We were supposed to be going through furniture at Grammie and Grandpa's house, but Dad decided he was going to go to a gun show in Castle Rock instead. I wanted to go to Ocean Shores last weekend, but the weather was too poor. I saw that we had a glimmer of hope for Saturday and so I had that plan in my back pocket.
I woke up around 9:45, checked the weather radar on my phone and called Mom to see what she was doing and if she wanted to go with me to Ocean Shores for the day. She said sure. I told her she would have to drive out to my house. Meanwhile, I did some laundry, ate some breakfast and turned March Madness on to see how the morning game was going. I looked at my caching app to see which ones I wanted to get. There were so many caches I didn't have since Ocean Shores isn't a place, I go to that often. The last time I was in Ocean Shores was July 2019, the summer before stupid Covid hit.
Mom got here just before noon, we asked Doug if he wanted to go and he said no, we got everything packed up in the Escape and made sure everything was squared away before we left. I wanted to top off with gas before we left town, so we stopped at the Arco along Yelm Highway. We followed the road to Tumwater and got onto Hwy 101 from there. The traffic wasn't bad, so it didn't take us very long to get to Aberdeen.
We got into the correct lane to follow the highway up and over the bridge into downtown Aberdeen. We reached Hoquiam and then for the last ten miles towards Ocean Shores, we followed a line of cars. I knew there would be a bunch of people heading to the coast since it was a nice day. We made the turn towards town, and I saw there was a cache at one of the tiny state parks just before you drive out to the beach.
Our first stop of the day was at the Oyhut Rest Area (GC7E40R) at Oyhut State Park. Part of it was underwater so we found a parking spot that wasn't. There was a truck nearby who were probably using the bathrooms. The public bathrooms at our ocean beaches are very questionable. I came for the cache. I saw it was a micro and looked up and down the signage structure. I figured it had to be a bolt. The only bolt was near the dilapidated roof of the structure. I tried moving it to see if it was that and it barely moved. Maybe it wasn't that? I tried again several minutes later but this time I turned it and it did unscrew. I took it to the Escape with Mom because I felt eyes staring at me from the truck. I signed our names on the tattered logbook. I rolled it back up, shoved it in the rusty bolt and walked to the sign to put it back. The guy in the truck finally left.
I checked the Adventure Lab app for the Ocean Shores Fun lab to see what the locations were around town we had to get. The first place was Sharkey's, the building that looks like a shark just down the street from the other popular beach access road. I got out and counted crabs and starfish like I was supposed to. I came back and asked Mom if she wanted to go inside for a minute or two. She said sure. I got a couple of postcards, and she got some saltwater taffy for Dad and a sweatshirt for herself. Mom is a sweatshirt person.
Then we tried finding a place to park. There were tons of people at the convention center, and we had no idea why. Eventually, we found out it was the Razor Clam and Seafood Festival--which was the opening weekend for the start of the tourist season. I did find a place to park on the back side of the convention center. We got out and walked around since everything was pretty close.
We walked to the next few Adventure Lab spots, which took us to Paradise Golf, with big foot, where we counted flag poles and found the cache, Big Foot Paradise (GC8ZJJ1) and Playtime Family Fun, where we counted light poles. Mom said she was hungry, and she led the way to a place she's had fish and chips at a few times. I've never eaten fish and chips in Ocean Shores, so I had no idea which one was good or not. She walked me to a place called Mike's Seafood. She said she's been here with Dad a few times over the years and liked their food.
We were seated in the back part of the restaurant, handed menus and Mom and I chose to do the two-piece cod with fries and a lemonade. We ordered and then I went to the bathroom, mostly to wash my hands. We waited about fifteen minutes and our food came out hot and fresh. It was pretty good. I liked how the batter on the fish wasn't over seasoned and it had a hint of sweet to it. Of course, we ate too much but I told Mom we'd be walking it off in no time.
We thanked our waiter, paid for our food, left him a good tip and headed outside for our next adventure. I asked Mom where she wanted to go, and she said she wanted to go to the quilt store. We walked the block-ish to Beach Tyme Quilts. Mom said she's been here before. We browsed around yes; Mom did find some fabric to take home. We chatted with the guy a little bit and with our purchase we got a free rubber ducky. We chose the beach themed one since we were at the beach today.
I opened up the other Adventure Lab, WCAS: Ocean Shores to Aberdeen, which has ten locations, to see where we needed to go in Ocean Shores before we moved on to the southern end of the peninsula or the isthmus. We saw there were three locations in Ocean Shores we had to get. We walked to the mural on the side of the convention center to find out our answer and then we walked to the back side to get back in the Escape to finish the rest of it.
I saw there was one more cache nearby and it was in the parking lot. What Sign?? (GC8ZAJT) was stuck to the side of a sign less pole. The shrubs hid it from view. Meanwhile, Mom wanted me to unlock the Escape so she could get in. It was a quick grab, sign and replace. I walked to the Escape and told her what the rest of the day would look like so we could get everything we needed to get and still enjoy the beach.
We got on the main access beach road and stopped at Chance A la Mer State Park, where the other tiny state park was with the bathrooms. Our second piece to the second Adventure Lab was here. It was a quick park and answer. I was not expecting it to be the recycling fish statue. Haha.
I asked Mom if this is where she wanted to access the beach and she said it was fine. We drove out and went left because you still could up until Memorial Day Weekend. We drove about a half a mile and found a place to park the Escape. We got out and walked along the beach taking pictures, watching the seagulls beg people for food and the sandpipers running around with their little legs. We were surprised to see as many people out walking their dogs, flying kites and even walking around barefoot in the sand. It was cold outside!
.jpg)
.jpg)
Before we left that area, we stopped by Chance A la Mer State Park so we could use the really awesome public toilets. Just about every single stall was missing toilet paper. Good thing I have a roll in the back of the Escape.
After frolicking on the beach for a little bit I asked Mom if she was ready to go down to Damon Point and she said sure. We got on the main road and drove south to Damon Point, but first we stopped by the interpretation center to finish the first Adventure Lab, Ocean Shores Fun. We got to the interpretive center, parked and got out. The actual interpretation center just closed as we got there but we needed the information outside. The employee came out to get her moped ready by taking the cover off of it and then it started raining. She looked defeated. Mom and I got the last lab we needed and took a few pictures.
Before we left the interpretation center, I checked my app to see if there were any caches nearby with a lot of favorite points and there was one just up the road called Dock by a Bay (GC6N688). Mom decided to stay in the Escape while I went and got it. I had to open the gate to get onto the dock. I knew the cache would be underneath the dock out of sight. I went down the stairs and immediately saw it. Clever. I saw there were two bags, one full of used logbooks and the other one had some trinkets in it and two inactivated tags. I couldn't help myself. I took the tags home with me. I walked back out to the Escape and joined Mom. I showed her the picture of the cache.
I asked her if she wanted to stop just up the road at the Damon Point beach access and she said yes. It's been a while since we've both been here to explore. We walked along the beach and took some photos of the waves crashing into the rocks. There were people there getting ready for the razor clam dig at dusk. I saw there was a cache on the far side of the spit.
Convert Crevasse (GC6YK6T) was zip tied to a wind thrashed beach tree. I originally thought it was going to be hidden in the rocks, but I looked at the size and knew it was going to be in the tree. Mom spotted it before I did, and I went around to get a better angle at it and stepped in some poop. I wasn't sure if it was human or dog. Yay people who don't pick up after themselves! I signed our names and put it back where I found it.
We started back to the Escape since it was getting late. We got back on the highway and headed north up the peninsula to leave town. I told Mom we would have to come back here with everyone one weekend this summer. They could bring their dogs. We made one more stop before leaving town completely. The third and last spot for the WCAS: Ocean Shores to Aberdeen Adventure Lab. It took us into a small Oyhut neighborhood parallel to the high school. It took us to a mailbox with "air mail" written on the side of it. Yes, it was one of those tall mailboxes.
We got back on the highway between Ocean Shores and Hoquiam and started heading east towards Aberdeen. We stopped at Lytle Seafoods to pick up another piece to the Adventure Lab and there was a cache here called We Shuck'em, You Suck'em (GC1VVN7). I am so glad I keep a crate in the Escape for just such caches. I am vertically challenged, and I had to use the crate to grab the container on the sign. Mom took a couple pictures of me retrieving the cache and some of all the oyster shells everywhere.
We got back on the highway and got to Hoquiam. I mentioned there were three more places here to stop at for the Adventure Lab, but we knew we wouldn't get all of them done on this trip because it was getting dark, and we'd have to finish it when we came back out here. Mom did want to stop at Hoquiam's Castle just to see it. She said Dad might have taken here out here once. I told her I've never been here. We answered the question and took a picture.
We stopped at the Aberdeen Walmart because Mom wanted to pick up a few things. We noticed this Walmart was stocked better than the ones in Thurston County. We were impressed. Mom found what she needed, and I asked Ben if he needed anything from the store. I got some Vitamin water, a couple of cheap tank tops and some Fritos. We got home around 8:30, unloaded the Escape, Mom put her stuff in her Expedition, and she went home. She called to let me know she got home safely.
I got a shower in, ate some popcorn, logged my caches, watched The Dark Knight with Ben and eventually went to bed late. It was nice to finally get to the beach after two long years.
Next Adventure: A Much-Needed Three-Day Weekend and Paint Day
No comments:
Post a Comment