I had been in contact with Fitzy throughout the summer. She told me that she and Chaise were moving back to Washington to be closer to family. I asked her if she needed help moving and she said between her and Chaise, they got most of it covered. I really wanted to go to Spokane to see them and their new home. I asked her when the best time to come see them were and she said probably the end of August. I set aside some time on the calendar and when that time came, I took part of Thursday and all of Friday off.
I had spoken to Ray and Brenda about coming over to see their house too. They moved a few years back and I hadn't been able to make it over to Spokane to see them either. Then Covid ruined a lot of stuff. I asked if I left a little early if I could hang out with them for a day and they said to come on over! I figured this plan worked great, hang out with them on Thursday and Friday and then hang out with Fitzy and Chaise Friday, Saturday and Sunday since they both work from home and I didn't really want to bother them on Friday. Brenda was more than willing to take the Friday off to hang out.
The night before, I got gas, did laundry and packed up some of my stuff. On Thursday, I got up, worked and finished packing up my stuff. I asked my boss and co-workers if it would be cool if I ducked out early for my three-day weekend since I was done with all my work. They said it was cool and to have a great time. I logged off at 2 and threw all of my stuff into the Escape. I left the house at 2:15 and hoped there wasn't any horrible traffic along the way.
It was slow through Nisqually on I-5 for some reason and then slow through JBLM. There weren't any accidents or construction going on, so I was at a loss of why. I got onto 512 and 167 and was smooth sailing all the way to Auburn. It was a little slow at the interchange and I got bored so I called Trish to see what she was up to. She didn't answer.
While on Hwy 18, it was very quick all the way to I-90, and I updated Ray and Brenda about my progress with texts and pictures. I turned on my podcasts and listened to them as I saw the landscape change. I was making very good time and hit a slow spot through Easton due to a stupid guy who forgot how to drive. I knew I had to make a bathroom pitstop, so I chose Indian John Hill, and this is where I wish I brough snacks with me because I was getting a little hungry about this time. It was around 4:30 or so.
My ride was quick through Ellensburg, Vantage and George...it was about 90-100 degrees through there. I talked to Ben on the phone for a while just after 5:15. He asked how my trip was going and told him I was making very good time. He told me about his day, we chatted about other random things as I continued east. I got to Moses Lake around 5:35 and noticed that I had to get gas soon. I remembered that there was a Love's in Ritzville. I tried calling Mom, but she must have been at quilting since she didn't answer.
I got closer to Ritzville and checked to see if there was a cache at or near the Love's. There was! Fuel Up! (GC9VFGV) was a quick park and grab. I got gas, used the restroom and found the cache before getting back onto I-90 again. I told Ray and Brenda I had to stop for gas and to use the restroom. They could not believe that I was making that great of time. It does help tremendously not having a ton of traffic to hold me back...plus I was going at least 80 miles an hour the entire time.
I continued driving east and Trish called me back, but my phone didn't ring so I called her back not realizing that. We chatted for a little while between Ritzville and Sprague. She was having trouble with her phone recently, so Ben and I were going to help her get a new one. We finished our conversation as I got closer to Spokane.
Just outside of Fishtrap, I experienced a drop of 20 degrees in temperature. It went from 90 degrees to about 70-75 degrees in less than 20 miles. It was crazy. The wind blew pretty hard, and you could see storm clouds off in the distance.
I passed the exit for Cheney and noticed a lot of new buildings since the last time I was here, spring of 2018. I got off at the airport exit and drove through Airway Heights. Airway Heights also grew up in the last five years. I followed the Nuvi to their house and pulled into the driveway just after 7 p.m. I made to their house in under 5 hours.
They welcomed me to their house as I gathered up my stuff and brought it in. Zuri, of course, was a little nosey and had to smell all of my stuff. Haha. I got settled in a bit, they gave me a tour of their house and where I was going to sleep. They saved me some chicken Caesar salad and I ate that while we chatted about anything and everything.
It was time to take Zuri for a walk, so Brenda and I went outside. I made the Soda Pirates (GC7VH7C) find and then walked to the end of the road down to the front of the housing development. We saw dry lightning to the south of us; it was quite the show. I found their other cache, Pillar Rock (GC7T6FK) and then walked back to the house, grabbing the mail, as we walked past.
The rest of the night we hung out, chatted about wedding stuff and then they showed me and told me stories about their recent trip to Europe. We went to be super late.
Next Adventure: Spokane Trip: Spending the Day with Brenda and Ray, Geocaching and Adventure Labs
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