I hate furlough days. This was our last one of the year and they are down right terrible. This one was suppose to be at the end of the month but it was changed because the shared work program was about to end. I hated being on unemployment, which is not user friendly, and the furlough days created a ton of work for us to do on the next work day. I deemed them double Mondays or double Tuesdays. Man, I dreaded those days. At least we had some nice weather during the summertime furlough days. I would have probably planned something with Mom if it was on a Friday but this time it was moved to Monday, a day in which no one has off, so I had to figure out what to do with my day.
I decided it would be a good day to check up on my caches since it's been about six months since I last checked on them. I was only going to check on the ones that have been reported missing or needs maintenance. The night before I made a list of those caches and an efficient route to go along with it.
I got up around 10ish, it is always nice to sleep in on my days off, grabbed some food and headed out. I made sure I had my geocaching back pack full of maintenance supplies. I decided to drive out to Spanaway first and make my way towards Tenino and then into Tumwater and finally home. A giant circle if you will.
My first stop was in Yelm at Bypass to Nowhere (GC2HFCM) since I really needed to change the container anyway. The last time I was here I didn't have the proper containers, baggies or logbook so I threw down a temporary one until I could get a proper one for this spot. I parked, got everything together and the place I wanted to put it wasn't magnetic so I had to scrap that idea. I went with a basic micro cache and stuck it near the stop sign.
I continued my way towards Spanaway. As I approached the town of Roy, I decided to stop to fix the The 507 Series: Roy, Wash (GC3AMVP) cache instead of following a large truck so I pulled into the convenience store parking lot. About a week to two weeks ago I got a message on the app stating that the Roy cache was missing and the rock it was hidden underneath was also missing. I told them that I would go check it out the next time I was out that way. Well, that was today. I walked over to the original location and the rock was indeed gone from the spot. It looks like they moved the rock to the corner of the fence away from the sidewalk. I picked the rock closest to the store and hid a new container and took new coords. I also had to be patient because the owner of the car lot was out walking around and I really didn't want to talk to him. I did manage to get it all done and walked back to the Escape.
I drove the rest of the way to the end of where Hwy 507 meets up with Hwy 7. I pulled into the Park N Ride and it was pretty empty for it being a Monday. It was good for me because I could replace the cache in peace and not have to be stealthy. The cache itself, The 507 Series: Spanaway, Wash (GC3V7QF), was indeed missing as the logs stated. I was hoping it wasn't true because I really hate coming out here just because to check on it. I got my replacement out, found a baggie and a logbook and made sure to put the code on it to where people could see it.
I got back onto Hwy 507 and drove back into Yelm. I had a cache, Curious George (GC8YF5Z), that I had to check on along the trail. I had just placed this one back in August and it's already having problems. I parked at the nearby neighborhood and walked to the cache with replacement in hand...just in case. Yep, it was missing. This time I put it behind the tree so it was hidden away from being able to see it from the trail. I walked back to the Escape.
I took the back way towards home near 133rd and Solberg and had to replace Triangle (GC2EYYM). The original cache has disappeared into the brush since it's grown up since I've placed it...many years ago. I had a container with a handle on it so I decided to find a good tree to hang it off of out of sight from the road. I took coordinates and walked back to the Escape.
I drove into Rainier via Koeppen Road and parked behind the Rainier Market. I needed some food so I ate my tuna and crackers for lunch while I contemplated what I was going to do for the two caches I needed to check up on. As I looked at the areas, I knew I was going to have to replace both of them. The City of Rainier had done a lot landscaping and maintenance over the past few weeks and the cache locations were compromised. Ugh.
I walked out to The 507 Series: Rainier, Wash (GC3AMVX) first, since it was the furthest from the Escape. I saw the city got rid of a lot of the Scotch Broom in the area along with the various brush and tree limbs. There weren't a lot of places left to hide it. Last time I stuck it near a tree with some rocks next to it since it was a fake rock but I can't put it back there. I found some large rocks off to the side roughly 75 feet from the original coords. I took some new ones and made sure the container had everything and the code.
I took the fake rock and had to find a new home for Rainier Trail Cache (GC8MCG5) since the city got rid of all the railroad ties and rocks from the location I had it hiding in. I ended up moving it about 100 feet near some large rocks on the south side of the trail. I made sure there was an appropriate amount of feet between the two caches so they could be reactivated.
I walked back to the Escape and drove towards Tenino. I had to stop at Asphalt Adventures #1 (GC31DCY) because it was actually missing. I parked in the driveway nearby and made the new container switch. I got back onto 507 and drove back into Rainier. I called dad and he was on his way to the bank and somehow got behind him but I stopped to check up on Nifty Gifty (GC2N0E9) and it was good to go.
My next stop was in Tumwater so I took the back way down Waldrick Road to Old Hwy 99. I stopped at the store first to pick up a few things and then went to the cemetery to visit with Grammie. I told her the stuff we've been doing and how we're tired of Covid.
I stopped at the bank to drop off some checks I've been holding on to and then I stopped at Pioneer Park to find a cache.
I've been driving past Go Fish! (GC89H30) for months and wanted to stop and grab it but never actually did so I thought today would be a perfect day to get it since there weren't that many people in the park. I walked down the trail to where the coords took me. I wasn't sure what to expect but had an idea so I brought my magnet. I found the sign and the pipe on the backside of it. I tried using the magnet to side the cache up to the top. The tricky part was there was a bracket that made you take the magnet off the pipe so the cache fell to the bottom again. Hmmm.
I walked back to the Escape for some supplies. I was going to have to make my own fishing pole. Luckily, I had my caching back pack with me full of odds and ends. I walked back to the sign, made a very sad looking fishing pole and it took me two times to finally get the container out of the pipe. I signed the log, got a few pics and put it back for the next cacher.
On the way back to the Escape for a second time, a PT Cruiser slowed down and rolled down their window (I thought it was going to be someone who needed directions or something) and I had no idea who it was until I heard them say, Val! Haha, it was Celeste and she was here to do some Pokemon Go. We chatted for about 15 minutes or so.
I got home, unloaded groceries, started the lasagna, watched Monday Night Football (Cardinals at Cowboys, Cards won 38-10), logged my caches, worked on my blog and talked to Mom and Trish for a bit. I got cleaned up and Ben and I got ready for bed. It was a nice day off but I'd rather be working instead just because I hate double work days.
Next Adventure: Meet and Greet in Astoria
No comments:
Post a Comment