Mother's Day

For those who didn't get to go on the hike, we had a second gathering for Mother's Day this year.  Trish and Amy decided they were going to stay home and do some yard and house work.  I asked Mom what she wanted for dinner that day and she said spaghetti, salad and garlic bread.  We had most of the ingredients except for the garlic bread and salad.  I picked up those on Friday night just so I didn't have to worry about it over the weekend.  About a week ago, I emailed everyone to let them know we were going to have a Mother's Day celebration at our house.  Everyone came except Kevin, Karla, Tracy.  Of course Grandpa couldn't come but we were hoping he would be up for coming over for Father's Day here in about a month.  This would be our third Mother's Day without Grammie and there's still definitely a void in our lives.  I know there will be for the rest of my life.

Instagram post:  Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there.  Especially to those who have influenced my life.  I would not be the person I am without you.  #mothersday, #moms, #grandma, #grandmother, #grandmothersarespecial, #grammie, #momma, #missinglovedones

I wasn't sure what to get people for Mother's Day.  I had found some sloth stuff for Mom over the course of a couple months.  I didn't really know what to get Grandma or Trish so they got some flowers from Fred Meyers.  I set those outside and there they stayed until the weekend.  Trish took hers home on Saturday after our hike.

Ben and I got up and started getting the house ready for everyone to come over.  We did the dishes the night before so we put them away, picked up the random stuff and put it away, we got the floors swept and vacuumed, cleaned and set up the tables, Ben got the chairs out of the garage, we got the tables decorated and set.  I went out to the garage and got the dishes and platters I planned on using.  

About an hour before everyone was suppose to be here, I started the spaghetti noodles and the hamburger on the stove.  I had no idea how much spaghetti to make for nine people.  I used a pound of hamburger, a pound of noodles and two jars of spaghetti sauce.  We had the two loafs of garlic bread, two bags of salad (because one wasn't enough last time) and I had good intentions of making brownies for dessert but forgot to and then ran out of time to get them done.  I had Ben run to the store to pick up some store brownies.  He called me to tell me Walmart didn't have any and I told him that they wouldn't...if he was listening to me he would have went to Safeway, where they have brownies.  What a tard, lol.   

The food actually got done before everyone got here so I had to figure out how to keep everything warm.  Jenn brought her own noodles because she has been on a Keto diet for I don't know how long.  So she tends to bring some of her own food when our meals aren't Keto.  I set everything on the table in a somewhat logical order and we found tin foil and platters to stick over the hot food.  Now, we just had to wait until everyone got here.  

Everyone got here after 2 and Erika and Zach were last to get here.  They were saying they were late because they forgot, which was a lie.  They just wanted to be turds.  Once everyone was here we all went and piled food on our plates.  I didn't eat anything for breakfast because I knew we would be eating a bunch of food in the afternoon.  I sat at the end of the table closest to the kitchen because I knew I would have to get up and get the second loaf of bread out of the oven once the timer went off.  The spaghetti turned out pretty good and there was enough food for nine people.  Yay!

We all sat at the tables, ate and talked about weird things since that's what we usually do when we get together.  Wade wandered around while Oliver hid under the covers on the bed.  He is the cat that is afraid of large groups of people for some reason.  We didn't think he was going to be that type of cat.  Anyway, we cleared the plates and silverware and Doug helped me pass out gifts to Mom and Grandma.  I had Ben grab the plants outside and hand them to Grandma.  

They opened up their stuff and liked what everyone brought them.  Doug and Jenn got Grandma assorted sewing things, some Diet Dr. Pepper and not sure what else was in there.  I didn't get a good look.  They got Mom a sloth sewing project and we will see when she actually has time to complete it with all the quilting she does.  

Everyone was over there until about 4-4:30.  I knew everyone had to go home at some point so they could get ready for their upcoming work week. They thanked us for hosting, the food and the presents and went home.

Ben and I took about an hour, doing the dishes, sweeping, putting the tables back, wiping off counters and putting all the chairs back in the garage.  We finished everything and relaxed a bit.  I worked on my blog, we watched TV and then got ready for work the next day. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Next Adventure:  My First Set of Glasses

A Mother's Day Hike: Staircase Rapids Loop - Olympic National Park

Ben and I were thinking of something we could do with our mom's for Mother's Day besides the food, presents and cards like we do all the time.  We came up with the idea of taking them on a hike.  But where?  I went through some of the lists Mom and I had on hikes "yet to do" and came across one that sounded like everyone could handle.  I was one of the easier family friendly ones.  Staircase Rapids Loop was outside of Hoodsport near Lake Cushman in the Olympic National Park.  I have never been out there so it would be nice to do something I've never done.  

We asked Trish if this was something she was interested in and she said yes.  She also asked if Ed and Amy could come.  We said, of course.  The more the merrier.  I told Mom and she said she wanted to go and we talked Dad into going as well.  He needed to do something besides chores and appointments all the time.  I didn't invite Erika and Zach because Erika's been working on her thesis and there are no dogs allowed inside ONP.  She would want to go if Emmett could come.  I didn't invite Doug because he would probably want to bring Charlie and again, no dogs allowed in ONP or he didn't feel like doing anything.  Probably didn't feel like doing anything.  

Over the past couple weeks, I checked several websites on the trail conditions just to make sure we weren't going to have any problems.  I checked ONP's website for road conditions and learned that because it was a National Park we needed a pass.  In one of our several conversations with Trish she said that Ed has a pass so we didn't need to worry about getting one.  Yay!  One less thing to worry about and we were going to save some money.

I told Mom we would be using her Expedition because it could hold everyone so we didn't have to drive two vehicles up.  She wasn't a fan but she understood.  Of course she was going to make me drive.

We let everyone know to meet up at our house at 9 a.m. on the Saturday.  I told them to be prepared for any type of weather...even though it was suppose to be mild and overcast, but you just never know.  The mountains make their own weather.  If they wanted to bring snacks that was up to them but we did have plans for dinner when we were done, wear sturdy shoes, bring plenty of water and your sense of adventure!

Ben and I tried to go to bed early the night before but that didn't happen.  We stayed up until at least one because the evening gets away from us when we are watching television, working on our computers or when Ben's playing his game in the other room.  We did eventually get ready for bed and set our alarm for 8ish.  I knew that would give us enough time to get up, ready and dressed before anyone got here.

The alarms went off at 8 and 8:15 because we are lazy.  We both did eventually get up and got ready to go.  I wasn't all that hungry but I've  been fasting in the mornings since January because I have a sedentary job that keeps me in front of the computer most of my week.  I do get up and do things throughout the day.  I avoid snacking and only drink water.  I did grab a One bar and threw that into my back pack along with water, extra socks and other random things we might need.

Everyone arrived around 9ish.  Mom and Dad got there before Trish and I gave her a bad time about not getting her at 9 like she suggested.  She said he had to pick up Ed and they hit a bout of traffic at JBLM.  I told her no excuses, lol.  I told everyone to use the bathroom one more time and to make sure they had all of their stuff.  Everyone piled into the Expedition and off we went.  

We talked about various stuff as we made our way to Hwy 101 through Tumwater.  I thought the traffic would be terrible but it surprisingly wasn't.. It was a smooth transition to every junction we hit.  I knew it would take us about an hour to get up there.  I had planned on doing this hike last summer but this area was closed to the public because of the influx of people due to Covid and those people were vandalizing the area with overcrowding.  We had to come up with a different time to visit the area.

We reached Hoodsport and made the left turn onto Hwy 119.  It was a paved road that took us along Lake Cushman.  There were lots of side roads and driveways leading to various vacation homes, summer communities, camping areas, actual homes, RV sites, etc.  This area was busier than I thought it was.  We followed the road until we reached NF-24, we made a left and followed it until it turned into a gavel road.  Most of the road was okay but there were sections of washboard grooves and potholes.  The trailhead was about a 16 mile drive from Hoodsport.  

We arrived to the parking area and drove up to the overflow parking lot.  The lot was smaller than anticipated but there were plenty of spots around 11 a.m.  If you came any later than that you would probably have to wait for a spot.  Ed got his pass out and we stuck it on the dash, we all changed our shoes and got all of our stuff ready to go.

We walked down to the trail head by the river but first everyone used the biffy (bathroom in the forest for you).  Once everyone was done we enjoyed the views of the North Fork Skokomish River and started our 2.1 mile hike around the loop.  It was mostly flat with a couple of areas where we gained some elevation.  Overall we would be gaining about 200 feet.  Ben and Amy started off like we were in a race to get done.  I reminded them that we are out here to enjoy the hike at a leisurely pace.  They argued that this is how fast they walk normally.  I told them they have to adjust because we are here with others who have different paces and want to stop and take pictures and enjoy the scenery.  The day is about our mother's.

We stopped many times along the river for some cool river shots (the river was so clear), scenery, large boulders, funky old growth trees with mossy beards, nurse logs, wildlife and just the overall feel of being outdoors on a nice day.

One spot along the river, we walked down to the river and saw large fallen logs across the banks and we found a great spot to take a couple pictures with the cascading rapids.  This area was so beautiful!

We continued up the trail next to the river and stopped a few more times to see the sights, trees, get some more pictures of the tree canopy, the river, each other, the giant rock formations and other things we thought were picture worthy. 

There was this really cool spot in the trail with some very large rocks.  We took a group picture with it.  We rounded the corner and made it to the bridge which was roughly a mile from the trail head.  We were half way done.

This suspension bridge was built in 2013 and gives hikers a stunning viewpoint of the rapids from above.  The original bridge was taken out in 1998 by high water.  The new one was built much higher to accommodate the sometimes thunderous spring run off.  We spent some time here enjoying the views of the bridge.  We made our way across and to the other side of the loop.  This part of the trail took us away from the river and more into the tree canopy. 

We walked by several groups of people.  Some wore masks and some didn't.  You could tell who the city people were and which ones were people who have hiked before.  We saw a 12 year old walking the trail in flip flops.  There was a group of people a little off the trail congregated next to a small waterfall near the creek.  They knew we were interested in taking pictures of the area and didn't really move so we kinda went in there, got what we wanted and left.  

There was a small stream that dumped into a larger creek along the trail.  We followed the side trail to admire Slate Creek.  Slate Creek eventually went into the North Fork Skokomish River.  We took a dozen photos while we were there and Ben decided to throw rocks into the water to try and get us soaked.  

We made our way back to the trail.  We walked up in elevation for a short distance and on the right of us was a closed off section of trail that lead to a cliff.  Of course Ben doesn't read directions and he went to check it out.  This is the reason why things get taken away or people die from not listening to warnings.  He said it was totally worth it because you got a great view of the river valley below.

I wasn't sure how much longer the trail was but we knew it was a short easy one.  It felt like we've gone a mile on this side of the river.  We rounded the corner and the trail ended into the parking lot where we parked Mom's Expedition.  I wondered where the trail was going to end up.  Why didn't we see this when we came in?  Who knows.  We walked down to the Expedition and got ready to go.  Some of us changed our shoes and socks and some used the bathroom one more time.  

We left the trail head parking and drove back towards Lake Cushman.  I asked people to let me know if they wanted me to stop so they could see waterfalls, the lake or something else that caught their eyes.  Our first stop was a view of the lake from the forest road.  I wanted a picture of it so I stopped and got out for a couple seconds.

A little further up the road we stopped at a waterfall near the Mount Rose trail head.  

We all walked up the trail to the small bridge to enjoy the view and the small waterfall that ran through there.  

Ben and I just got done taking a couple pictures when I saw a driver's license just off the side of the bridge.  I picked it up and looked at it.  A girl named Kelsie from Michigan probably had no idea this was even here.  I picked it up and decided I was going to help her out once we got back into Lacey.  I would want someone to do that for me if I lost something important like this. 

We continued exploring the area and even went down the staircase to see the view of Lake Cushman from this spot.  We all got our fill for the day and made our way back into Lacey.

Along the way, I asked the mom's what they wanted for dinner and they said that teriyaki sounded good.  I told them the best place was the one near our house but we had to order it to go.  We parked and Ben, Ed and I went in.  I paid for mine and Mom's, Dad gave me money for his and Ed paid for his and Amy's (she would have to pay him back) and Ben paid for his and his mom's food.  We ordered and they said it would be about 10 minutes.  We found a place to sit and meanwhile I looked up Kelsey in Instagram and found her but her profile was private so I tried Facebook and found her so I messaged her.  I wasn't sure when she would respond because I didn't know if she was still in ONP where there is no service or heading somewhere else on her adventure west.  I would have to wait until she messaged me back.  Our food was ready, we grabbed it, took it back to the Expedition and headed back to our house to eat it.

It tasted so good after a two mile hike.  We all spread out at the dining room table, ate and shared stories.  It was a great ending to a nice day.  I hope we get to do more of these over the next few months.  We gotta start whittling down the list Mom and I made over the past few years.  This was a good starting hike for the nice weather season.

After we were done eating and cleaned up, everyone went home.  We thanked them for coming over and going hiking with us and they thanked us for the really nice day.  I was also watching my friend Alicia's dogs for the weekend so I had to go over there and check on them.  While driving down the road heading to Tumwater, I got a message back from Kelsie.  She was very grateful that I found it and that I literally saved her trip.  She had me sent it in the mail to her aunt near Denver, Colorado.  She said that was her last stop before getting on a plane to head home.  She thanked me a dozen times and I told her I was happy to do it.  

There is still kindness left in this world.  Be kind to one another even if it's a stranger.  It can go a long way.

Next Adventure:  Mother's Day

Erika and Zach Move Again

Erika was getting tired of living in an apartment.  She was disgusted at the neighbors, the ones beside her were smokers and didn't care about the rules, the ones above dumped crap off their balcony and it got on their balcony and the ones below her had raging loud parties and didn't care how noisy they were.  She wanted more room, a yard for Emmett and away from there.  She was done.

Over the past few weeks she had been looking to see what was available around the northeast Thurston county area.  She found quite a few but some wanted specific things or they were already rented out and didn't change the status on their website or there were ones they didn't even want to bother with.  She finally found one north of I-5 over by Marvin and Hawks Prairie Roads.  She and Zach went to look at it and they said it had character.  They liked the yard and the rooms but not fond of the kitchen area.  They didn't have much of a choice so they applied and by the end of the week they were approved and going on their walk through.

Erika let us know that she and Zach were going to move into the house but couldn't until May 1st.  We all planned accordingly for that Saturday.  We were going to use everyone's vehicles, the two trucks and Dad's trailer.  I found some totes at my house and Doug's house she could pack stuff in.  Dad dropped off some cardboard boxes for her to pack up as well.

I told Erika that I would be working a half day on the Friday before if she needed any help packing stuff.  She said that would be nice if I could.  I told her I didn't know what time exactly since I was getting my eye appointment done but would be over as soon as I was done.  I headed over there and we spent most of the late afternoon packing up the kitchen stuff, the bathroom stuff and the linens.  We tried to fill up as many bins as we could so the next day wasn't so daunting.  It was approaching dinner time and Erika asked what I had planned for dinner and I told her that I didn't.  Ben would be home soon since it was almost 5.  She said Zach would be home soon as well so we came up with a plan.  What was around the area that we could sit and eat in?  Erika told me to call Ben to see what he wanted and he said teriyaki.  Erika called Happy Teriyaki to ask if they allowed guests to sit in.  They said yes.  We let Ben know to meet us over at Happy T at 6:00.

Of course Ben was late and didn't get there until about 6:15 or so.  Lame.  We all ordered our food and sat and at it by the window.  We talked about the moving plan for the next day some more.  She said that she wanted everyone there around 9 a.m.  Ben went back home and I went to their apartment to help do a couple more things before I went home for the evening.

We stayed up way too late but set our alarms for 8:30 anyway.  I knew I didn't need a whole bunch of time to get ready.

The alarms went off at 8:30 and I got out of bed and started getting ready to go.  It was going to be a mild day so I dressed accordingly.  Ben finally go out of bed and got ready to go.  He also had to do a pack test and a shift at the South Sound Speedway later so he could only help out until about 11-11:30 or so.  We got there around 9 a.m. and wondered where everyone else was.  Apparently, Doug got a late start which made Dad late and Mom was late anyways.  They were all going to get here hopefully around 10.  We found out Zach had already taken a load of stuff over in his car before Ben and I got there.

Erika, Ben, Zach and I loaded up all of our vehicles and took stuff over to the house so we were doing something while we waited for everyone to get there.  Erika stayed behind at the apartment with Emmett while we all unloaded the stuff we hauled over there into the house.  We asked Zach which rooms were what so we could drop off the stuff into the appropriate rooms.  We were probably there for no more than 20 minutes.  We went back to the apartment and within minutes Doug and Dad showed up with the two trucks and the yellow trailer.  Mom showed up a few minutes after that.

This load was mostly the furniture, large items and awkwardly long items that wouldn't fit into the other vehicles.  The other random odds and ends went into the back of the cars.  Just before we were ready to head over with the first truck loads, Ben had to leave to do his stuff.  Erika and Zach thanked him for coming over and helping.  We took the first "official" load with the six vehicles over to the house and unloaded them into the rooms they wanted them in.  

Dad had a heck of a time backing up the trailer because the driveway was so weird.  We managed to get it where he wanted it.  Erika gave everyone who hasn't been there a quick tour of the house.

By the time we were heading back over to the apartment it was after noon.  Erika had ordered pizza from Pizza Hut and was going to go pick it up.  I called to ask her if she needed anything and she said to stop at the store and pick up some Cokies and paper plates.  Mom and I stopped at the Fred Meyer for less than an hour.  Mom picked up a house warming flower for Erika to have at her new place.

We took a break, ate pizza and then finished packing up the rest of the stuff in the apartment except for the cleaning stuff, the mop and the vacuum.  Erika said she would finish cleaning out the apartment later this week.  

We all caravanned back over to the house, unloaded that stuff, talked to one of her neighbors named Nancy and hung out until we figured out what we were going to do when we were done at the house.  Erika, Mom, Jenn and I went to Costco while Doug, Dad and Zach went to go get the washer and dryer from Grammie and Grandpa's house.

Costco was insane, we should have gotten another cart but we made it work, I bought the least amount of stuff, while Mom bought stuff for the office, Jenn and Erika both bought dog food and Erika decided she wanted to buy this outdoor grill/fire pit for Zach.  I felt bad for the check out clerks but they were good sports and we figured it out.  We took it out to the vehicles and managed to fit everything into Mom's Expedition and my Escape.  Doug called us and told us to head to the Home Depot to purchase some new hoses for the washer and an exhaust snake for the dryer.  Erika also found some Baby Shark decals for their bathroom.  We all went back to the house and they got both the washer and dryer working pretty well.  Mom took Jenn into Rainier to grab the car, Dad took Doug home and I stayed and helped Erika unpack and put away blankets and linen.

I got tired so I went home, got a shower, ate some Caesar salad and Ben came home after the races around 9:30 or so.  I watched some television and worked on my blog before getting ready for bed.  I knew I was going to be a little bit sore the next day.

**The next day I took two loads of stuff over to her house that has been being stored at my house (the closet and the garage) and as far as I know everything is over at her house now.**

Next Adventure:  A Mother's Day Hike:  Staircase Rapids Loop - Olympic National Park