Happy Mount St. Helens Day!
I decided to take a long weekend and drive over to Spokane to see my friend Bri, Brenda, Ray, Megan and Chaise. Ben wasn't able to come with because he had planned a "Mother's Day weekend" with his mom and sister to the gorge side of Oregon.
I chatted with Bri over messenger about coming over to finally visit her farm. She didn't have any means to host anyone, so I asked Brenda and Ray if they wanted to hang out on Thursday night and most of Friday and they said yes. They were going to be at a concert when I got over there but was welcome to hang out at the house until they came home. I asked if they wanted to drive down to Pullman the next day for some geocaching and found out Ray could, but Brenda had to go to work. I told Fitzy I was going to be in town and she and Chaise prepared to host me on Friday night, Saturday and Sunday morning.
It was all set. I turned in my leave at work and was excited for my long weekend on the east side. The night before, I really didn't get anything done except laundry because Doug took up a lot of my time by being awful about getting rid of his car. It was undrivable, he had no means of fixing it and it's been sitting in the front yard since November. It needed to go before our landlord or property management saw it. I knew our luck was going to run out soon.
I decided to work half of Thursday, so I finished up my work, updated my phone and my Outlook for my absence and told my co-workers I would see them on Monday. They told me to have fun. I spent about fifteen minutes packing up the rest of my stuff and staged it in the living room so I could get it out to the Escape. I put the dishes away, loaded them, wiped down the counters, did the cat box, made sure the cats had food, water and treats, let the dog out to go potty, made one more sweep of the house and loaded up my stuff into the Escape. I left as close to 11:30 as I could.
I drove towards Hawks Prairie and stopped at the Arco to get gas and ice for the cooler. I got onto I-5 north and made by way to the 512 exit in Tacoma. I did not hit any traffic, which was nice. I got into Auburn and decided to call Erika to make her workday go quickly, she talked to me until I got to Moses Lake, with a few dropped calls along the way. There was a slow spot near the top of Tiger Summit on Hwy 18. We talked about a ton of things along that 170-mile stretch. It was about a two-and-a-half-hour phone call, lol.
I merged onto I-90 east and watched the landscape change while I talked to Erika on the phone. Between Easton and Ellensburg (near Indian John Hill) there was a spot on the freeway where I hit a one mile long back up. It looked like a semi-truck clipped a truck. I hit some poor driving near the Rye Grass Rest Area but managed to get away from it.
I didn't stop until I got to Moses Lake and finally ended my conversation with Erika. She thanked me for making her workday go faster and I reciprocated with keeping me company during part of the trip. I stopped at the Love's just outside of Moses Lake. I got gas, went inside to use the restroom, got a candy bar and walked across the road to find Pond Life (GC6TDH8). I took me a while to locate it because the coords were off a bit. I did manage to find it, got my name on it, got a picture and put it back.
I got back onto I-90 and chatted with Grandma for a little bit, and it made my trip go by a little faster. Then Ben called so I talked to him while I stopped at the Sprague Lake Rest Area for a few. I used the restroom and then found the two caches, Room for One More (GC5YC8A) and Sprague Lake Earth Cache (GC6P9E7) at opposite ends of the rest area. I got back in the Escape and got back onto I-90. I talked to Ben for a couple more minutes and then Mom called me. I talked to her as I headed straight for Bri's house in Medical Lake. I hung up with her once I got to her driveway at around 5:30. I made pretty decent time.
I have not seen Bri since 2008, when she shared a house with my sister in Pullman on Monroe Street but, have seen what she's been up to since then on Facebook and random messages here and there. For the past few years, I 've always wanted to come by and see her animals and farm and this time it worked out. We spent the next couple hours catching up, sharing stories, feeding goats, holding goats, checking out the pigs, cats, chickens, ducks and the dogs. She had a lot of work on her hands running her farm by herself. Her day job was working in an office for the nearby community college and was also trying to finish schooling. She actually had to finish writing a paper when I headed to Brenda and Ray's later that evening.
I told her what I've been doing over the past decade or so. I told her about my jobs, the job I am doing currently, my traveling endeavors, living situations and told her about Ben and how we will be getting married next summer. She added some stuff about the military and some of her past relationships that didn't work out. She is hoping she finds that perfect person, because she knows he exists, because she could use some help with her animals and living situation. As it approached 8:30, she thanked me for stopping by, we exchanged hugs, and I told her I would come by another time I find myself over in the Spokane area.
I left and took the back way into Airway Heights. I stopped at the Walmart to grab a pizza and a salad because I felt bad eating Brenda and Ray's food. I paid and went to their house just a short distance down the road. I got to their house, parked out of the way and proceeded to look for the house key, which they hid in the side yard with some coordinates. I must have been off my game because I was embarrassed on how long it took me to find it. I had no idea those fence caps came off. I got the house unlocked, Zuri was glad to see me, let her out for a few minutes, brought in my stuff, and the house was like the inside of a volcano! It was so hot inside!
I got situated and opened up some of the windows, got in a quick shower, got dressed and then preheated the confusing oven to cook my pizza. I found a sheet pan to put it on and sat at the table doing some stuff on my phone and journaling while my pizza cooked. I texted Ray letting them know that I made it there okay and he said he knew because they have cameras outside, and they even knew when I turned the oven on. I ate my pizza and couldn't figure out how to change the channel on their giant TV. I ended up watching the last couple of minutes of the 4 OT hockey game with the Panthers and Hurricanes. It was the 6th longest game in NHL history.
Brend and Ray got home around 11:30 from their concert at the Spokane Arena. We stayed up a bit chatting about random things, and they told me that they were going to move to Portugal later on this fall. It was a huge shock to find that out. We had to give up for the night because Brenda still had to go to work the next day. I briefly told Ray what the plan was for the next day. We went to bed just after 12:30.
Next Adventure: Spokane Trip: Loose on the Palouse, the Grain Train and Go Cougs!
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