Seattle Mariners vs. Houston Astros with Alicia

Every Mariner fan was hoping to find our team back in the playoffs this season.  Last year, we finally won enough games to clinch a spot in the playoffs, something we haven't done in 20 years!  The drought was over!  We had a great run in August pulling ourselves into a great spot for the final run for the playoffs.  Then we hit a skid in September putting ourselves in a really hard situation at the end of the regular season.  I honestly didn't think I would be able to go to another game.  My friend Alicia wanted to go to a game and called me up a couple weeks ago to ask if I wanted to go with her to a Mariner game.  I said, yes, it would be fun! She said it would be her treat and she would drive us to the light rail.

A few days later, Alicia bought tickets and let me know which day we were going to go.  She picked the Wednesday game, and I immediately asked my boss if I could leave at 2:30, she said yes, so I put in my leave and blocked it off on the calendar, so my co-workers knew I was going to be gone.  Once Alicia got her tickets, she emailed them to me so I could put them on my phone.  

The Mariners beat the Astros the night before 6-1, keeping us in the playoff race.  We had to win, or we were out.  I got logged off at 2:30, and saw the weather was not favorable.  I dressed in layers, wore my hiking shoes so my feet didn't get wet from the rain.  I borrowed Doug's Mariner jersey since that is not a team jersey I own.  I brought my hat, gloves, sweatshirt and blanket just in case we needed it.  I wasn't sure how cold it would get.

She arrived at my house just after 3:00.  We got onto I-5 north and headed to the Angle Lake light rail station.  We decided to take the Link, so we didn't have to worry about parking when we got into Seattle.  This was easier.  Traffic wasn't bad but there were some slow spots near JBLM and in Tacoma.  We got to the Angle Lake parking structure in about an hour.  Because it was a workday and the Mariners were playing, we barely found a place to park.  The parking structure was extremely full.  I, personally, have never seen it that busy but most of the games I've ever gone to were on the weekends.

We left the parking structure and went downstairs to the ticket kiosk.  We each bought ourselves a roundtrip ticket to and from the Stadium Station.  We take the stairs up to the platform and wait for a northbound train to arrive. We did not have to wait that long.  We boarded the train and off we went up to Seattle to watch the Mariners. 

It took us roughly 45 minutes to get to the stadiums with all the stops the light rail makes along the way.  It was approximately, 5:10 when we got off the train and walked up and around to T-Mobile Park.  We got to one of the gates, they checked our bags at security, scanned our ticket and we went up the stairs and wandered around for a while.  We were there so early; we saw the tail end of batting practice.  I told her that I have a friend that is an usher over on the third base side of the 100 level and that I was going to go over and see her for a few minutes.  Alicia said that was fine and she was going to go get some food. I told her I would meet her back at the seats when I was done.

I meandered my way over as I checked Annette's Facebook post telling us what section she was in.  I found the section and I spotted her down in the aisle.  Annette!  She turned around and was excited to see me.  We asked how each other were doing and she particularly wondered how the wedding planning was going.  I gave her an update and as it got closer to game time it started getting busier and I didn't want to keep her from her job.  We hugged and I told her I would see her soon.

On the way back to the seats, I stopped by Ivar's and grabbed myself a fish and chips.  Pretty much when I am in Seattle, I will have Ivar's. I found our seats, Alicia was chillin' and taking in the ballpark ambiance.  I ate my food while we waited for the game to start.  We found out that we had to sit next to some obnoxious Astro fans. 

We really needed this game to keep us in the playoff race.  The first inning was awesome!  JP Crawford hit a home run into right field.  I really thought I was going to be able to get a home run ball. It went over our heads and I thought it would ricochet off of the scoreboard behind us and fall right where we were sitting.  Sadly, it went the other way, and we did not get a souvenir home run ball. 

The rest of the first and up until the third inning, each team left a lot of runners on when the side was retired.  It was frustrating watching our team leave valuable runners on and not hitting them in.  We needed as many runs as possible.  At the top of the 4th, the Astros hit a solo homerun that tied up the game.  We all thought, at the time, it's just one run, we need to get it back.  Then somehow that same inning, we fell apart and put people on base.  Then of course, the Astros hit a three-run home run, with one out, to put them up 4-1.  The air was sucked out of the stadium and the fans were disappointed.

The bottom of the 4th the Mariners started showing some life. Finally, we got some baserunners on, and Suarez singled to left scoring Caballero and Raleigh.  We were finally eating away at the Astros lead.  The 4th ended with us trailing by one, 4-3.  Our pitching will have to show up the rest of the game.  We could not afford giving up any more runs.

The fifth and sixth innings were scoreless on both sides, but each side stranded more runners.  I was okay with the Astros stranding their runners but not okay with us stranding ours.  We needed our bats to come alive.  In the last few weeks of September, our game really suffered with a bad hitting skid.  We weren't winning the games we should have been winning and it made for a tough road to the playoffs for us.

Then came the top of the 7th inning.  Sigh. Our pitcher put people on base, one intentionally, our fielders made an error, and they just base hit us to death.  We finally put an end to it with a strikeout and a fly out to right field.  They added to their lead, 7-3.  We stood up and sang, Take Me Out to the Ball Game during the 7th inning stretch.  Our bats really needed to wake up over the next few innings if we were going to close the gap that we created for ourselves.  The bottom of the 7th for us was not fruitful, a couple of strike outs and a fly ball.  Bummer.

The Astros hit one more solo home run in the top of the 8th inning.  Other than that, the last two innings for both teams were either strike outs, fly balls or ground outs.  The game ended around 10:20. I had a great time even though we lost 8-3.  I was really hoping that we would rally and get those runs back.  With that loss, it mathematically took us out of the playoff race.  I hope the Astros lose the first round of the playoffs. 

Alicia and I waited for most of the people in our section to leave before we got up and walked to the concourse. We used the restroom one more time, I got a picture of me with the field in the background and we exited at the left field entrance. 

We walked up and over the road and to the train platform to wait for one going southbound back to Angle Lake.  We had to wait a little bit, but we got on and it was really crowded.  We stood and held on.  As more and more people exited, we were able to sit in one of the vacant seats. It was interesting listening to the random conversations nearby.  We got to Angle Lake just after 11:00.  We walked back to her car, got back onto I-5 and headed south back towards home.  We got back into Lacey and she dropped me off at home just before midnight.  I thanked her and she drove home.  I had her text me when she got home.  

I got in a quick shower and got ready for bed.  I sure hope the Mariner make it to the playoffs next season.  Seattle fans desperately need it! 

Game notes:

The Mariners threw 6 strikeouts, had 97 total strikes, they allowed 14 hits and 4 walks.  

Houston threw 16 strikeouts, had 108 total strikes, allowed 8 hits and 9 walks. 

Seattle had 8 hits, 12 total bases and left 13 on base. 

The Astros had 14 hits, 26 total bases and left 9 runners on base.

Next Adventure: Dad's Batman Birthday Party

Spokane Trip: Heading Back Home with Some Geocaching

The alarm went off sometime between 7:00 and 8:00 a.m.  My sleep was a little better than the night before, but it is just hard sleeping next to someone who snores and is a freaking heater!  Plus, the futon is a little small for someone who is tall and takes up more room than a smaller person.  Oh well, it is, what it is.  I was just thankful we had something to sleep on, so we didn't have to sleep on the floor.    

We got up, used the restroom, did our bathroom things and then started packing up our stuff into our duffle bags.  We helped Brenda and Ray put their tiny living room back together.  We all collectively decided to go out for breakfast to Old European.  We have not been there since April 2017 when we came to Spokane with Mom and Trish for the Titanic Exhibit.  I was super excited to eat there again.  It's been too long.

We hopped in the hamster car around 9:30 and drove the short distance to Old European.  This place is always busy.  It was super busy in Pullman, and it is busy here in Spokane too. I was surprised we got in as quickly as we did a few years back when we visited the Post Falls one.  I think that was just perfect timing on our part.  Anyway, we parked and went inside.  We did have to wait but we didn't have to wait too terribly long before we got a table for four people. 

We ordered drinks, Ben had a mocha, and I got a chocolate milk.  We were all given waters as well. The place was busy, so our waitress didn't come back for a while.  We were wondering if she had forgotten about us.  When she finally came back, she dropped off our drinks and we were able to order our food before she disappeared again.  I got the bacon and eggs platter; it came with English muffins and Ben got the big breakfast platter.  It had eggs, ham, bacon, sausage and hashbrowns, he had toast with his.  We waited for our food for a while too.  Luckily, we had stuff to talk about while we waited.  Once our food came out, I was excited to eat it and when I did, it was delicious!  

We finished up, paid and headed out, happy and full. We drove the quick mile back to the apartment and was back by 10:45. Ben and I took a couple loads of our stuff out to the Escape and tetris'd it in. We grabbed the TV that we bought from Ray and Brenda to take home with us.  We needed a new one and they couldn't take it with them.  We went back to the apartment and asked them where the best place would be to take pictures.  Ray said probably outside.  We found a nice little area with a tree in the background.  The sun was out so we had some good lighting.  We took some nice ones together and some silly ones.  It's going to be weird without them in Spokane. 

We gave out hugs and thanked them for inviting us over for a fun weekend. We got into the Escape and got back onto Division.  I briefly wanted to stop at Riverfront Park, but we saw that there was a lot of construction going on and not a whole lot of parking, so we got onto I-90 and headed west.  The traffic was minimal, so it didn't take us very long to get to Ritzville.       

I wanted to stop in Ritzville to get a couple caches I didn't have time to grab the previous May.  We got off the freeway and drove into downtown Ritzville.  We parked in front of the library, got out and looked for Another Lesson in Civics (GC9QCHE).  It had a ton of favorite points, so we assumed it was going to be cool.  We looked and looked and then saw something that didn't look like the others, and it moved.  Below the sign/reader board, are fake books to mimic a shelf of library books and one of the books you were able to remove.  Ben removed the fake book, discovered it was hollow but there wasn't a cache inside.  It was empty, but we assumed that someone had taken the container and logbook out of it.  We didn't have anything small enough to put inside of it so we cut down one of our containers we got the previous day, made a logbook, signed it, got a couple pictures and put it back.  We made a note in our log to the cache owner of what we did and needed a maintenance visit soon. 

We walked over to the library to get our first waypoint to the Ritzville Sculptures Adventure Lab throughout the town.  This one gave us a hard time because it wasn't straightforward, but we eventually found the words we needed to complete it.  We saw where the other two waypoints were and decided to just walk to them since they weren't far from the library.  They were quick waypoints and in no time, we were back to the Escape to grab one more cache before gathering up the last two waypoints.

We drove the short distance to Everytown Has One...(GC7VTHW) which was at the fire station on the corner of the main road.  It was at the fire sculpture on the southeast side of the station.  We made sure to park out of the way, got out and started looking.  A black nano on at this hiding spot may take a while. We checked and felt everywhere we possibly could.  I was glad town wasn't that busy or onlookers would wonder what we were doing. After a few minutes, we made the grab.  It was hidden well.  I got our names on it, took several pictures and put it back. 

We drove back towards the freeway to grab the last two waypoints.  One was near a golf course and the other was a two-fer, a waypoint and a cache, Welcome to Ritzville (GC7XNXH).  There was no parking at the cache site, so we parked at the gas station across the road and ran over to grab it.  We finished the Adventure Lab first and then looked for the hide-a-key on the covered wagon.  Luckily, it was a quick find because this location is super exposed to the travelers getting off and on to I-90.  We got our names on it, a photo and put it back.  We ran back over to the gas station when traffic wasn't as busy. 

We got back into the Escape, drove under the freeway to the Love's, where we got gas, used the restroom and Ben grabbed Fuel Up! (GC9VFGV).  I had picked it up a few months back.  We got back onto I-90 and headed home.  We made the long drive across the state, through the mountain range and back on the west side, of course Ben snoozed off and on, during the drive over.  I listened to podcasts as I drove.  We did run into phantom-created congestion near Easton, which I would love to know why it happens every time because it makes no sense why that area is always congested on the way home.  We stopped in North Bend at the Safeway to use the restroom.  I wanted a snack, so I got a turkey and cheese Lunchable and a Pepsi Zero for the rest of the drive home.  Ben didn't want anything.  

Traffic got a little weird getting off of I-90 and onto Hwy 18, due to the construction and the lame people who don't know how to drive and love to cut people off. The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, and we rolled into our driveway around 6:30.  We unloaded the Escape, got cleaned up, started a load of laundry and got ready for the work week.  Why do weekends go by so fast?

We needed another piece for our wall mount for the TV, so our new TV wasn't put up until mid-week.  It was nice to be able to put the Germany TV away and have a normal TV once again. 

Next Adventure:  Seattle Mariners vs. Houston Astros with Alicia

Spokane Trip: Events Saying Goodbye to Brenda and Ray, No Drought with Fitzy and Go Cougs

After several hours of really bad sleep, the alarm finally went off at 7 a.m.  I literally slept like garbage the entire night.  I'm sure Ben did as well on the tiny futon, plus all the times I woke him up telling him to stop snoring.  We all used the restroom, washed our faces and got dressed.  Brenda made us each a smoothie and Ben and I had a banana. 

We helped Ray take a few tubs and bags of stuff out to their car and we drove separately because of the after-event activities we each will be doing.  It didn't take us long to get to Valley Mission Park as we followed Ray and Brenda in their hamster car. When we arrived, we checked to see if our paperwork was on the board, and it wasn't.  They haven't updated that weekend's reservations.  Ray brought a copy of his with him just in case someone wanted to argue with him. 

We helped them get the totes and bags out of the Kia and decided how we wanted to arrange the really heavy metal picnic tables around the covered area.  We were busy getting everything ready to go when a red neck family in a broken-down truck showed up.  They wanted to have a baby shower at this park and was wondering if they could share the covered area with us.  Ray told them no because he paid for it for most of the day.  I think they ended up having it at the park just not the covered area because we occupied it.

We set up a sign in table and a prize table.  The others were just kinda off to the side just in case someone wanted to sit and visit. Ray had printed off small Portuguese flags as the raffle tickets.  We wrote our names on the back of them and gave them back.  We helped Brenda arrange all the prizes on the prize table.  As we approached event time, people started to arrive for Goodbye Spokane...Bom Dia Portugal (GCAAXT0).  I was excited to see how many people would come. 

As people funneled in, we got to chatting with some of the people because some did recognize us and others did not. They asked us where we came from and how we knew Brenda and Ray.  We got into talking about caches in the area and then caches people wanted to get not so local.  We talked about travels, the TriCities Geocoin Challenge and how much we all were going to miss it, we talked about HQ in Seattle, Fizzy and Jasmer caches. It's amazing where your conversations go when you are talking with other geocachers because everybody's got different aspirations and goals to complete.  There were about 20 people who came.   

Ray welcomed everyone, shared about the big move in October and told everyone that they were going to miss home but excited for the next chapter.  He and Brenda went into why there were so many raffle prizes on the table and simply put, they can't bring it with them.  So, they figured doing a raffle would be a great, fair way to divvy it out.  

 They had so many items we went through five rounds of raffle.  They had many different types of containers, stickers, flashlights, tags, trackables etc., and even things they had when they were WSGA chapter reps. It was crazy to see how many things were on that table. Between Ben and I, we came home with 10 different items to use eventually in our hides.  The event lasted about an hour or so.  It was fun to go to an event where we got to meet new people. 

There was a small lull between the geocaching event and the family gathering that started around lunch time.  People could come and go as they please due to work schedules and whatnot.  People brought their own lunch and chairs.  I was excited to meet Ray and Brenda's family.  I have gotten to know them through their stories and photos throughout the years.  The only person I have met personally is Ray's son, Matthew, when I went to go stay with them when they lived in Vancouver. 

 I hopped in the car with Brenda, and we went to go pick up some KFC for lunch, the traffic was terrible, but we managed to make it there and back in one piece.  We came back to the park and realized we didn't have any plates to put our food on.  I told her Ben, and I would hit up the closest Dollar Tree to grab some plates, she said that would be great.  We hopped into the Escape, found the closest Dollar Tree and headed out. As we got closer, we saw an accident at the nearby intersection.  It looked like someone forgot their brain at home.   I am glad we were able to avoid the traffic chaos.

We got to the Dollar Tree, grabbed some plates and paid.  I saw there was a Value Village next door and I had to go inside of it to browse.  I found a No-Li pint glass and a fish plushie, similar to the ones that are yeeted at Kraken games.  I paid and we headed back to the park.  A few of their family members and friends had arrived and started to visit. I grabbed Mom's camera I borrowed and started taking pictures for them.

As more and more people started to arrive, we made our rounds to meet everyone.  Some of them have heard of us and have seen photos of us over the years.  We briefly sat down to eat some chicken, mashed potatoes and a biscuit before spending the next two hours chatting and visiting with their family and friends.  As it wound down, more pictures were taken, and Brenda took a short ride on Wes's Harley Davidson.  She had a blast!  

People gathered up their things and loaded up their vehicles.  Overall, about 20 people came to hang out with Brenda and Ray.  Afterwards, we cleaned up, everyone said their goodbye's and we went to go find two caches.  

The first one was near the park, overlooking I-90 called Caitlyn's Cache CLXVIII "Another Dead End" (GCZHP9K).  This one took us a while to locate but we found it.  Brenda wanted to go avenge another DNF that has been bothering her for a few weeks.

From there, we got onto I-90 and got off at Barker Road and drove to Mill Blade (GC9G3BD).  We both found parking spots out of the way, we got out and asked Brenda about the cache since she's been there before.  She said she's tried many things.  So, we started trying things and none of them worked.  We did pick up, what looked like a discarded pieced of wood, but didn't think it had anything to do with the cache.  We tried many different ideas, wrote down lots of possible combinations and came up with nothing.  We were there for a long time trying just about everything we could think of.  Then Brenda and Ray had to go get gas and meet up with some friends for dinner.  We told them if we could figure it out, we would let them know.

We were there for another half hour or so trying different combinations and on the last try, the U bolt fell off the cache.  It was held together by nuts on the inside, and they eventually wiggled loose, and I was able to get into the cache to sign the logbook.  We weren't sure how we were going to put it back together since we didn't find out the code.  We did our best, tucked it back where we found it and hoped for the best.  We did message the cache owner what had happened.  We didn't hear back from him for a couple weeks and he even threatened to take our find away because we didn't open it with the code.  I told him it wasn't our fault the U bolt fell off of it.   We called and told Brenda and Ray, we did open it, but it broke and that is how we got inside of it.  I told them we were going to log it.  **A few weeks later, I found out, through other cachers, that the piece of wood held the answer to figuring out the code for the lock.**   We made this cache harder than it needed to be.

They asked us what we were going to do, and I told them we were going to meet up with my friend, Fitzy, at No Drought for a beer and the Cougar/Beaver game. They said that they would see us back at the apartment when they were done.  I told them I would let them know when we were on our way back.

We met up with Fitzy at around 4:45 and stayed until about 8:00.  We visited, talked about the wedding, moving and other various things, drank beer and ate popcorn.  I had Kokomo Pilsner, and it was tasty. 

Chaise's brother and his goofy friends ended up at the bar, so we hung out with them for a while.  Chaise didn't come because he wasn't feeling too well.  Cougars beat the Beavers in a Pac-2 show down, 38-35.  The boys wanted Fitzy and us to come to another bar with them downtown, but we declined.  She ended up taking them down there and then went home.  

Drove back to the apartment and got there around 8:30, got in a shower, hung out, visited and relaxed. Ray spent some time downloading the pictures I took of their family event earlier that day.  We went to bed around 11:00.  Again, was super uncomfortable but I was so tired, I slept a little better than the night before.

Next Adventure:  Spokane Trip:  Heading Back Home with Some Geocaching

Spokane Trip: Traveling to Spokane, Hanging with Brenda and Ray, Geocaching and Heber Hatchets

Last spring, Ray and Brenda told me that they both were going to retire, sell most of their stuff and move to Portugal before the end of the year.  I asked them if they were going to have a going away event and or party before they leave and they said yes, probably in September.  When we saw them again in June, they gave us more information about the event in September and moving to Portugal.  Ray told us it was going to be the weekend of September 22nd and to make plans.  I blocked off that Friday and weekend on the calendar and made sure Ben and I got leave that Friday.

We washed laundry and got our stuff ready the night before.  Some of our stuff we were able to pack up in the Escape that night.  We set our alarms for 6:45 a.m. so we could get the rest of our stuff ready, get dressed and grab a to go breakfast and hit the road by 8.  I had to beat Ben with pillows so he would get up and get ready.  He is so difficult to get out of bed in the mornings. 

We left Lacey around 8 a.m., got onto I-5 north and hit no traffic.  We texted Ray to let him know we left Lacey.  He said he would see us when we got to Spokane.  We got onto Hwy 512 to 167 to 18 without any problems or slow downs.  We were going to make really good time if it kept up.  We did, unfortunately, hit a slow spot near the Tiger Summit due to construction.  It looked like they were adding lanes through the congested spots.  This road has been under construction basically my whole life.  We got to the on ramp to I-90 and merged onto the freeway.  We were on our way over the mountains!

This drive through North Bend gave me a little PTSD after our Mailbox Peak hike a few weeks ago.  We drove by to see if we could see the boulder scramble and we could!  We got settled in, I turned on my murder porn, we chatted about random things and Ben took naps off and on while we drove over the pass.  We were making great time!

We got into Ellensburg and started up the grade up and over into Vantage.  We drove over the Columbia River, around the corner at the junction of I-90 and Hwy 26, we saw the Vantage horses, drove past the amphitheater and hit the straight stretch into George.  I wanted to stop in George to grab a cache I needed for the Geotour.  We stopped at the gas station near the bust of George Washington to use the restroom.  Yes, we got a picture of George in George.  We also checked in with Ray, letting him know where we were.

We left and got onto the highway towards Quincy so we could get WSGA20 - CC- 4 - QCBID's West Canal (GC9X6RP).  We found a place to park near the canal, Ben stayed in the Escape while I got out and looked.  I knew it was going to be lame when I saw the only possible place to hide a cache there was in the guardrail.  What do you know?  It was a guardrail cache.  I signed our names, got the code word, a picture and put it back.  I got back in the Escape, and we got back onto I-90.  I knew we didn't have a lot of time to get some of the caches along I-90, so I settled for a detour once we got to Sprague.

As we got closer to Sprague, I got my phone out and opened up the Adventure Lab app.  I had Ben do the same.  We looked to see where we had to go.  The first waypoint took us to the Catholic Church and Ben's phone was acting up.  We had to sit there for a few minutes until he could get the waypoint to go through.  We went to the Railroad Museum for the next one; it was just down the hill, so we didn't have to go too far.  The third and fourth ones were murals on the sides of historic buildings and the last waypoint was at the west end of town at the old trucks and cars lot.  We never had to get out of the Escape to do any of them.  It was a quick Adventure Lab.

We got back onto I-90 and when we drove through Medical Lake, you could see the destruction the massive wildfire left behind. Many acres were charred, people lost their homes, livestock and had to be relocated.  The two people I know that live there, one lost their family home and property and the other one, got very lucky she and her farm were spared, but was evacuated for a couple days. 

We finally rolled into Spokane around 1:00 p.m.  We made exceptional time. I let Ray know we were in Spokane and heading their way.  Their extended stay hotel/apartment, the Turning Leaf, was in North Spokane near Country Homes.  We followed Nuvi's directions, and she took us down Division.  I told Ben stories about hanging out on Division over the years.  It was sad that the White Elephant store was no longer there.  That was a place we stopped at every time we came to Spokane.  I feel like we stopped at every single stop light on our way up Division. 

We got past the Northtown Mall and still had a bit to go. As we got closer, I was ready to no longer be in the Escape.  We arrived at their hotel/apartment around 1:30 that afternoon.  We parked where they told us to, next to their car, and tried finding which apartment pod was theirs.  We looked at the small map and found their apartment number.  We knocked and Ray answered the door.  We went in, gave out hugs and sat for a bit and visited.  They told us how it had been going since making the decision to move to Portugal and all of the things they had to do to get there.  This was one of the final stages before the big move.  We shared some wedding planning stuff, told them about the Mailbox Peak hike and other things as they came up in conversation.

They helped us bring our stuff in from the Escape and showed us where we would be sleeping.  The weather was decent, so we all decided to go out and go to the Garland District before dinner.  They wanted us to do their Adventure Lab, Iconic Garland District, which was five waypoints.  We found a place to park on the street and we walked the neighborhood answering the questions on the app.   We walked to the Milk Bottle, Ferguson's Cafe, Brown Derby Tavern, Blue Door Theater and finished up at the Garland Theater.  

I wanted to go into the Vintage Print and Neon store to see what kinds of things they had.  I ended up with a few stickers, postcards, a trash goat shirt for Erika and a pint glass for Doug.  I always try to pick up a few things when I am out and about for birthday and Christmas gifts.  We had a great time browsing.

We walked past the Milk Bottle again and Ben wanted a milkshake.  We stopped, he got his peanut butter shake and we sat at the tables and waited for him to finish it.  Meanwhile, Erika called me to tell me someone had hacked her IHOP account and ordered pancakes in Illinois.  Erika ended up calling the store in Illinois and telling the staff that it was not her who ordered it and to not give it to the people who purchased it with her IHOP points.  She ended up getting those points back eventually and we hope those people were disappointed when they didn't get their free pancakes.

We got back into the car, and we drove to The Onion Bar and Grille in North Spokane.  It wasn't busy so we were seated right away, and our waiter grabbed our drink orders.  I had a huckleberry ale because I wanted to try something new, and I've never had a huckleberry ale.  I enjoy the fruity beers. When he came back with our drinks, he took our orders.  I was really wanting to try the huckleberry BBQ sauce, so I ordered chicken strips and fries.  When our food arrived, we spent time eating and talking about Portugal and wedding planning.

We finished up, paid and we needed to kill some time before our axe throwing adventure Brenda booked for us, we decided to grab some of the geocaches in the area.  They wanted to go avenge some of their DNF's.  The first one was at the Golden Corral, and it was called Golden Feast (GC262VY).  We parked, all got out and knew it was going towards the trees.  The parking lot was busy and there was a muggle nearby taking a smoke break.  We looked and looked and eventually found it hanging in the tree.  None of us brought a pen with us, so I went and got a pen out of the car.  We signed our names; I got a picture and we put it back.  Hopefully, no one will bother it.   

Hey Lady with the Dog (GC8EDGY) was at the Dairy Queen just down the street.  We found a place to park.  Ben and Brenda decided to stay in the car while Ray and I got out to go look for it.  We felt super exposed while looking for it due to the proximity of muggles in the drive thru.  We thought this one might not last very long.  We got our names on it and took a picture.  I put it back where we found it and covered it up as best as I could.

We drove to the other side of the highway for Father's Day (GCAA89A).  We rolled up on the side of the building, we all got out and started looking.  We did not find it right away.  We expanded our search and Ray pulled it out of its hidey hole and there it was!  We wrote our names on it, got a picture of the cache and Ray and then put it back.  We all hopped back into the car to grab one more before throwing axes, hatchets and ninja stars.

Franklin Park Micro (GCA778G) was literally a park and grab.  Ray and I got out and had to wait for the lady walking the dog to leave the area.  I walked right up to the gate and found it instantly.  I asked Ray, how did you not find this one the first time?  He said, it was probably missing or was moved, but we checked this entire gate the last time we were here. We signed our names and put it back exactly where we found it.  Our axe time was approaching so we headed south on Division.

We found the building Heber Hatchets was located in, found a place to park and Ben's mom called us.  She was having a hard time with her current doctor and wanted to find a new one.  She had a bum knee, crotch rot and ring worm according to him.  She was appalled and wanted to get a second opinion.  We knew it wasn't funny, but we laughed and gave her a hard time.  We went into the building, signed a waiver, we each paid, and they told us what lane we were in.  

We got settled in and the lady spent about five minutes giving us a brief safety lesson.  She said if we can't follow the rules then we would have to leave.  We had all intentions on following the rules, so we didn't have to leave.  We got started.  We all took some practice shots because it is harder than it looks. Ben did alright since he has done this kind of thing before.  

It took Ray, Brenda and I a few rounds to kinda get it down.  A little while later, Brenda made us all look bad.  We played a couple games, and I did not win any of them.  The lady came by about halfway through our session and added the ninja star to our throwing arsenal. I had fun throwing that.  At one point, I actually hit a bullseye and had to take a picture of it because it might not happen again.

As our time dwindled, we all got in as many throws as we could.  I stuck with the ninja star for the remainder of our time there.  We got in a group picture once our time was over.  We had a great time throwing weapons and would probably do this again if the opportunity presented itself.  We thanked the lady, and I asked her if I could purchase some stickers from her.  I bought two for a dollar each and she threw in two for free. Sweet!  We hopped back in the car and drove back up towards the apartment.

  We made a pit stop at Walmart, just down the road from where they were staying, so we could pick up a couple more things for breakfast the next day.  Brenda and Ray were really not equipped food wise for four people.  We all picked up a few things to get us by.  We got back to their place around 8:30. I got in a quick shower, and we spent the next couple hours hanging out and visiting some more.  We got ready for bed around 10:30ish.

I pretty much slept like garbage on the futon because it was small, Ben is like an oven, and he snored.  I woke up a few times, once to get my earplugs that really didn't work that well, once to adjust and another to use the restroom.  It was a long night, but we were thankful we were able to stay and spend time with them.    

Next Adventure: Spokane Trip:  Events Saying Goodbye to Brenda and Ray, No Drought with Fitzy and Go Cougs