We ran out of time last weekend to patch up his mom's driveway (he had promised her he would do it for Mother's Day) so we planned on heading over there again this weekend for a day. Sunday I had promised my day to Dad and Grandpa for Father's Day so we would have to go home Saturday night. We talked to Trish throughout the week to find out what we needed to do, what kind of materials and tools we needed and whatever else we needed. I mean, we weren't doing anything else because most stuff was still closed due to God Damn Covid, so why not get some stuff done we've been putting off?
Throughout the spring and summer since the outbreak, I've had a lot of time to go through things that I've personally been putting off. I've been more focused on traveling, hiking, camping and taking care of Grandpa the last two years. That's one of the reasons why I wanted a good paying job so bad so I could finally travel to the places I've been wanting to go to. So far I've been able to go through a lot of the storage bins in the garage, a lot of my college binders, some of Ben's stuff, etc. Some of the stuff I haven't seen in over 10 years. I rearranged most of the stuff so we had more room in the garage. I swept, cleaned, organized and wiped down a bunch of the stuff. It was easier since most of Erika's stuff was gone. I had other stuff I wanted to do but that would have to wait. One thing at a time so it doesn't get overwhelming. My next project, at some point, was to go through all the floppy disks and my college file folders full of notes, tests, quizzes and papers I've written.
The work day was frustrating because our reviews didn't come until 10 a.m. That wasted three hours of my day and I had to adjust my breaks and work through my lunch so I could get everything done before four. Later on that afternoon, we found out that we would have to do a series of eight furlough days starting in July and going until mid November. They were leave without pay so that meant we had to file for unemployment. I was furious! I hate being on unemployment! Ugh, this year just keeps getting worse and worse and it's only June!
After work, I packed a back pack with some pajamas, our toiletries and some clothes for Saturday. I did a couple of chores, got in a shower and asked Erika to come over tomorrow morning to feed Calvin. She said she would and give him some pets. Ben got home shortly after and he got ready to go. I brought the rest of the potato salad and some chips with us since we were having burgers on the BBQ. We took the Escape again. He threw his tool bag in the back just in case he needed some of the stuff. He wasn't really sure what kinds of tools his mom still had in his dad's tool box in the garage.
We headed up and the traffic wasn't bad. I've enjoyed how light the traffic has been since early March even though God Damn Covid sucks! We arrived just after 6:15 and unloaded the Escape. Trish had just gotten off of work and hadn't been home for too long. Ed was also coming over and would be there soon.
I put drinks and the potato salad into the fridge and the chips into the pantry. Trish powered up the grill and threw the burgers on. She asked us how many we wanted, I just wanted one and Ben wanted two patties. We sat down and ate dinner and visited about the past week. We cleaned up and then played a round of Phase 10 Twist (which I came from behind and won) and then lost at Uno Attack. We ate popcorn a little while later just because it sounded good.
Ben fell asleep on the couch for a bit watching television. I told him that he should go to bed if he was tired.
We went to bed about an hour or so later. The bed was still uncomfortable and it was hot downstairs. It was going to be a long night even with the fan blowing on us.
The next day we got up, got ready for the day and ate breakfast. We also noticed it was raining. We wouldn't be able to do the driveway while it was raining. Our plans for today were foiled! Instead, we hung out at the house and worked on the kitchen sink again.
Ben decided he would try to modify the kitchen sink that he worked on last month. Trish had bought the wrong part that didn't fit even though the person on the other end of the phone insisted that it was the right part when she ordered it. Ben made it work until we could get back over when she got the right part. We played one more round of dice before we got our stuff together and headed out.
We thanked Trish for letting us hang out with her even though we were just here last weekend and this trip was a short one. I needed to get home so I could spend some time with my Dad and Grandpa the next day. She understood. We gave out some hugs and told them we would see them next time which would be at our house hopefully soon.
Ben and I left around 4ish. I asked Ben, since the rain finally stopped, if we could find some caches on the way home. He said sure. We drove the back way, down the hill, into the Orting Valley. We stopped and grabbed I'm Stumped For a Name (GC2NF48) and I really wasn't sure where to park so we parked off the side of the road near a gated entry way. I asked Ben if he thought there was a trail behind these houses and how to access it. We just walked across the empty retention ponds to a not so manicured "trail". I was wearing the wrong shoes when we walked out here but I was determined. We found it behind an old stump surrounded by newly grown sticker bushes. I did get scratched by one of them but not too bad. We signed our names and put it back.
The next one, Rock Walls Really Bug Me!!! (GC2430V) was near the Sky Island community. We followed the phone's directions to a small development off the main road. We parked the Escape near the cache and knew we'd be looking in a rock wall. I hope it was easy to find as we got out to search. Luckily, it was easy to find. Ben found it, we signed our names and I traded pathtags.
We followed the road down to the valley. I had Ben navigate me to Calling All Cachers (GC7XXNM) which I couldn't tell where to park or how to get to it since it was near the Puyallup River. Was there a road? Was it a trail? I accidently drove past it and we had to turn around. Ben was upset that I didn't listen to him. I told him it was fixable and I can turn around. I just didn't see where we would enter. It was a trail and there was a obscured opening in the fence. I parked along the side of the road, locked the Escape and walked in. It was hidden amongst the tall grass near the tree line. I had Ben take a picture of me talking on the phone.
There was one more down this river trail called In Instructions? (GC6XCCD). It was about a quarter of a mile down a gravel road next to the river from the phone cache.
It didn't take us long to find it. It was hanging in one of the smaller trees on the trail opposite side of the river.
We quickly signed our names and walked back to the Escape. We got back in and stopped at one on the other side of the river but it was missing.
The next two caches were part of the South Hill's Historic Corridor #'s 8 (GC7T8NN) and 7 (GC7T8Q2) and both were along Military Road, the road that connects the Orting Highway to the top of the South Hill. Both caches were magnetic nanos that looked like bolts attached to the historic corridor signs.
We eventually got onto 512 and onto I-5 South. We got home around 6ish and did a few chores and headed to the store really quick to get the rest of the supplies for the Father's Day gathering the next day.
Next Adventure: Father's Day and My Award Winning TB Hotel
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