We definitely went to bed too late. We had a hard time getting up at 7, when the alarm went off. I wanted to make sure we had plenty of time to get everything we needed to do in the TriCities done before we left to head home. We got dressed, used the restroom, packed up all of our stuff into our bags and Ben went downstairs to grab the cart. We were so disappointed in the breakfast selection, we just went downstairs and grabbed two bananas and ate the stuff we brought with us. We packed up the Escape and checked out.
We got onto the highway and went over the bridge into Pasco. We followed Hwy 12 to Hood Park, just across the river, and followed the road to the parking area. The reason why we came to the event, Zoom on in to say goodbye to the TriCities (GCA8RHW) was because Nikki and Antoine were staying at the park, and we wanted to chat with them in person about inviting them to our wedding. We needed their address. We were hoping to see them at the event. We ended up staying for about 20 minutes, signed the log card, chatted with a few people and discovered some of the trackables sitting on the picnic table. Sadly, we never saw Nikki and Antoine. Bummer.
We left the park, drove back into Pasco, across the bridge and headed east on the highway from Kennewick to Finley. I wanted to finish up the power trails I've been working on since the first time I came over in 2012. Ben has been working on them for a few years and does not have them all, but it was fun to do it together. We worked on the Meals Road (GC50Z95), where the hill was struck by lightning and burned or burned on purpose, and there were only about 15 of them. There were probably more at one point, but they were archived for some reason. Ben drove while I got out to find them. We both got out to find some of the more difficult ones and some of those ones we didn't find but I brought a bunch of containers to replace them with.
Once we were done with the Meals Road power trail, we turned left onto a maintained dirt road for the Yellepit mini power trail. There were also about 15 of them starting at Yellepit Trail - 01 (GC51TGK). I also got out for these ones while Ben drove. This road had a weird berm between the road and the fence covered in tumbleweeds and poky plants. I had to be careful with shorts and low socks on, so I wasn't torn up and bloody.
There were a few caches I had to replace along the way because they were either missing, broken or I literally could not find them if they were actually there. At the end, we were actually running low on extra caches, I was lucky enough to find a recreational pot tube container on the side of the road...yes, we repurposed it into a cache container because we needed it.
We got to the end of the road and to the last cache, Yellepit Station (GC7Q9VP), and noticed this area was frequently used for target practice.
There was trash, bullet casings and metal pieces everywhere. I did notice there was a ton of brass. As a kid, my Dad would take us up to the Vail hills ("up on the hill") to go pick up free brass from people who came up there to dump and shoot things. He would collect it, clean it and reload it. I picked up a lot of brass as a kid. Since 2013, you can no longer go up there without a permit. We had an extra bag in the Escape, so I decided to bring some brass home for Dad as a souvenir from the TriCities. Ben helped me pick up some of it.
We finished up and drove back to Finley and back into the TriCities. We drove back to John Dam Plaza, chatted with a couple of the volunteers who were there waiting for the cachers to finish that didn't finish the day before while Ben used the restroom. When he was done, we said goodbye to the volunteers and walked over to the bonus cache we didn't get to before we went to dinner the night before, TC2023 - Bonus Cache (GCA9622). It was over by the police station mounted on one of the trees away from the road. I got our coin out and read the instructions.
For the first bird house we were supposed to find a three-digit code with the hints from the cache page that corresponded with our coin. I mentioned before, our coin read like a book. Each page featured the coins we've earned since 2010. I do not have an actual 2010 or 2011 coin because this was before I was a geocacher or wasn't aware of the coin challenge back then. Ben worked the locks while I looked through the coin book to match each sentence with the year digit on the past coins.
Once we got through the first lock, the bird house contained a laminated slip of paper that told us how to open the lock for the second bird house. Another cacher showed up as we worked on the next two bird houses and just stood there watching us. We went through the coin book and found the three digits we needed for the second lock. Ben got the bird house open and there was a final laminated slip of paper telling us how to get into the third and final bird house. We got in, grabbed the lock n lock and signed our names. We handed it to the guy and once he was done with it, he left. We put everything back and locked them back up for the next cacher.
I thought this cache was thoughtfully put together. It showcased all the coins in a clever way, we were able to relive some of the past events we did attend and coins we did earn, and it wrapped up perfectly with the news we got that weekend about our beloved geocoin challenge. In a nutshell, it summarized 13 years of hard work. Hopefully it is a temporary hiatus, and we will see it again someday down the road. We walked back to the Escape and we to go grab some of the WSGA caches before we left town. The first one was just north of Richland, WSGA - SC - 10 - North Richland Riverfront Trail (GC9YTEA).
Doug was gone on Saturday and Sunday, so he watched and fed the animals until he left that evening. I had Erika go over there Sunday morning-ish to check on everyone and to feed the cats. When she came through the front door, she said Charlie was out wandering around the house (she said not sure how long he's been out), and she told me Wade was locked in Doug's room. I was so angry that he didn't pay attention and didn't do what he was supposed to do before he left. This was my theory; he wasted most of the afternoon playing video games on his computer, time caught up with him, he frantically got ready to go and his brain shut off as he was leaving the house for the night. Wade was in his room for over 12 hours and amazingly he did not pee or poop in his room.
We texted him, letting him know his mistakes and that we were not too happy with him. He complained to Mom and Mom called me to let me know that I was stressing him out. I did not care. He was in the wrong. He was supposed to take care of stuff while we were gone, and he didn't do it. This is why I have a hard time going on vacation and leaving him in charge of the house. She said she understood but I should have handled it better. I told her that I was allowed to be mad. I was not going to be candy and rainbows when it came to Doug being responsible. He needed to know he screwed up and I really wished he would learn and stop doing it. But here we were...again. Ughh.
We found the cache, signed our names and walked back to the Escape. We grabbed the other one in town, WSGA20 - SC - 20 -Yakima Delta, that was a quick park and grab. We found a pullout on the side of the road. Ben stayed in the Escape while I got out and found it among some large boulders hidden away from view. I signed our names and got a photo before jumping back into the Escape. From there we left the TriCities, not sure of the next time we will be through again. We followed that side road and got onto 182 to I-82.
We got off the freeway in Benton City and got onto the wrong road, we had to turn around to get onto the Old Inland Empire Highway. There were two of the WSGA Anniversary caches we wanted to grab as we drove west. I looked closer and saw that there was also an earthcache near one of the caches. I told Ben we were also going to do an earthcache, he said okay.
We arrived at the first one, WSGA20 - SC - 03 - Old Inland Empire Highway (GC9YTDW) and pulled over on the side of the road. Ben stayed in the Escape while I got out quickly and found the container. I got our names on it and a quick photo. I put it back where I found it and jumped back in the car. It was probably around 90 degrees outside at this point...definitely sweaty butthole weather.
WSGA20 - SC - 04 - Chandler Power Plant (GC9YTDY) was just up the road. When we got there, there was a more defined pullout. Again, Ben stayed in the Escape while I got out and grabbed the cache. I ran back, got in the Escape and Ben and I did the earthcache, Yakima River Badlands: Rock Benches (GC8A36P). It was pretty straightforward if you knew about the basic geology of Eastern Washington, the Missoula Floods, erosion and the lava flows.
We got back onto the highway and grabbed District Line (GCA2EX8) before getting back onto I-82. It took us a while to get back to the freeway because there weren't any on ramps until almost Prosser because of the Yakima River. When we finally got back on, we scooted our way west towards Granger. I wanted to stop to get the newest dinosaur cache, Dino Mite! (GC9WKMW).
We got off at the Granger exit and followed one of the main roads into town. I was really hoping it was going to be at one of the dinosaurs. We approached ground zero, parked at the library and made our way to the set of dinosaurs. Then a van full of kids and two adults showed up to play on the dinosaurs that we thought the cache might be at. Bummer. I checked my phone again and it wasn't showing near the dinosaurs. Hmmm. So, we searched around ground zero and there was only one place it could have been, the end cap on the corner of the fence. Ben reached up and grabbed it. We took it over to the other dinosaur (away from the people) signed our names and took a few pictures.
We returned it to its hiding spot and walked back to the Escape. We got back onto I-82 and drove into Union Gap. I wanted to stop at Fruit City to pick up some produce. The place was busier than I thought it would be, but we did manage to find a parking spot. We both got out and started looking to see what the stand had to offer during this time of year. I got a couple of produce bags and grabbed some Walla Walla onions, a white peach, some Rainier cherries, about five or six Yukon Gold potatoes, some red and green bell peppers. We stood in the short line and paid for everything; it was under $20. I handed him a $20 and he gave me some change. We thanked him and exchanged some pleasantries to one another.
We got back in the Escape, and I asked Ben if he was ready for Miner's. He enthusiastically said yes! We went to Miner's and it was always busy. Summer is always busy, but this was the only time we were ever in Yakima. We waited in line and decided what we wanted for food. We got our standard cheeseburger; we shared fries, and I got a strawberry shake and Ben got his chocolate peanut butter shake. We grabbed our table number, found an empty table (it was super busy) and waited for our food to come. I got up to get some napkins, sauces and ketchup. I always bring in my notebook so I could write notes in it while we waited. Our food eventually got to us, and we savored every moment of it since we only get to come here about once a year.
Once we were done, we cleaned up our space, dumped our garbage and got back into the Escape. I wanted to get gas while we were here since it was cheaper than Western Washington. We found an Arco near the on ramp to I-82. We filled up, got back onto the freeway and merged onto Hwy 12 towards home. Ben slept through most of the drive over the pass while I listened to music. There wasn't a lot of traffic to slow us down this time around.
We got closer to Morton and grabbed a cache I got several years ago, Redneck Cache: MGC (GC120TE). I let him get out to start looking since I knew where it was. He did eventually figure it out. He got his name on it and we took the TB with us so I could put it into my TB hotel when we got home.
We turned onto Hwy 7 and drove through Morton and got up to Elbe. We followed the road and turned into Eatonville and drove through town. I didn't feel like following slow people on the swirly road. We got to McKenna, through Yelm and finally on the final stretch to home. We arrived at 6:30, unloaded the Escape, got in showers and started laundry. We were able to relax a little bit before getting ready for the work week. I was not ready to go back to work.
I will miss the TriCities Geocin Challenge.
Next Adventure: Erika and Zac Move Again...This Time as Homeowners!
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