Ben's Maiden Voyage and Some Caches on Lake St. Clair

I have not been kayaking since May 14, 2018.  That same week, at the time, was one of the worst week's I've experienced as an adult.  It was a Monday and the weather was nice so I thought I would strap Erika's kayak to the top of the Escape and head down to Lake St. Clair.  I had a few geocaches I wanted to get and I brought along some snacks and water because I would be out there for about two hours or so.  Ben was on a 24 hour shift so I really didn't have to be anywhere.

The next day I woke up and felt off.  I was working back in the mail room and had to leave at 9 a.m. because I didn't feel very well.  I am not one who usually leaves when I don't feel well but I felt pretty bad.  I put in my leave and went home to sleep it off.  It's happened to me four times since 2014 and it feels like kidney stones but it only lasts a day and no kidney stone comes out.  I was in bed most of the day and felt better by the evening after some puking.

Wednesday was the worst day of them all.  I was a little hazy from the day before but felt good enough to go to work.  That afternoon, my life literally changed forever.  My grandmother Eileen had a stroke.  I was devastated.  It sure took a toll on me because I didn't want to face the reality that it was actually happening and the thought that something bad could actually happen that could take her away from us.  My mind throughout those three months I was in a calm panic.  In my mind I was panicking and a total wreck but on the outside I was trying so hard to keep it together.  It took a toll on me and my family.  I was in utter despair.

It was hard for me to want to go kayaking again because for a while I blamed it on why so many bad things were happening to me.  I know it's ridiculous but that is how I felt for almost three years.  

Then the 2020 pandemic came and I wanted to go do something rather than sitting at home all the time doing nothing.  So I insisted that Ben get a kayak so we can go together.  It was hard to get a kayak because so many other people were doing the same thing because people were bored.  He did manage to get one (and a paddle) really late last summer and we really weren't able to go because we got busy with other things and the weather starting turning.

Early June of this year we spent some time on OfferUp looking at the hardware so we could transport the kayaks on my new Escape I got in April.  We got the J racks from a guy in Puyallup for $75 and the cross bars from a guy in Lacey for $100.  Ben and I figured that we saved at least $150 by purchasing the equipment used instead of new.  Both sets of hardware were in very good condition and we got a smashing deal out of it.  Ben spent some time fastening the pieces to the top of the Escape.  We had bought some strap downs a few months back with one of our gift cards when we bought the hitch for Ben's Edge.

That Friday, Ben got off work early for the holiday weekend and I suggested that we go kayaking after I was done with work at 4.  He said that was a great idea and I helped him take the kayaks down from the rafters so he could put them on the Escape as I finished working.  I fed the kitties, grabbed some towels, our water, a pen and our water shoes and we jumped in the Escape and drove to Lake St. Clair.

Once we got to the boat launch and we got out to unload, it was hotter than I thought it was.  It has been a while since I've been to this lake.  It seemed like there were a bunch of new houses on the shoreline.  My plan was to pick up some caches in the northeast corner of the lake and to stop by ones that I already had but Ben needed.  We embarked on Ben's maiden voyage.  

We paddled out to the northeast corner of the "octopus" lake checking my phone to see how far we were from Dragon at Turtle Cove (GC885EG).  I felt like I've been out this way before with Bob many years ago.  I'm sure there have been many archived caches that I've gotten and now there's a new one here.  We were getting closer to ground zero and I checked the hint, which there wasn't one, but we knew it was going to be hanging off a piece of tree or a limb just so we can maneuver the kayaks in the correct position to start looking.  I was able to get into the spot to start searching for it.  I found the container, got out my pen, signed our names and Ben took my photo.  I put it back and it took a while to get out of that spot because I had to do it backwards. 

 I checked my phone and told Ben where approximately where the next one was on the lake.  We started paddling towards that shoreline.  Where, Oh Where Did My Mermaid Go? (GC5MQ8P) was, according to the hint, tied to a piece of an old abandoned dock.  I told Ben we were looking for an old dock or something that looked like an old dock.  After some quick searching, we did find it and I had Ben paddle over to retrieve the cache container.  He didn't have the pen so I had to throw it to him and of course I missed and it went into the lake.  Good thing pens float.  He signed our names and we put it back.  I saw a rogue black paddle along the shoreline so I paddled to it.  I grabbed it, took a look at it and decided to take it with me.  It was in good shape and just needed to be cleaned up.  Now, when I get my own kayak, I don't have to spend $70-80 on a paddle.

I told him we had time for about one more and he agreed.  There was another traditional cache, I Can See My House From Here (sorta, kinda) (GC5MQ8P), just south of us along the shoreline.  It was one I already found back in 2013 with Bob so I let Ben lead the way.  We got to the location and didn't find anything even after reading the hint and past logs.  I told Ben this one could be missing.  We looked for a few more minutes and had to call it.  Ben logged his DNF right then and there.

We got out of the downed trees along the shoreline and paddled back to the boat launch.  There were quite a few people out enjoying paddle boards, fishing boats and party barges.  We got out, drained the small amount of water we had inside the kayaks out, carried them over to the Escape and I helped Ben put them back on top and secured them down.  We got in and I asked Ben what we wanted for dinner.  He suggested teriyaki.  We drove to the teriyaki place by our house, ordered and went back to unload the kayaks since we had to waste about 20 minutes.  By the time we were done, we drove back, picked up our food and ate it while we watched an episode of I Can See Your Voice.  

After dinner, I went and picked up the truck in Rainier and when I got there, Mom was out in the backyard suspecting she had lost a chicken to a raccoon.  I chatted with Mom and Dad for a few minutes and then went over to Grandma's house to load up her garbage cans.  I went home and helped Ben load up our recycle and garbage cans so they were ready to go the next morning.  We got cleaned up, watched some American Dad, I worked on my blog, logged my caches from the lake and got ready for bed.   

Next Adventure:  4th of July

A Historical Pacific Northwest Heat Wave

Okay, let's make one thing clear the Pacific Northwest (especially Western Washington) does not get this hot.  We might hit 90 degrees from time to time and maybe 100 degrees one day over the summer but never a constant pounding of heat.  We were warned by several news outlets, blogs and meteorologists over the past week.  The heat that was about to hit us was a highly unusual weather pattern that statistically has less than a 1-in-several-thousand-year chance of occurring is was place over the PNW, with a record strong high pressure area known as a "heat dome" and was sitting over Washington State and British Columbia. 

• This heat dome was yielding temperatures 25-50 degrees above average across multiple states and BC.
• This heat, combined with worsening drought, was raising risk of wildfires across multiple Western states, with some large blazes erupting in California on June 27th and 28th.
• It was also causing power demand to spike at a time when hydropower resources are lower than usual.
• All of Oregon, Washington and Idaho, plus portions of California, Montana and Nevada were under excessive heat watches and warnings.
• Portland, Oregon, set an all time temperature of 112 degrees on June 26th, and eclipsed that on June 27th, with a high of 115 degrees so far.
• In Seattle, the temperature reached 104 degrees on June 26th, which broke the existing all-time record.  It exceeded that record on June 27th, standing at 106 degrees at 6:00 p.m.
• Seattle had never had back-to-back 100 degree days before this weekend. 
• Canada is also seeing extreme heat, with the country's June high temperature record tie on June 25th and smashed on June 26th at Lytton in BC by nearly 3 degrees, with a high of 116 degrees.  This has been broken again on June 27th, with the same locating recording 117 degrees.
• To put this into perspective, this means that a location in BC, not known as an extremely hot providence in June, equaled Las Vegas' all-time hottest temperature. 
• Mountains in the Northwest have been extremely warm with freezing levels located above the peak of Mount Rainier at times.  This is resulting in rapidly melting snow and ice, from the peaks of Oregon to the mountains of BC.
• There are three main reasons the PNW is so hot.  The first is tied to the heat dome itself, which causes air to sink, or compress, warming as it does so and keeping the skies clear and the second has to do with the location of the heat dome.
• The feature is park to the north-northeast of the region, at the same time as an upper-level low-pressure are lurks offshore.
• Due to the clockwise flow of air around the high pressure, easterly winds are blowing from high-to-low elevation areas, adding more compressional cooling.
• The third fact is climate change.  Studies have shown that sever heat events such as this one are now on average about 3-5 degrees hotter than they would be without the many decades of emissions of greenhouse gasses from fossil fuel burning, deforestation and other human activities.
• This warming is also thought to be altering weather patterns in a way that makes strong heat domes more common and prolonged.

It started here on Thursday, June 24th and was here until about Monday June 27th.  The people who have lived or grew up here in the PNW have never experienced a summer like this before.  It was brutal.  We live in a region that doesn't get this hot so most house holds don't have AC because it really isn't needed.  I grew up without AC.  I didn't have it until the first house we lived in when we moved to Lacey back in 2016.  It was nice to have.  When we were forced to move to a different house, the one we currently live in, doesn't and we desperately needed it over those five days.  I know we should have gotten one but it wasn't in the current budget at the time.  We were going to have to wait it out and deal with it.  We will have one by next summer.

On Thursday, June 24th it was still 73 degrees around 10 p.m. that night.  It was as warm indoors as it was outdoors.  I went to go water my plants and flowers in the front yard.  I knew they were going to bake over the next few days.  We have never gotten this warm this early in the summer.  By the time this was going to be done with my front yard was going to be brown.  It doesn't usually get brown until mid August.  Fire danger will be very high over the next two to three months.

We were suppose to have a yard sale this weekend but Dad and I decided to postpone it to another weekend just because it was going to be very hot and we didn't want to sit in it or subject patrons to it either.

The next day, Friday June 25th, it was already 70 degrees by 9 a.m.  Again, we are the PNW and we don't get temperatures like that early in the morning.  Around 9 p.m. it was still 80 degrees.  The house was around 85 degrees and it was not going to cool off that night.  We were not going to get our evening cool down period we usually get for the next morning.  This is going to be rough.

On Saturday, June 26th it was 80 degrees by 9 a.m. once again.  It reached 104 degrees by 4:15 p.m. while Mom and I were out doing the shop hop in the greater Tacoma area.  At 8 p.m. it was 97 degrees and our house was very warm inside.  It was miserable.  Once it reached 10:00 p.m. it cooled down to 82 degrees but inside the house was 85 degrees.  We had three fans going and the cat's spent most of the day laying on the floor trying to stay cool.  It was hard to sleep and I didn't get to bed until around 2 a.m., it was 74 degrees.

By the time I woke up at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 27th, it was already 85 degrees outside.  It didn't cool down very much over the course of the night.  That day was a scorcher.  We left the two fans on for the cat's and they again, spent most of the day laying on the floor sprawled out.  Ben and I went to the river that afternoon and spent almost three hours there.  It felt good.  That evening around 8 p.m. it was 90 degrees outside.  We noticed our shampoo was runnier than it usually was when we showered and our butter was melting on the counter so Ben put it in the fridge.  We tried going to bed and at 11:15 p.m. it was 80 degrees outside and 88 degrees inside the house.  It was a really rough night of sleeping.  So sweaty...even with three fans going.  I hated that I had to work the next day, in doors, without a cooling down period.

The next day, June 28th, it pretty much hovered around 85-88 degrees throughout the night inside the house and stayed that way when I got up to go to work.  Sleeping was definitely sweaty.  I didn't actually go to bed until after midnight because it was so hot.  By 7 a.m. it was already 75 degrees outside.  I set up the three fans inside the living room, wore my neck drape soaked in cool water (I got up several times throughout the day to re-wet it) and it kept me somewhat comfortable.  By 9:00 a.m. it was already 85 degrees outside.  This was the first sight of Oliver panting.  I gave them some of the ice balls from the freezer thinking they would play with them or lick them to stay cool.  By 10:15 a.m. it reached 90 degrees outside and by noon it was almost 100 degrees!  It was 106 degrees by 3 p.m. and I could not wait until work was done so I could not be in front of my computer.

It reached it's final high by 5 p.m. that evening with a record breaking temperature of 108 degrees.  This is the hottest it's been ever in Thurston County.  We broke many records today.  The kitties were so hot and I managed to put a wet towel on Wade while he was miserable on the floor.  I told both of them that I was sorry it was so hot but it was beyond our control.  We wetted bandanas and wrapped them around our heads while wearing our cooled neck wrap. 

The kitties got so hot that they eventually laid in the bathtub because they were so hot.  I felt so bad for them.

It finally started cooling down around 8 p.m. and by 9 it was 88 degrees so Ben and I sat with our feet in the kiddie pool in the front yard.  The house was still really hot inside so we opened the windows and put the box fans on the sills to bring in the cool air.  By 11:00 p.m. the marine layer off the coast had made it inland cooling the area to 74 degrees.  We were able to have a night of cool-ish sleep.

That was a rough span of five days.  We are definitely getting an AC unit before next summer.

A post from July 1, 2021

Much of the higher Cascades set record or near record temperatures on June 26th and June 27th with temperatures in the 80's and 90's around the pass and hiking levels.  Near the top of Mount Rainier temperatures were far, far above freezing.  With all that snow and ice up there from our snowy winter subjected to temperature 40-60 degrees above freezing, snowmelt was rather extreme.  The recent heatwave resulted in significant snowmelt and high river flows, bringing sediment downstream.

All that sediment flow was captured on satellite imagery as the silt and muck flowed down rivers into Puget Sound, leaving noticeable brownish color in the water.  One of the most dramatic scenes was around Tacoma, where the Puyallup River carried down mud and silt from a melting Mount Rainier.

Longmire hit 105 degrees, tying its all time record, according to the National Parks Service and farther up on Paradise, a the ranger station, hit 91 on June 28th after reaching 88 on June 27th. There had been just under 60 inches of snow up there before the heat wave began, now it's down to 19 inches.  Near the summit, at Camp Muir (10,100 feet), hit levels of 62 degrees on June 27th and then reached 68 degrees on June 28th.  That meant summit temperatures were likely in the 40's.  The freezing level was registered at just over 18,200 feet by a weather balloon that was launched from Forks on June 28th.

Absolutely insane!  I sure hope we get a lot of snow pack this next winter.  We are going to need it.

Next Adventure:  Ben's Maiden Voyage and Some Cache on Lake St. Clair

King and Pierce Counties Shop Hopping and a Geocache

We had to break down the shop hop into three days due to the sheer amount of travel in between each region.  Last weekend, Mom and I did the north and the south and this weekend was just one day, the shops in King and Pierce Counties.  She got Yelm earlier this week after work and someone from her quilt guild would have to go do Shelton and share the pattern with everyone since we weren't going to go to that quilt store.  It was out of the way for just one quilt store.  Mom was okay with not going.  We planned out the day.

Mom headed over to my house and she was suppose to be here by 9, she came just after 9.  I checked the temperature and it was already 80 degrees.  Mom arrived and backed into the open space in the front yard and unloaded the plastic preform pool and some flowers.  Erika got a hold of me the other day asking about her pool.  I told her Mom and Dad had it so she would have to ask Mom to bring it into town.  We texted Erika to come get the pool and showed her through a picture of where it was in the yard.  She needed to come get it soon before her flowers got too hot.  She said she would in the next hour or so. 

Ben was suppose to do a race shift at the South Sound Speedway but it was canceled due to the heat we were suppose to get this weekend.  He ended up hanging out with Josh instead.

We got into the Escape with our stuff and headed to the freeway.  We got onto I-5 north and hoped for no bad traffic.  Our first stop was Des Moines and the quilt store, Carriage Country Quilts, off of Marine View Dr.  I have been to this quilt store in the past so I kinda knew where it was.  We did have the GPS with the address in it just in case.  Mom saw the building so we pulled off the road and found a place to park.  The parking lot was pretty small but we were the only ones there since we arrived just after 10 a.m.

We went inside and browsed a bit.  Mom found some fabric she wanted to get so we went to the front, got her fabric cut, got our stamps and free pattern, a poster for a dollar and Mom paid for her fabric and the two finishing kits.  I told Mom I would pay her back since I didn't have cash on me today.  I used it all up last weekend.  We thanked the lady and moved on with our day.  I really wanted a geocache for the day and tried finding one a few blocks away but I couldn't find it.  I didn't know if it was missing or put back in the wrong place.  I didn't want to spend a lot of time here so I moved on after about five minutes.

The next quilt store, Running Stitches Fabric, was in downtown Kent.  Mom and I continued down the hill on the 516 to Kent.  We haven't been to Kent in a while but we know we're not missing much.  We followed Nuvi's directions and I know I've been here once before with Mom back in the day.  We paralleled the Escape into a spot on the side of the road across from the quilt store and went inside.  We browsed for a little bit and I saw some flannel Kraken fabric I had to have.  I haven't seen a lot of Kraken fabric yet so this was a good find.  I asked Mom if she would make me a pillowcase out of it and she said sure.  I paid for my Kraken fabric, we got our free pattern and got our passport stamped.

  Our next stop was Buckley.  It was almost noon and it was over 90 degrees.  

We got onto 167 and had to wade through some traffic.  There was no reason for it of course but it still hindered our progress.  We eventually got to Hwy 410 and went up the hill into Bonney Lake.  I decided to go to Buckley first just to get that one out of the way.  We followed 410 into Buckley and the traffic was terrible.  I think we stopped at every stinking traffic light.  We made the turn into downtown Buckley and found a place to park.  

We went inside and the air conditioning felt really good.  We wandered around a bit and we both decided to use the restroom while we were here since it wasn't that busy.  I went inside and giggled at the sign the lady put up.  Of course I had to take a picture of it.  

We got our passport stamped and our free pattern before we left.  She had a candy bowl out and I took a couple small boxes of Nerds and some cherry Twizzlers for Mom.  We got back in the Escape and I decided to go the back way to Bonney Lake through South Prairie.  Hwy 410 was super busy.  I texted Trish to let her know we were in town and if she was home to stop by.  She said instead of having Ed come over she went over to his apartment in Puyallup instead.  Lame.

I opened my geocaching app and found a cache that was easy to grab in South Prairie.  That one was called South Prairie Park (GC6MPXZ) and it was off the main road in a neighborhood.  We pulled up, I got out (it was very hot and sweaty) and looked in the tree because that's where it was leading me.  I looked quickly and decided it probably wasn't going to be there.  I checked one more place and saw it was hidden inside the fence post in one of the holes.  I pulled out the bison tube, signed our names and put it back.  It was getting hot.

I took some of the back roads into Bonney Lake via the Nuvi.  I recognized where we were but couldn't figure out what part of Hwy 410 this road was going to dump us out on.  I miscalculated and we had to back track anyway.  Oh well.  I knew where the Benjamin Franklin Crafts was because Ben and I had been here before.  We parked and went inside.  The air conditioning felt really good.  We wandered around for a bit, got our stamp on our passport, got our free pattern and wandered around some more.  I found some art I wanted to bring home with me.  I got the print, the mat and the frame.  It looked pretty good and all three pieces were on sale.  We paid for our stuff and went back to the Escape.  It was getting hotter outside.

We had to look up the two quilt stores in Puyallup to see which one to hit up first.  The traffic was getting heavier.  We decided to drive up to the Meridian quilt store first, The Quilting Fairy.  It took longer getting there than the time we actually spent inside the quilt store.  It was another quick visit, got our passport stamped, got our free pattern and browsed for a few minutes.  We thanked the lady and got back in the Escape.  We got back onto Meridian and went down the hill.

We got onto Pioneer and drove down to where it can connect with Main.  We had to wait for a train to pass so that ate up some of our time.  We found a parking spot and went inside.  Again, the air conditioning felt really good.  Mom browsed while I used the restroom.  This quilt store, the Quilt Barn, also had a funny bathroom sign hanging up.  I went and found Mom, we got in line to get our passports signed and our free quilt pattern and Mom managed to find some fabric she wanted.  We went back to the Escape and made our way to the last quilt store.

The last one was another craft store, this one was called Artco Crafts and Frames.  It was in the Fircrest part of Tacoma.  I haven't been up this way in a very long time.  We followed I-5 to Hwy 16 and then to our exit.  It was right off of Hwy 16 in the first business complex.  We pulled in and found a place to park.  We went inside and thoroughly enjoyed the air conditioning as we browsed around.  This was our last shop before 5 so we didn't have to rush.  I saw some cool things.  We walked to the back of the store where the fabric section was and got our last stamp and free pattern.  We went back out to the Escape and I saw a Goodwill I've never been to.  

The North Tacoma Goodwill was across the parking lot and we went in and browsed.  I was disappointed in the selection of stuff but I did manage to find a couple of things to bring home.  Mom saw a place on the corner and was like, "that's where Tacoma Boys is located, I've always wondered where this was in Tacoma.  Let's go in."  I turned around and we went in.  It was essentially a produce store with local ciders, beers, fruit, veggies, packaged goods etc.  Mom and I got a couple of apples and I got a cold drink.

We got back onto Hwy 16 and merged onto I-5 north into Tumwater.  I had to check on my friend's dogs while she was out of town.  It was a quick visit.  I let them go potty out in the back yard, I made sure they had food and clean water.  I gave them all treats and put them back in the garage with the fan blowing on them.  I got back in the Escape where Mom had the AC on full blast.  I asked her if she needed to do anything else and she said she had to go to the store for a few things.  We went to Walmart real quick and I bought flowers so we could go across the street to go visit Grammie and change out her flowers.  When we visited the cemetery, it was over 100 degrees. 

We really didn't know what we wanted for dinner so I suggested a chicken sandwich from KFC since there was one close by in Tumwater.  We went through the drive thru and decided to eat it at Pioneer Park.  Halfway there, I realized everyone and their dog were going to be there and the parking lot was going to be packed.  This is where most people go in the area for floating on the river.  When we did get there, the parking lot was absolute nuts!  We did manage to find a spot and ate our food with the AC on full blast.  We watched a guy get his floating ready while attending to his dog.  We were really hoping he didn't leave him in the truck.  Luckily, he didn't.

We went back to my house and unloaded the Escape.  Mom threw her stuff in the Expedition and headed back to Rainier.  I spent some time working on my blog, watched some TV, did some chores and eventually ate some popcorn.  It got to 104 degrees that day and as of midnight that night, it was about 80 degrees in the house.  We went to bed pretty late because it was so uncomfortable trying to sleep.  It never did really cool down so it was a sweaty night of sleep even with three fans going in the bedroom.  This might be the new normal for PNW summers.  We will have to eventually get an AC unit for the house.

Next Adventure:  A Historical Pacific Northwest Heat Wave