I kept looking at my geocaching account at that number, 12,992. I was only eight caches away from that 13,000th milestone. What cache and where should I go to get it? I looked at the map and discovered that I haven't been to Westport in a while. I had tried going to Westport a few weeks back, but it didn't work out. I called Mom to ask if she wanted to go to Westport for the day and she said sure. I didn't ask anyone else because it would have been crazy to coordinate it, everyone would want to bring their dogs, and I just wanted to go for geocaching and exploring without the extra people, plus Ben was on shift at the fire station.
Mom met me at the house at 9 a.m. I quickly ate my bagel and yogurt while we threw some stuff in the back just in case we needed it for any reason. I brought a cooler with water and various sodas inside of it with a few snacks. I threw in an extra set of clothes and shoes. Mom said to grab an extra SD card out of my stuff because of the ladies at the office borrowed hers and didn't give it back to her. Lame. I grabbed whatever I could and wasn't sure if it would be compatible with her camera. I guess we will see.
I drove down College and got onto Slater Kinney to get onto I-5. I decided to be different and go that way. We merged onto Hwy 101 and then onto Hwy 8 through Elma and Montesano. We talked about random things such as the stuff that's been going on at work, Doug's progress with life and our upcoming trip to New England with Rhonda, Amy and Mindy. There wasn't a lot of traffic along the way which was nice.
We drove through Aberdeen...which was a bit more congested than the rest of our trip and merged onto the highway that took us to Westport. I can't help it but every time I drive past the mall, I think of how dumb my friends were in high school. They drove to Aberdeen thinking they were going to the Supermall in Auburn. They will never live it down.
We scooted down the highway and I had my Nuvi set to Bigfoot's Field of Dreams (GC9606V) since it was the only one along the way until we got closer to Westport. When we did arrive near the cache, it was on a really weird one-way triangle road where there was an entrance and an exit. There wasn't really a pull off area. Luckily, this area wasn't all that busy. I pulled over and Mom stayed in the Escape. I walked towards the cache. It took me around a forestry gate into an area that looked like it had been logged recently, but stuff had grown up a bit. The coords took me to a large stump originally but soon found out I was looking in the wrong spot when I didn't find an ammo can. I started to search further from the stump next to a fallen log and found it immediately. I signed our names, took a picture and put it back where I found it. On the way back to the Escape, I fell in the loose gravel next to the gate and got ripped up by sticker bushes in the leg. Ugh! I just got done healing from my last geocaching scrape from July. I hopped into the Escape, got back onto the highway and headed to our next one.
Bay City Sausage (GC733BK) was the next cache on the list. We pulled up next to a business and there were two cars there wanting to purchase meat. There was a sign on the door stating they were closed that day. I was just there for the cache and Mom stayed in the Escape. I searched and another vehicle pulled up and it was the owner of the meat business and her mom. They asked if I was a geocacher and if I found it. I told them yes and showed it to them even though the business owner did know about it. They shared with me why they were closed that day and it was because the owner was getting married, and they had to stop to pick up the wedding cake. I told them congrats and to have a nice day and got back in the Escape.
We got back on the highway and headed into Westport. I had set my Nuvi for Twin Harbors State Park. It has been a while since I've been here. We parked and used the restrooms quickly, grabbed what we would need out of the Escape and walked out to the dunes and the beach. I went to go get Happy Kids #2 (GC9V1ZV) while Mom went to the beach. I found the cache and then joined her. She was picking up sand dollars. It's been a long time since we've seen intact sand dollars. We took a couple pictures and brought some of the sand dollars back to the Escape with us.
We started the Explore Adventure Lab with the five waypoints as we drove into downtown Westport. The next cache was Flags of the Fallen and Free (GC1X9TM) after we picked up the first waypoint at the same location. It took me a minute to figure out where to find the container. I was directed to the wrong landscape bush but after reading some previous logs I was directed to the correct one. We walked back to the Escape and were disappointed the flags weren't up. We figured it was probably because it wasn't summer anymore, they took them down because it was starting into the fall weather.
Don't Bore Us, Get to the Chorus #6 (GC3MD29) was at the Westport Library. I parked at the library and Mom went next door to the grocery store to see if they had a better SD card because the one, I brought was apparently too full. I walked to the corner of the library and saw the bird house. I reached into the side and found out it was just a plastic bag with a logbook inside. That bird house could use a little bit of love. I signed our names, got back into the Escape and drove around to the front of the store to see if Mom was done.
I went inside and wanted to get a couple drinks, so I settled for a small six pack of Coke Zero. Mom could not find an SD card. I didn't think she would at a small store like that, but you never know.
We drove to the Westport Light House (GC890BZ) for my 13,000th cache milestone. We parked out front on the street and walked down the sandy path. The light house was busy because it was open that day for tours to the top. We weren't interested in going up that day, so we did the second waypoint and then the virtual cache, we got my photos and then Doug called. He chatted with Mom for a little bit. I used to play high school fastpitch at the field down below and I needed to see it again. It sure had changed over the years. We looked at the gift shop, I signed the guest book and we donated $5. We walked back to the Escape while Mom wrapped up her conversation with Doug.
Fire Me 19 Westport (GC32320) was a part of the Fire Me series I've been working on for years. I am not sure how many I have left. Anway, this was a park and grab, Mom stayed in the Escape. It was a pill bottle hanging from the stairs. I signed our names and put it back where I found it. I ran across the street and jumped back into the Escape.
From there, we drove up to the Maritime Museum and the boardwalk. We found a place to park, did the virtual, Westport Maritime Museum (GC7B8A9) and another waypoint to the Adventure Lab. I had to answer a question about the whale and find out the year of the foundation of the building. Mom and I took a few pictures and started down the boardwalk after I moved the Escape.
We tried looking for The Boardwalk (GC960QD) and I searched just about everywhere as quickly as I could. There was a fisherman nearby with his kids fishing. I really didn't want them asking what I was doing. I checked the area twice and then gave up. The logs on the cache page and it seemed super confusing, and it sounded like this one was possibly missing? We continued down the boardwalk towards the shops. But first, Mom wanted to go see when tuna was in season so we could can it next year. We stopped by one of the buildings along the harbor to ask some questions. Mom asked and they gave us a general time frame, gave us a business card so we could call and ask when that time came.
I looked for Hey Hey Paula! (GC8A3M8) underneath the stairs and saw a power box and a key dial pad that didn't belong. Both really didn't belong, so I severely questioned them. I even had to call Bev to ask if she had any insight. I thought maybe there was a code I was supposed to put in? Bev couldn't remember because it was a long time ago, so I let it go for a bit.
We walked to the end of the street, turned around and walked down the other side of the street. We went into several shops including the gift stores, a quilt shop and chose to eat lunch at the Blue Bouy because food sounded good at that point of the day.
We went in, were seated, used the restroom, washed my hands and looked at the menu. We both ordered the fish and chips and raspberry lemonade while I pondered the cache.
We ate, paid and went into a couple more shops and went back to the cache I couldn't find earlier. Mom talked to Rhonda on the phone while I looked. It ended up being inside the electrical box, the place I went to first, but second guessed myself. I texted Bev that I made the grab, finally.
We started our walk back to the Escape while I took a few pictures, Mom continued talking to Rhonda and we watched a kid catch a fish and a fisherman helped him with a net. It was a huge fish! We got back to the Escape and drove to the fourth waypoint up by the fisherman's memorial. I needed a date off of the structure.
Afterwards, we went to Westhaven State Park to get Don't Bore Us; Get to the Chorus #2 (GC1TFGZ) which took me longer than it should have. However, I knew where it was but couldn't get it out of its hidey hole because the last person dropped it in too far. I counted it as a find. I hopped back in the Escape and we drove to the parking lot. It was busy with surfers. We found a place to park, made sure our Discover Pass was visible and finished the fifth waypoint and the Adventure Lab and walked up the hill to the bluff.
We stood up there for a bit watching surfers try to surf, we took pictures and then walked back to the Escape and decided it was time to head back towards home. We left Westport and would probably be back sometime next year to pick up some tuna.
I wanted to finish the Adventure Lab we started last March, so we drove into Hoquiam to get the last of the Ocean Shores to Aberdeen waypoints. We grabbed two in Hoquiam, the steam donkey and train depot and then drove into Aberdeen to get the last three, two art murals and a sculpture.
We still had some day light, so we drove to the Kurt Cobain Memorial Park. We parked at the playfields and walked across the Young St Bridge to explore the tiny park. Sadly, it has been tagged by stupid people. We took some pictures and then looked for the cache, Something in the Way (GC94TEJ). I think it went missing so we went back to the Escape and grabbed a replacement.
We left Aberdeen, got back onto Hwy 8 and headed into Elma. I had to stop at the Elma rest area to pee. I attempted to look for Kim's Rest Stop of Treasures (GC9EAZX) either it was missing, hidden very well or was too dark to see it. I could not find the regular container that I thought I would spot immediately. Oh well, I will have to come back this way eventually to find it. We got back to Lacey around 8:15 and stopped by the Walmart to pick up a few things. Doug asked me to get a pizza.
We got home around 8:30, got the mail, unloaded the Escape, Mom moved stuff to the Expedition, she went home, I showered, ate pizza, washed clothes and logged caches and blogged for a little bit.
We found 21 caches, and I came home with 13,013 which was well past my milestone. On to 14,000!
Next Adventure: Autumn Colors, Naches Peak Loop Trail and Lake Tipsoo
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