WSGA Holiday Party

I saw we were having the annual holiday party again up in Renton.  I immediately signed up to say I was going to go.  Not sure if Bob and Bev or Ben could go so it was kinda up in the air for a few months.  I was hoping it did not fall on the same day as the Seahawk game like last year.  Luckily, we won our games appropriately to where we didn't have to play on Sunday but on Saturday against the Saints.

I got my white elephant gift ready and what I was going to bring to the potluck.  I chose to bring banana bread.  Bob, Bev and Ben could go so they got their stuff together as well.  Ben stayed at my house for the weekend so he could ride up with us.  I ended up driving up there with everyone in mom's car.  I thought we were going to go a little earlier to grab a few on the way.  I guess it was just the event for now.

We got there about a half hour before everyone else.  There were a few cachers who were decorating the fence and the tables and stage inside the Kennydale Memorial Hall.

We got out and went inside.  Bev chose the table we were going to sit at...the one near the heater.  Haha.  I set out all of my trackables, the ones in the binder and the stuffed animals in the bag.  I had several people stop by and write down the codes.  I had to email Max (Scooby) the list to keep his most trackables streak going.  Chris sat down with us for a bit and he talked about his trip last October on the ET Highway with four other cachers.  They had a blast.  They made shirts and coins.  He even gave me a coin to add to my collection.

We talked to many people throughout the late afternoon.  Then it was time for food.  I grabbed some chicken, chips, brownies, lasagna, crackers, cheese, meat and some orange soda.  We all visited while we ate our food.  Next on the agenda was talking about the club, awards and then our gift exchange.

Abby got up and spoke about the club, the new policies, the Washington State Parks Geocoin tour, her resignation as president of the club, nominations for this years club roles and she gave out a few volunteer awards.  Then Chris got up there to talk about almost the same thing but more along the lines of the South Puget Sound Chapter, which is the group most of us there belonged to.  He also gave out volunteer coins.

He shared my story about taking over the Millersylvania State Park cache at the last minute so they could be published on time for the kick off celebrations.  I stood up, was applauded, walked up to the stage and received my coin.  I had no idea I was going to be recognized for volunteering.  It was pretty cool.

Look for cougarcach24 on the page in the link below:

http://www.wsgaonline.org/forums/index.php?showtopic=975

We had our gift exchange.  Bob's was the very first ticket to be chosen.  Then I was, Ben and then finally Bev.  They all opened cache containers with swag and I got a thing of scissors.  I guess you can never have too many scissors.  Haha!

We talked to a few more people before we left.  I grabbed a new application for my 2014 membership so I could fill it out at home and send it in since I couldn't find my checkbook before I left. (I found it a few days later.) 

We drove home and told stories.  I dropped Bob and Bev off at their house and then went to my house and watched a movie before bed.  Another successful WSGA event in the books!

Next Adventure:  Disc Golf at Auburn Game Farm Park

Tehaleh Caching Part II

We stayed up way to late the night before and slept in way too late this morning.  We lazily got up, showered ate food and decided that it was a nice day and that we should make the most of it.  I suggested geocaching because we needed to chip away at the Tehaleh caches we had left to grab and it was a nice day.  We got ready and I grabbed my GPS and we were on our way.  We drove to a set of parking coords that would lead us through the trail systems around the development.  The search was on!

Tehaleh Which Way Do I Go? GC4JGMH, was the first one we encountered on our walk through the gravel path.  I gave Ben the GPS so he could get more practice using it for when get can get one himself.  We were looking for a micro without a hint.  We found a film cannister hidden in an old stump less than a foot off the trail.  We signed our names and moved on to the next one.

We were looking for a regular on the way to GC44AQK, Tehaleh Winthrop Cache.  I was kinda happy to finally see a regular in the many micros we've been finding lately.  Sadly, there wasn't a whole lot of swag inside the ammo can but we had fun finding it anyway.  This one was tucked neatly behind a log.

We walked back towards the car and hit the other side of the trail.  That took us to a bunch of naked trees.  Tehaleh Stuck in the Middle With You, GC4JGMN was at first tricky to find.  The coords jumped around a bit but we managed to find the right set of trees and then it was obvious.  We put it back after we signed it, walked back to the car and drove to The Post.

The Post, GC4TH8X, was a fun one to find.  We could see a great view of Mount Rainier from this location.  This one was magnetic and the only place it could have been was on the metal fixtures underneath the benches.  This one even had a trackable inside.

There were two others down the trail we decided to go for since we had a smidgen of daylight left.  We grabbed the first one, GC44APG, Tehaleh Monster Cache.  It was definitely a monster.  It has been one of the few large ammo can's I've come across so far.  Ben was pretty impressed by it.   There were lots of kid's toys shoved in a plastic bag inside.  We signed our names and put it back in the pile of branches.

One more before heading back to his house.  We walked the quarter mile down the gravel path to, GC44062, Tehaleh Forest Park.  It was a mini ammo can in a plastic bag on top of the wooden information board.

 We walked back to the car and drove back.  I got my stuff packed up because I had to work the next day.  Until the next caching adventure!

Next Adventure:  WSGA Holiday Party in Renton, Wash.

Tehaleh Caching

We got up late and it felt good.  I needed to sleep in after the last couple of crazy days I've had.  We ate some lunch and decided to go after some caches in the Tehaleh area.  It is a new housing development outside of Bonney Lake near Ben's parent's house.  We also decided to go for a run.  Meanwhile, we had to make sure we had everything ready because Erika and Malachi were arriving at some point to the Tacoma Dome.  We weren't sure if it was by the train or by bus.  We drove to the development and it was really foggy.  You could not see more than 50 feet in front of you.  I parked at the elementary school and we jogged to the first cache, Sprouts Hollar Park, GC2FC90.  It was at a small park hidden underneath a picnic table.  Erika started texting me that they were on their way back to Tacoma.  We had to hurry if we were going to make it around the same time they arrived. 

We ran to the second cache allotted for the day, Tehaleh-The Edge, GC4JGMD.  It was a film canister tucked away in the rock formation near the skate park.  We took a funny picture of me on top of the rocks just because we could.

The next one was called Tehaleh-Yonder, GC4JGMA.  We found the cache in the similar fashion, hidden amongst the rocks.  Ben posed for this picture.

We decided to run across a grass field.  What we didn't know is there were puddles and low spots with water.  Our shoes got soaked as we sprinted across.  Ben almost fell down but managed to catch himself.  We got to the car, drove back to his house and I started packing my stuff as quickly as I could.  Ben's mom gave us some food for the road and we had to get gas before going down the hill into Puyallup.  Erika and Malachi were already at the parking garage waiting for us.  We got there about ten minutes later and picked them up.  We tried looking for food on the way home but Chipotle was closed at the mall.  We just went home.

Ben hung out for a while and went home later than evening.  Happy 2014!

Next Adventure:  Tehaleh Caching Part II