St. Patrick's Day 2012

Derek and I spent the day in Tacoma grabbing caches and doing some of the challenges in the area. We focused our search around the Washington Century Challenge. Combining difficulty and terrain to 100 stars.







We grabbed about 20 caches and did 3 challenges. We had Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner and headed back to his apartment for some green beer because we were not going to pay a cover charge. This was my first time drinking green beer on St. Patrick's Day.

Colorado 2012-Day 6

My alarm went off at 5:00 a.m. and today was going to be a long long day. I washed my face, brushed my hair and got dressed. I packed everything in my suitcase and the stuff I needed with me in my back pack. We took the couch apart and took that down stairs first, then the chairs, the tv and then the bed. I got all my stuff and took it down to the car. It was nearing time to go to the airport. I had so much stuff to take with me. I was already exhausted and it was only 7 a.m. There really wasn't enough time to eat (plus there wasn't any food in the apt at this point) and I really didn't want to spend money at the airport because it's expensive. They dropped me off and I walked into the Southwest area. I put name tags on the bags, stood in line to check in my two suitcases (one was mine, the other Erika's with clothes packed in it) and printed off my security check. I stood in another line for security, when it was my turn the lady took my ID and my slip and noticed I was from Washington. She said, "oh, I used to live in the Tri-Cities." I just smiled and went on my way. I walked down to the shuttles and got the one that was going to the terminal. There were lots of people with goggle sunburns, you knew they were skiing or snowboarding over the weekend. I got off the shuttle and headed to my gate. I got my boarding pass from customer service and sat and waited to board. I was one of the last ones on the plane so most of the good seats were taken. All that was left was the middle seats. Not a fan. As long as I wasn't sitting near a crying baby or someone who smells like cigarettes, I was fine. I chose a seat near the front, between a fat guy who stared at his IPad for most of the flight and a lady who had a permanent scowl on her face. She spent most of the time reading her Kindle. This was my first WiFi flight so everyone on board was hooked in. I read my book for majority of the flight. We got drinks and a couple of snacks halfway into the flight. As we approached Seattle, the pilot mentioned that it was in the upper 40's and raining. Great, I left nice weather for some crappy weather. What a great day. I got off the plane, headed to baggage claim, Grandma was sitting there waiting for me. The luggage came off fast, I grabbed both and we headed to the sky bridge and to her van. We got home about a hour and a half later and I made some food and headed over to Bob and Bev's house to drop off her coins and shot glass she wanted. I really didn't envision this trip to turn out the way it did but it did unfortunately. Next trip: San Antonio, Texas.

Colorado 2012-Day 5

We got up early today because dad wanted to go out to breakfast for Erika's last day and our last day we would see her until September. We drove over near the mall to the IHOP. That place was packed. All the IHOP employees were wearing Lorax shirts for the promotion of the new movie. We went over to the Walmart nearby to get some last min things that Erika needed before she was sent off. We headed back to her apartment and she got rid of a few things to people from Craigslist. We wished she would have gotten rid of more of it before we arrived on Wednesday. Oh well. Mom and I took a 2 hour walk down the east side of the High Line Canal Trail. We got 12 I think and I got my 2200th cache.



We got back, rested It was almost time to go and Erika packed up all the stuff she needed. Off to the recruiter's office we go. She went into the office and came back out and said we could come in and look around. We met her recruiter, said our goodbyes and went back to her apartment. I wanted to go to the goodwill before it closed but by the time people got motivated, it was too late. We watched Sparticus, washed clothes and cleaned a little more. It was about time for dinner and dad really wasn't hungry so mom and I jumped into the car and headed to Buffalo Wild Wings. I just couldn't help myself, it was less than a mile from her house. The one back at home is in Tacoma, it's the only one in Washington...so far. Plus every time we go, it's packed. We walked in and headed to the bar since it was a seat yourself option. Mom asked what was good here, I told her just about everything, it just depends on what mood you were in. She got a burger and I got my wings. We watched the Colorado Avalanche play while we ate. Afterwards we went to Target to grab another bin to pack her stuff in, we grabbed popcorn and decided what to bring dad home. We headed over to this noodle place and ordered dad some soup like pad thai. Nearby there was a cache, of course I grabbed it. We went home, gave dad his food and put in Tremors to watch while we waited for bedtime. I knew there was two caches outside her apartment so I talked mom into going and getting them with me. We got back and I packed my stuff as best as I could since my flight left early the next day and we had a lot to do in the morning. Tomorrow: Seattle bound and rain.