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
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