Trish's birthday since we don't get to see her very much.  I wanted to have a birthday party for her since it was near Thanksgiving.

Kevin and Karla wrote us all an email, since that's what we've been doing to let everyone know instead of phone calls, stating what time, what was being served and who's birthdays we were going to celebrate.  It was all set.  Ben was going to go to his aunt's house for Thanksgiving and I understood, you never know how much longer you will have your grandparents.  He just has his grandmother left and she is in a nursing home in Puyallup.  

Jenn's parents were here this year for the month of November so we had to factor in them only if they wanted to come.  We asked Doug and Jenn if they wanted to participate in family things and they said they would ask them.  They arrived on November 20th and were going to stay until December 10th.  I actually heard back quickly and Doug told me that her parents were coming over to meet our family.  He also added that they would have more food to bring.

The Friday after they arrived, we planned on having a dinner at Doug and Jenn's. We decided on pizza, salad and ice cream sandwiches.  It was a nice visit.  We got to know them a little bit and we ended up playing Jackbox on the TV.  It was hilarious and we all had a great time.

On Thanksgiving, Erika and Zach were going down to Vancouver to visit his mom and dad so they weren't coming to Kevin and Karla's house.  Everyone else seemed to be coming including Jenn's mom and dad.  I wasn't sure if Karla's family was coming or not.  I guess we would see when we got there.

I drove myself to Tumwater and stopped by to see Grammie on Thanksgiving.  I was probably going to be the only one who visited today.  I am often the only one who does weekly. I told her about some of the stuff that was going on and that we were headed to Thanksgiving at Kevin and Karla's.  I told her that we loved and missed her.

I was one of the first ones at their house so I sat in the Escape for a min.  I called Mom to see if she and Grandma were on their way and they were and Dad drove separately to pick up Grandpa.  I really didn't want to be the only person here.  I took a long time grabbing my stuff and making my way to the house.  Kevin came out to say hi and talk about random things.  Mom and Grandma pull up and unload stuff as we walk into the house.  A few minutes later, Dad and Grandpa drive in.  I asked Doug when he was going to arrive and he said that they were going to be late because Jenn's family thought it started later than it did.  They decided to get cleaned up and start cooking things later than anticipated and Doug was irritated.  They were about 45 minutes late and we waited to eat food.  Karla's parents weren't able to make it this year due to health reasons.

We ate dinner around 2ish and most of dinner time was spent talking about random things and everyone getting to know Jenns's parents, Carolyn and Gary.  We put away a lot of food and almost didn't have room for dessert.  

I did manage to eat some pie later on.  After dinner and kinda cleaning up, we all sat down and had a mini birthday party for me, Mom, Dad, Grammie and Trish.  Family holidays were still hard without Grammie.  I missed her so much.  It just wasn't the same getting together without her.  That joy was missing.  I miss those family gatherings so bad that I try to transport myself back in time when it was happier and we were complete.  We briefly talked about Christmas when mom told everyone who they had.

It was time to take Grandpa home, he really can't sit for very long without being in his chair at home, so Dad took him home.  We picked up all of our stuff and put it in the cars, thanked Kevin and Karla for their hospitality and Mom, Grandma and I went to Walmart down the road to see what kinds of stuff they had for their Black Friday sale.  Last year I bought my carpet cleaner and it has come in handy several times throughout the year.  It has definitely paid for itself.  This year I bought a vacuum cleaner because Erika had declared that she was moving in the spring and was taking her good one with her.  I also got a couple towels, wash clothes, a bathroom mat and some more Pyrex containers.

We went home and I started getting ready for my Thanksgiving dinner the next day.  I cleaned the house a little bit and wiped stuff down.  I even put together the vacuum to clean the floors.  I got a shower and went to bed.

The next day we slept in a little bit and then continued getting our house ready for people to come over around 6.  Around noonish, we got the turkey ready and put it in the cooker.  I made sure I had everything else out so we could systematically get everything cooked when it needed to be.  I did assign mom a few things like sugar cookies and the veggies and dip.  Doug and Jenn said they were going to come over to my Thanksgiving but her parents were going to stay at their house.  They needed a break from them and I didn't blame them.

I got everything done before everyone came over.  I invited Trish, Amy and Ed, Erika invited Zach, Mom, Dad and Grandma came and Doug and Jenn.  Grandpa didn't want to come but we did get a plate of food ready so Dad could drop it by on their way home.  Tracy had already gone home and Kevin and Karla did their own thing as far as I know.

We ate lots more food, played a few rounds of marbles and had Trish open her gifts since her birthday was last weekend.  We got her a "going to a Seahawks game" kit.  She didn't have a see through bag, a scarf or some hand warmers so those were in the bag.  She was very happy when she opened it.  Ed had bought tickets at the beginning of the season to the 49ers game in December.  I told her that she needed to dress warmly and have a see through bag.  She said having a bag like that never crossed her mind and was glad we thought of it.  It also probably save her a trip back to the car once they got to the game.

We cleaned up, played a few more rounds of marbles and everyone gathered their stuff and went home.  We will have leftovers for days.  There will be homemade turkey soup as well. 

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Next Adventure:  A Mount Rainier Day Trip to Longmire

New Castle, Amish Country Tour, Yellow Dog Village and Plane Ride Back to Seattle

 We got up pretty early because we had to be at our first tour by 8 a.m.  We got ready, went down stairs to eat breakfast, they really didn't have great choices so I just had cereal, toast and orange juice.  Some guy sitting near us saw our Seahawks stuff and decided to talk to us.  He said something about being in Seattle when he was younger and then talked to us about cars.  We were polite but eventually had to go back to our room to gather our stuff so we could check out.

We made sure everything was packed away, we grabbed all of our bathroom things, cords, phones, laptops etc.  None of our stuff was tangled in our beds, we had all of our shoes and socks.  I checked the drawer next to mom's side just for fun and saw that a housekeeper forgot to check the drawer and according to the receipt has been in there since November 8th.  Inside the drawer was a plastic sack from the local Walmart with several different kinds of condoms and lubricants inside.  Someone had a special night planned and it didn't go as planned or they weren't safe.  Either way we laughed.

Mom really wanted to go see the Amish while we were on our trip.  We looked around the places that we were going to go and the time limits we had.  She found an Amish Tour called Simple Life Tours with Susan Hougelman.  It was $50 each, probably for the cost of gas and her time.  It was a two hour guided tour and we were going to visit an Amish grocery store, a dry goods store, an Amish furniture maker, a quilt shop, see some of their handmade textiles and much more.  We might be able to talk and visit with them as well.  Mom was really excited. 

We took our stuff out to the rental and off we went.  I should have given ourselves a little bit more time even though we were only going 11 miles to New Wilmington.  We didn't realize that the Pennsylvania school districts went to school on Veteran's Day and the traffic and busses kept us from getting to our tour on time.  I tried to get us there as close to 8 a.m. as I could.  We pulled into the lot she told us to go to a few minutes after 8.  We saw her white Honda Pilot.  We grabbed the stuff we would need and hopped into her vehicle.

We apologized for being slightly late.  She said it was okay and that she didn't mind.  She wasn't waiting too long.  Mom sat in the front and I sat in the back. We had our introductions and small talk and then we started driving to our first location, which most of the Amish community was located in the town of Volant.  

During the drive Susan asked us questions about what we knew about the Amish, she gave us facts, some stories and little tidbits here and there during the entirety of the tour.  She said to ask questions if we had any.  Susan spends a lot of time with the Amish and every once and a while takes a carload of teenagers into town so they could go to the mall or they come over to her house to visit and to use televisions, phones and computers.  All of that was okay as long as they didn't own the cars and those devices.  It would be hard for them to own computers, phones and televisions because they do not have electricity.  Everything is ran with oil lamps, candles, wood stoves and ice boxes.

We learned that they pay taxes because they own property in the US, they vote, some read newspapers to keep up with what is going on, they do business with cash, they pay their bills with cash, they can build a house in about three days and she talked a little bit about the horse and cart buggy's, the family dynamics, church, the languages they speak, school, Rumspringa and courting.  Susan took us to several farms and showed us the houses.  They were pretty distinct and you could pick them out from the English houses.  They were all two/three story white houses with a long clothes line in the front yard.  We were lucky to be there on laundry day as some of the houses had clothes hanging from the lines.  

We visited a dry goods store and met the people who ran that for a few minutes.  I looked around and noticed the Amish eat junk food just like any person.  They especially love Doritos and Mountain Dew.  They do make their own jams, jellies, pies, bread mixes, canned goods, pickled products and desserts and have their own gardens, livestock and specialty shops.  

Susan took us to a home that made their own furniture.  We actually got to go inside the shop and watch a teenage boy named Levi, make a chair.  They sell them all over the world.  It was fascinating to watch.

Next, we visited a store where they sold clothes and other goods such as toys, stationary, games, cards, and books.  It was interesting to see what kind of stuff they use (that they don't make) in their every day lives.  Our last stop was the quilt store, a place mom was looking forward to visit.  She wanted to see their quilts.  Unfortunately, their quilts were expensive so mom opted into buying some fabric and a couple of dolls that the teenaged girls made.  All the dolls they made had no faces because of their modest lifestyle.  Everyone looks the same.  This is also a reason why there aren't a lot of photos of them, especially their faces.  Most photos are taken from the back.  No one is better than anyone else.  I bought a homemade, what could be used as a pin cushion or a weight, green chicken made out of rice and fabric.  I also purchased a few postcards as well.  We talked to the lady who owned the store for a bit and she asked us where we were from and why we were visiting.  It was a nice conversation.

Our two hour time limit was almost up so Susan drove us back to our rental in town and asked if we had anymore questions.  She pretty much answered all of them.  She thanked us for visiting Pennsylvania and taking her tour.  I took a brochure just in case I knew of anyone coming this way that wanted to take her tour.  I feel like we got more than $50 worth on this tour.  We experienced a lot, learned new things and even got to talk to some of the Amish people.  Mom was super stoked that we got to do this on our trip.

We got into our rental, grabbed the closest cache, Tour of Lawrence County - New Wilmington (GC7HVMT) before leaving town and headed to our next tour.  It was an easy grab on the side of the building.

Mom had been emailing back and forth with Joe, the tour guide for Yellow Dog Village.  When we booked this one, we weren't sure how long it would take us to get from New Wilmington to Worthington so we changed out meet up time twice.  Mom emailed him again to let him know we would be getting there sooner than anticipated and he wrote us back saying that it was fine with him and he will see us when we got there.  We got on Route 422 and headed east to the address he provided for us since there is no cell phone service where we were going so we used our GPS to get us there.

We followed the directions to the place and weren't sure where to go when we got there around 11:20.  Mom should have read me the email because it told us where to go when we arrived.  Oh well.  We sat there on the corner for a bit and then a car drove up with two ladies in it asking if we knew where a horse event was.  We told them we were not from here and had no idea.  They told us thanks anyway and drove off.  I had to pee so I walked down the road behind a shed and peed.  Again, if we would have read the guy's email when we booked this tour we would have known where to park and there was a porta potty there.  Lame mom.  We finally got the hint and drove over to where we were suppose to go in the first place.

Joe actually lived in one of the functional houses so he walked down with his dog to greet us and to tell us a little bit of history about the Yellow Dog Village.  He said the history lesson will take about 15 minutes of the hour we had here and the rest of the hour was exploring the old houses.  We paid our $10 per person and he told us about the area.  The history was fascinating.  It was essentially a limestone mining town and when the minerals leached into the water supply and people got sick they just picked up and left...sometimes leaving everything they owned behind.  The last family left in 2010.  He told us that he purchased the village in 2014 and the goal was to restore the community one house at a time to its original 1920's glory.  It will require a lot of funding which he is currently trying to do with grants, government assistance and his tours.  He thanked us for coming and told us we could explore the houses.  The last thing he said was to be safe and make sure the doors are closed when we were done.

We thanked him and spent the rest of our hour exploring the houses.  Most of them had some significant damage, the paint was peeling off the walls, the ceilings caving in, holes in the flooring, the weeds and brush are severely overgrown, lots of garbage, vandalism, animal activity but there was some historical magic about it...these houses are frozen in time.  The walls hold so many decades worth of memories here and so much history of the area.  This area is a photographer's playground.  Mom thoroughly enjoyed taking pictures and she said it was totally worth coming here.  We finished up our visit around 12:30.  We needed to start heading back towards Pittsburgh.

Before we left town we grabbed I Can See Red Lights (GC7BG3P) that was inside of the guard rail.  We continued east on Route 422 until we reached Kittanning, there we took Route 28 at the junction and headed south towards Pittsburgh.  We should have plenty of time to get gas and return the rental car at the airport before we have to check in.  Our flight left at 4:20 and it was approximately 1:00ish.  We got into Pittsburgh pretty quickly for a Monday afternoon.  There was a little bit of traffic and some detours but we managed to get through.  We crossed over one of the bridges one more time and through the Fort Pitt Tunnel.  We followed the freeway and found an exit with gas.  We filled up one more time at a Marathon.  We got back on the freeway and made it to the rental car return just before 2:15.  We drove that rental 1337 miles in six days.  We wheeled our bags into departures, stood in line, got our boarding passes and dropped off our luggage at Alaskan Airlines.

We went through security, which didn't take very long, thank goodness and wandered around for a bit before deciding we needed something to eat before we left to sit on the airplane for 5 hours.  I found a Chick-fil-A and got a chicken sandwich, waffle fries and a drink.  I asked mom if she wanted something and she said chicken nuggets because they are easier to eat with braces.  

We walked to gate B31 and were so glad we had a direct flight to Seattle so we didn't have to deal with a layover in a random city.

It was finally time to board and we were in group B.  I sat in seat 7A, mom in 7B and a guy who lived in Portland in 7C.  He spent most of his time working on his computer.  

About an hour to two hours into the flight I had to get up and use the restroom.  It sucks when you have the window seat but I got up and headed to the back, there were a few people in front of me so I had to wait in line for a while.  I finally got my turn, did my thing and got out.  I saw that the beverage and snack cart had been deployed and since there was one aisle, I got to stand back there and wait until they got to our seats.  I probably was gone from my seat for at least an hour.  When I finally got back, mom was like, where did you go?  I told her I had to wait a bit for my turn and then I had to wait for the cart.  Since I was gone, I didn't get any treats or a drink.  I kinda needed some water and didn't have any in my Nalgene.

As we got closer to Seattle, we started talking to the guy sitting next to us, he was probably around my age.  We started talking about why we were in Pittsburgh and we told him that we are huge fans of the Penguins and centralized our visit around the game on Saturday.  We told him some of the other stuff we did the six days we were there.  He told us that he was raised in the Midwest and needed a team to be a fan of so he started rooting for the Steelers.  Turns out one of his friends he went to high school with plays for the Steelers and he scored him some sideline passes and tickets to the game.  I told him that was so cool.  He said he was there the entire weekend and also went to the Penguins game.  He said he is a huge fan of the Penguins as well.  Then we started talking about the Penguins and how we have to listen to it on our app because it's not on TV very much.  We also mentioned that we hated that we had to rush home because most games started at 4 p.m. Pacific Time.  We both realized we ultimately couldn't complain because we were able to listen to it on a free app rather than missing it all together.  It was a good talk.

We got closer to Seattle and I wondered how the Seahawks were doing on MNF.  As we touched down at SeaTac (around 6:45ish) and we could turn on our phones I immediately checked ESPN to find out the score.  We had just fumbled it on the one yard line as the time ran out.  We were down 10-7 at half time.  Ughhh!  I sure hope we play the second half better.  I was getting all anxious now.  I let Ben know we landed and that we will have to go get our bags.  He was sitting in the cell phone lot waiting for us.

We deplaned and wandered through the airport towards the baggage claim.  I was so glad we didn't have to wait very long.  Our bags popped out onto the carousel pretty quickly.  I let Ben know where we would be and he drove the Escape to come get us.  I was so ready to go to bed.  I needed some sleep.  I know we gain some hours back but I was ready for bed at this point.  The close football game didn't help my mood either.  During the ride back towards home, the game was killing me.  We did have to take mom home in Rainier as well so it would be a while before I would be able to get a shower and some sleep.  

We dropped mom off at home and helped her bring her suitcase in.  She immediately turned the TV on and the game was on.  We had so many chances to win it in regulation.  I told Ben I hated overtime so I told mom I would see her later and we were heading home.  I really wanted to go home because I was tire and was getting crabby plus, I had to go to work the next day.  We listened to it on the way home and I was literally dying.  I did NOT want to lose to the 49ers and I did NOT want them to continue their lucky undefeated streak.  We finally got home, unloaded the Escape and Ben turned the TV on for the rest of overtime.  I could not believe what we were watching.  After some really bad missed field goals we prevailed beating the 49ers 27-24.  I could sleep soundly tonight.

I got a shower in, ate a snack and relaxed until bedtime.  I can't wait until I get to go back to Pennsylvania to explore some more.  I hope it sooner rather than later.

Mom and I found two caches in two new counties.  The totals for this trip were: 26 caches, those being 3 virtuals, 4 earthcaches, 1 multicache and 18 traditionals, in 4 states and 14 counties.  It was a good mix of exploring, sports, history, geography, sight seeing and of course geocaching.  

Next Adventure:  Thanksgiving #1 and #2

More Sightseeing in Pittsburgh, Andy Warhol Museum, Geocaching

Mom and I got up around 7:15ish, mom got in a shower, I got up, got dressed, got my stuff all packed up and ready before we went downstairs for our breakfast.  There were lots of people in the café this morning...a lot of them getting ready for the Steelers game later on that evening.  I had a sausage McMuffin, grapes and orange juice.  Mom dissected her sausage and egg with a fork and had some apple juice.

We went back upstairs and finished packing up our stuff, made one last sweep of everything and headed downstairs with our bags.  That guy was still in his van from the night before.  He really must live in his van.  We shoved everything in the back, connected the GPS and looked for some nearby cheap gas.  It took us away from Pittsburgh, across the Alleghany River at a Marathon Gas station.  That short detour allowed mom to compile her "to go see and do" list for the morning and for her to decide which to do first. 

After I pumped and paid for gas I asked her, where do we wanna go first?  She said let's head back into Pittsburgh and hit up The Strip before it gets busy.  I'm sure later on today it would get super busy because of the football game later on today.  We plug the coords into the Nuvi and off we went.  We were up early enough before traffic got too bad.  We found a parking area and I am happy we did because the place was going to fill in fast.  We handed the parking attendant a few bucks and she wrote us a stub to keep in our window.  She said to have fun.

We decided to walk towards Union Station, PPG Paints Arena and part of downtown.  We went to Union Station first since it was the closest.  We took various pictures with different angles.  The architecture of this building was very unique. 

We moved onto PPG Paints Arena and explored that building and the Penguins stuff around it.  We didn't have time the night before to admire it since it was dark and too many people around.  The hockey statue was pretty awesome.   

We walked across the street to grab Slap Shot (GC70MA8) and it was shaped like a hockey puck.  We enjoyed this find. We walked towards downtown and admired the buildings and the small park they were setting up with a Nativity scene, so far they got the lights up.  We did notice a large truck with the Rams logo on the side of it.  The equipment team was packing up the gear for today's game.  The team must have been staying in the hotel.  I checked the geocaching app to see if there were anymore nearby.

I grabbed Mellon Green (GC70Q67) just near the Veteran's Day memorial cards that lined the sidewalks.  

We finished up our downtown tour by walking across the Sixteenth Street Bridge near the old Heinz Factory for some history and photos.  It was pretty cool.  They had turned part of the factory into businesses and apartment buildings.  Sadly, there were no geocaches near here.  We walked back towards The Strip for some shopping.

At this point mom and I were approaching almost 10,000 steps and it wasn't even noon!

We weaved in and out of several shops including many sports shops.  Since we live on the west coast Penguin memorabilia and sportswear isn't readily available.  I gotta get online, browse, pay shipping fees and wait.  Here, I didn't have to wait...as long as I made enough room in my suitcase to bring it home.  I like being able to see it, touch it and try it on but sadly, we live too far away.  We took full advantage of it...well, at least I did.  

Mom bought a few things including some T-shirts and whatnot for our family members.  I found my Penguins sweatshirt, a couple of other souvenirs and I broke down and bought a Terrible Towel even though I am not a Steelers fan.  I do appreciate the history and the Terry Bradshaw era but I loathe Ben Roethlisberger.  The last shop we stopped at one of the workers noticed we were from out of town (we were wearing our Seahawks stuff) and he was curious if we were going to the game today.  We told him, that we were visiting from Washington State and we were here for the Penguins game because we were fans.  He thought that was pretty cool.  He chatted with us for a while, we paid for our stuff and we walked back towards the rental.

But first, mom wanted to get mini doughnuts from the Peace, Love and Little Donuts shop around the corner.  Mom had seen it on one of her searches and had to come.  We chose six different flavors, an Old Fashioned, a strawberry glazed, a maple glazed and and the rest were glazed with different colored sprinkles.  It was a fun mini doughnut party in a small box!

When we got to the lot we noticed a car had double parked in front of us.  How are we going to get out?  The parking attendant must have a key...right?  Sure enough, she had a key and moved the car out of the way so we could get out.  We were right, The Strip did fill up fast.  We were glad we chose to do this area first.

I asked mom what she wanted to do next and she said the Andy Warhol Museum.  We plugged that into the GPS and off we went.  We drove up near the Northshore but missed our exit so we had to make a giant circle so we could get to the right exit.  We made our way to the correct road and now we had to dodge all the Steeler tailgaters and semi busy traffic to find the museum parking.  We finally found the right lot and the guy asked us if we were here for the museum or the football game.  Museum, we said.  He handed us a ticket stub and found a place to park.  We walked across the street and into the museum.  Mom and I both paid $20 to get in.  There were six floors and a basement to the place.  We used the restroom and started in the basement.

The basement was the creative floor to the museum.  Here, you got to learn how to screen print/silkscreen.  This artistic technique was frequently used by Warhol during his career.  We had choices on what to screen print on and since we didn't want to spend the money so we chose the free tote bag.  We needed to choose a color and a design.  Mom went first and I followed behind her.  It was fun learning how this was done with some of the museum staff who facilitated.  We let them dry and then we decided we should start on the top floor and work our way down to the first.  

The floors were basically divided up into some of his art work and his life through the decades.  It was pretty interesting because I really didn't know that much about him...just stuff here and there.  We took many photos and did some interactive stuff.

We made it back down to the first floor after about an hour or so.  We had to post with his famous couch before we went into the gift shop just to see what kind of weird stuff they had in there.  There was indeed some weird stuff.  We walked back to the rental and I asked mom, where to next?

She was sifting through her stuff and wanted to see something called The Stacks.  I told her to provide an address and we would go see them.  We weren't that far away and followed Nuvi's directions.  It took us southeast of Pittsburgh and we crossed over the Monongahela River into the Homestead neighborhood.  The Stacks are remnants of steel factories from the turn of the century.  By the 1980's a lot of them closed down when the steel industry collapsed.  The Stacks were preserved to remind everyone of the past.  Today, this area is now a small park surrounded by shopping centers and restaurants.  Mom and I got out, got our photos and noticed there was a multi cache here, Stack'em Up! (GC5TEH9).  So we spent time and worked on it.  We got the numbers off the signs and found the cache nearby. 

I asked mom if there was anything else she wanted to see while we were in Pittsburgh, she said, I think we saw everything on our list.  I asked her if we should start heading to our next destination?  She said probably.  I had planned on taking the long way there because I was so close to West Virginia and Ohio that we had to stop and get caches in each of those states.  She said sure, since we had some extra time.  I was so glad I took the time to put the cache coords into the GPS before we left on this trip.

I set the GPS to our first West Virginia cache.  I have been to West Virginia before back in 2006 for a fastpitch tournament in Morgantown while I was in college, however, I wasn't a geocacher yet.  We got onto I-376 and followed the freeway northwest past the airport.  We merged onto Hwy 30 by the small town of Clinton and followed that road all the way to the border of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, which probably took us about a half hour or so.

We pulled into the graveled park and ride and parked as close to the cache as I could.  There were a bunch of cars, trucks and semi trucks.  I pulled the rental between the muggles in cars and the guard rail so people wouldn't see me.  I pulled out a duct taped pill bottle out of the corner of the guardrail.  Route 30 Park and Ride (GC7R9XC) was my first West Virginia cache.  

I wish it would have been a cooler one but we were kinda on a time limit.  We didn't have enough time to drive around WV looking for a better one.  I signed our names and left a pathtag for the next cacher.  I put it back quickly avoiding muggles driving down the road and we were off to grab our first Ohio cache 

We got back onto Hwy 30 and drove north over the Ohio River into East Liverpool, Ohio.  I picked a cache on the app that would be accessible and easy to grab.  What Time is It (GC1G8ME) was our first Ohio cache.  We found a place to park and I walked up to ground zero.  I had a really hard time pinpointing the container.  Turns out, it was just a plastic bag with a logbook inside.  It was strategically tucked away making it hard to find.  I signed our names, got some photos and got back in the rental.

I asked mom if we should find something to eat and she said we could wait until we got to New Castle.  

We got back in the rental and remembered the MLS Cup was on.  It started at noon pacific time, 3:00 eastern time.  We had perfect timing.  I found a feed on my phone and synced it to the rental radio so we could listen to the audio while we drove to our hotel.  Ben said he got up early and headed up to Seattle.  Somehow he got tickets and was able to sneak to the 100 level with some people he knew.  He was so stoked to be there but was sad I wasn't able to come.  

Back when we planned this trip, we had no idea the Sounders would be in the MLS Cup.  I was hoping this wouldn't be the last time the Sounders hosted an MLS Cup.  We were the underdogs with Toronto at 65% and us with the chance of winning it at 35%.  This would be the third time we've played Toronto in the last four MLS Cups.  The first year in 2016 we beat them in a shootout, the second time, in 2017 they beat us 2-0 and this was the rubber match.  Will we best them for a second time?

We listened to the game as we drove back to the interstate on Route 39/68.  But first, I needed to get two more caches near the state line of Ohio and PA.  I am a sucker for county, state, international borders, longitude and latitude lines...especially if there are caches at them.  We stopped into a pullout near two caches, a traditional cache, The Point of the Beginning (GC5XVTM) and a virtual, The Alone Ranger (GCAC19) which were within 200 feet of each other.  I found the traditional first and it had a little bit of water inside of it but the logbook was still sign able.  I went to the structure at the state line and answered the question needed to complete the virtual cache.  

We just picked up two more Ohio caches!  Then I had mom get out of the rental and get a picture with me at the Pennsylvania sign. 

The game was very back and forth during the first half and our hometown crowd was extremely loud over the radio.  At the 45th minute with a few minutes of stoppage time, it was tied 0-0.  We had a few chances to break it open but it just didn't happen.  We were all getting anxious.  I really wanted Ben to go to a winning game. 

We followed the Route until to merged onto Interstate 376, at Vanport, PA, where we were immediately tolled.  Yay turnpikes!  We noticed across the river in Shippingport, PA we saw the nuclear reactors similar to the ones we have in Satsop at home.  It took us about 30 minutes to get to New Castle while we listened to the second half.  We finally broke it open in the 57th minute by a deflection off of the Toronto defender.  Haha, they scored on themselves.  It gave us a much needed goal at this stage of the game.  I had the GPS take us directly to the hotel.  We got into town and followed the directions to the Comfort Inn.  After the first goal, the momentum shifted into our favor, we scored one more time before we got to the hotel with a goal, a straight shot from the top of the box.  We had a 2-0 lead with less than 15 minutes left of the game.  I am hoping that they played smart the rest of the game.

I let mom out and she checked us into the hotel.  She came out and told me we were in room 113, the ground level.  We drove the rental over to the door, grabbed our stuff and headed in...still listening to the game on the phone.  We sat on the bed and listened to the rest of the game.  We were getting anxious.  Seattle broke it open once again with a long ball that we out ran the defense to score the final goal of regulation.  We had this game at 3-0 however, there were three minutes of stoppage time and sometimes that lasts a lot longer than it seems.

We could have had a shut out but unfortunately, with most teams who think they won, they relax on defense allowing garbage goals/scores at the end of the game.  It was a desperate attempt.  Just before the end of stoppage time, Toronto made a garbage goal keeping them from being shut out.  So I guess it was less embarrassing for them.

SOUNDERS ARE MLS CHAMPS!!

We won 3-1 and now have two MLS Cups under our belt and it feels awesome!  It was a good weekend for the sports team's I root for.  I hoped that luck makes it into Monday Night Football tomorrow evening when the Seahawks take on the undefeated 49ers.  I wanted to put an end to the ridiculous and very lucky season San Francisco was having.  I know we can do it.

I asked mom what she wanted for dinner, since it was 6 p.m., and she felt like pizza so I checked my phone to see if there were any pizza places around.  There was one literally across the street from the hotel.  It was called 4 Star Pizza and it was a mom and pop pizza shop.  We drove over and walked in.  I asked mom what kind she wanted so we just got pepperoni and black olives.  We found out it was cheaper than we thought it was because it was Sunday.  We only paid five dollars and some change for a medium two topping pizza.  It was awesome.  We didn't even have to wait that long either.  They gave us plates and napkins.  We headed back, got comfy and found the Sunday Night Football game.  

It was the Steelers and the Rams.  I wanted the Steelers to beat the Rams because it would be good for us.  The more the Cardinals, Rams and 49ers lost, the better for the Seahawks.

While we ate and watched football, I posted some pictures on Facebook, did a few posts and even had some time to check my emails and whatnot.  I took a shower around halftime and spent some time going through my suitcase reorganizing stuff so it would all fit.  I always manage to bring back more than what I came with.  My suitcase was so crammed it was front heavy and would tip over.

I couldn't stay up any longer and watch SNF because today was pretty long, we drove a lot and we had to get up and do a lot of stuff tomorrow before we spent our evening traveling back to Washington.  I struggled keeping my eyes open.  I really don't like watching sports in eastern standard time, they start too late.  I can't imaging watching any sporting event on the west coast that started past 7 p.m.  Those poor fans.  I brushed my teeth and passed out.  

I did find out the next day that the Steelers won 17-12.

Mom and I found 7 caches, 5 traditionals, one multi and one virtual and two new states and three new counties.

Next Adventure:  New Castle, Amish Country Tour, Yellow Dog Village and Plane Ride Back to Seattle