Spokane Trip: Lacey to Medical Lake, Villam Meam Farm, Soda Pirates

Happy Mount St. Helens Day!

I decided to take a long weekend and drive over to Spokane to see my friend Bri, Brenda, Ray, Megan and Chaise.  Ben wasn't able to come with because he had planned a "Mother's Day weekend" with his mom and sister to the gorge side of Oregon. 

I chatted with Bri over messenger about coming over to finally visit her farm.  She didn't have any means to host anyone, so I asked Brenda and Ray if they wanted to hang out on Thursday night and most of Friday and they said yes.  They were going to be at a concert when I got over there but was welcome to hang out at the house until they came home.  I asked if they wanted to drive down to Pullman the next day for some geocaching and found out Ray could, but Brenda had to go to work.  I told Fitzy I was going to be in town and she and Chaise prepared to host me on Friday night, Saturday and Sunday morning.  

It was all set.  I turned in my leave at work and was excited for my long weekend on the east side.  The night before, I really didn't get anything done except laundry because Doug took up a lot of my time by being awful about getting rid of his car.  It was undrivable, he had no means of fixing it and it's been sitting in the front yard since November.  It needed to go before our landlord or property management saw it.  I knew our luck was going to run out soon.

I decided to work half of Thursday, so I finished up my work, updated my phone and my Outlook for my absence and told my co-workers I would see them on Monday.  They told me to have fun.  I spent about fifteen minutes packing up the rest of my stuff and staged it in the living room so I could get it out to the Escape.  I put the dishes away, loaded them, wiped down the counters, did the cat box, made sure the cats had food, water and treats, let the dog out to go potty, made one more sweep of the house and loaded up my stuff into the Escape.  I left as close to 11:30 as I could.  

I drove towards Hawks Prairie and stopped at the Arco to get gas and ice for the cooler.  I got onto I-5 north and made by way to the 512 exit in Tacoma.  I did not hit any traffic, which was nice.  I got into Auburn and decided to call Erika to make her workday go quickly, she talked to me until I got to Moses Lake, with a few dropped calls along the way.  There was a slow spot near the top of Tiger Summit on Hwy 18.  We talked about a ton of things along that 170-mile stretch.  It was about a two-and-a-half-hour phone call, lol. 

I merged onto I-90 east and watched the landscape change while I talked to Erika on the phone.  Between Easton and Ellensburg (near Indian John Hill) there was a spot on the freeway where I hit a one mile long back up.  It looked like a semi-truck clipped a truck.  I hit some poor driving near the Rye Grass Rest Area but managed to get away from it.  

I didn't stop until I got to Moses Lake and finally ended my conversation with Erika.  She thanked me for making her workday go faster and I reciprocated with keeping me company during part of the trip.  I stopped at the Love's just outside of Moses Lake.  I got gas, went inside to use the restroom, got a candy bar and walked across the road to find Pond Life (GC6TDH8).  I took me a while to locate it because the coords were off a bit.  I did manage to find it, got my name on it, got a picture and put it back.

I got back onto I-90 and chatted with Grandma for a little bit, and it made my trip go by a little faster.  Then Ben called so I talked to him while I stopped at the Sprague Lake Rest Area for a few.  I used the restroom and then found the two caches, Room for One More (GC5YC8A) and Sprague Lake Earth Cache (GC6P9E7) at opposite ends of the rest area.  I got back in the Escape and got back onto I-90.  I talked to Ben for a couple more minutes and then Mom called me.  I talked to her as I headed straight for Bri's house in Medical Lake.  I hung up with her once I got to her driveway at around 5:30. I made pretty decent time. 

I have not seen Bri since 2008, when she shared a house with my sister in Pullman on Monroe Street but, have seen what she's been up to since then on Facebook and random messages here and there.  For the past few years, I 've always wanted to come by and see her animals and farm and this time it worked out.  We spent the next couple hours catching up, sharing stories, feeding goats, holding goats, checking out the pigs, cats, chickens, ducks and the dogs.  She had a lot of work on her hands running her farm by herself.  Her day job was working in an office for the nearby community college and was also trying to finish schooling.  She actually had to finish writing a paper when I headed to Brenda and Ray's later that evening. 

I told her what I've been doing over the past decade or so.  I told her about my jobs, the job I am doing currently, my traveling endeavors, living situations and told her about Ben and how we will be getting married next summer.  She added some stuff about the military and some of her past relationships that didn't work out.  She is hoping she finds that perfect person, because she knows he exists, because she could use some help with her animals and living situation.  As it approached 8:30, she thanked me for stopping by, we exchanged hugs, and I told her I would come by another time I find myself over in the Spokane area.  

I left and took the back way into Airway Heights.  I stopped at the Walmart to grab a pizza and a salad because I felt bad eating Brenda and Ray's food.  I paid and went to their house just a short distance down the road.  I got to their house, parked out of the way and proceeded to look for the house key, which they hid in the side yard with some coordinates.  I must have been off my game because I was embarrassed on how long it took me to find it.  I had no idea those fence caps came off.  I got the house unlocked, Zuri was glad to see me, let her out for a few minutes, brought in my stuff, and the house was like the inside of a volcano!  It was so hot inside!

I got situated and opened up some of the windows, got in a quick shower, got dressed and then preheated the confusing oven to cook my pizza.  I found a sheet pan to put it on and sat at the table doing some stuff on my phone and journaling while my pizza cooked. I texted Ray letting them know that I made it there okay and he said he knew because they have cameras outside, and they even knew when I turned the oven on.  I ate my pizza and couldn't figure out how to change the channel on their giant TV.  I ended up watching the last couple of minutes of the 4 OT hockey game with the Panthers and Hurricanes. It was the 6th longest game in NHL history. 

Brend and Ray got home around 11:30 from their concert at the Spokane Arena. We stayed up a bit chatting about random things, and they told me that they were going to move to Portugal later on this fall. It was a huge shock to find that out.  We had to give up for the night because Brenda still had to go to work the next day.  I briefly told Ray what the plan was for the next day.  We went to bed just after 12:30.

Next Adventure:  Spokane Trip:  Loose on the Palouse, the Grain Train and Go Cougs!

Mother's Day

A few weeks ago, I asked all the mom's what kind of food they wanted for Mother's Day, and it sounded like something with chicken won. We decided to make BBQ chicken on the grill and none of the mom's should have to prepare or bring anything.  I talked to Erika to see if Zac's brother and mom were interested in coming and she said she would ask and get back to me. 

I looked to see what the weather would be like during that weekend, and I thought it was a typo.  We went from the low 70's to 91 on Sunday.  What?  I can't recall the last time Mother's Day was that hot. I guess I had to plan for it to be outside.  At least take advantage of this early spring warm weather, right?

As soon as I heard they were interested in coming, I sent out an email to everyone, the Monday before, with all the information on it.  I decided to provide all the food on the posted menu since most of it I had already.  I made sure to get to the store on Friday and get everything I needed for Mother's Day.  Everyone, including Nancy and Shane, said they were coming.

The night before, I made the potato salad and did some cleaning around the house while listening to my podcasts through my headphones.  I made sure before I went to bed most of the stuff was done or prepared.  I went to bed late.

The day of, I got up at my normal time for my weekends, ate a light breakfast and tried getting some of the little things done.  I asked Rhonda if I could borrow her Cougar canopy tent cover and she said she would get it out for me.  I walked over there and chatted for a few minutes before continuing on with our day.  It was already starting to get warm.

Doug cleaned the bathroom and picked up his dog poopies in the back yard.  He and Ben brought out the tables, chairs and set up the canopy.  Erika and Zac were going to bring theirs, so it covered both the tables.  I wanted people to be out of the direct sunlight because I wasn't sure where the sun was going to be in the yard around noon to two.  I got the food out and Ben started cooking the chicken on the grill.  

Trish, Ed and Amy showed up first and they said the traffic was busy because of the holiday and the really nice weather.  Mom, Grandma and Dad showed up just after they did and finally Zac, Erika and his brother Shane and his mom Nancy.  Shane brought his dog Colby with him, but Linda couldn't come this time because she was out of town.  Erika and Zac decided to leave their dogs at home.  They thought having them would make the back yard crazy.  They probably weren't wrong.

Nancy didn't have to bring anything, but she wanted to.  She made some caramel dip, cut up some apples to dip it in and some cookies to share.  I got the caramel heated up and put it in a small ramakin and put the apples on a platter.  I grabbed the card tables and stuck some of Grammie's tablecloths on them and started having people bring the food, plates, napkins and silverware out.  The one thing we had to battle were the bees once they figured out the food was out there. 

Once all the food was done, we had all the mom's dish up their food first.  There was definitely plenty of food for 14 people.  We all dished up after our mom's, sat down, ate and shared stories.  We ate BBQ chicken, beans, chips, potato salad and watermelon.  Our family gatherings are always interesting and this time we had two new people join us. Nancy wasn't as chatty as she was the first time, we met her at Zac and Erika's house a couple of years ago.  I know she's been through a lot since then with the cancer treatment.   We had to listen to Charlie whine while we ate.

We cleaned up and took some of the stuff inside so the bees would leave it alone.  I asked everyone if they wanted ice cream cones before or after presents.  They said afterwards so they could let their food settle.   We watched the mom's open their gifts, cards, flowers and snacks.  It was fun to watch.  I went inside and grabbed the three types of ice cream and the cones.  I had people line up, mom's first, to tell me what kind of ice cream they wanted. Everyone said the ice cream was a nice touch for the 90+ degree weather.

Everyone grabbed their stuff, helped bring the food and dishes into the house and we slowly took down the tables and chairs.  I told everyone to meet me out in the front yard for some family photos.  No one looked that excited, but it was important that we get them because we will regret not taking them later on.  Shane and Nancy thanked me for inviting them and I told them they were invited to any of our family gatherings if they wanted to come. Everyone went home and Doug and Ben helped me bring in the chairs and tables. Erika and Zac took their canopy home while I wheeled Rhonda's back over to her.

We did dishes, did a once over with the vacuum, put away leftovers and sat in the house with the air conditioner on. 

Again, we are not used to this hot of weather this early in the spring.  I hope we have a pretty nice summer so we can get all of our little jobs, yard work and trips in.

Happy Mother's Day!

Next Adventure:  Spokane Trip:  Lacey to Medical Lake, Villam Meam Farm and the Soda Pirates

Fixing Caches: Spanaway to Centralia

I have been needing and meaning to go out and fix some of my caches that have been under the weather for quite some time.  I had a goal in mind of what I wanted to accomplish, and which caches needed fixed.  The night before, I made sure I had all of my supplies, Erika's label maker, a couple snacks and I even tried to talk Mom into going with me, but she didn't want to.

I set my alarm for 9 the next morning but was woken up around 8 when Mom called me with a crisis.  Dad lost his phone and had absolutely no idea where it was.  They searched everywhere and Mom called it like 97 times.  I tried looking for it on the "where's my phone" through the Google platform only to find out it wasn't set up yet or very out of date.  Lame.

I borrowed the Cougar pop up tent from our neighbor Rhonda and ended up chatting with her for a little bit.  Meanwhile, Mom called AT&T to see if they could help us.  The only thing they could do was provide Mom with a way to view his last phone calls and such.  Very unhelpful, I know...but at least we found out he made an outgoing call at 7 p.m. the night before.  So, it was either at Grammie and Grandpa's house or at their house. 

I got ready, packed up the stuff I would need, while Doug made plans to take the kayaks to Lake St. Clair with Sonja.  He asked me to help him load them into the truck.  I drove out to Rainier and stopped by Grammie and Grandpa's house to look in obscure spots, just because you never know.  I really thought it was in the brush where the burn pile and logs were, but I couldn't find it.  I gave up and went over to Mom and Dad's house and searched inside the house...in all the weird places again.  Yes, I checked the fridge and all the cupboards, because, you just never know.  I did not find it.

I went outside and searched all over the yard and the odd places he might have gone to.  I stood out in the middle of the yard for a few minutes near his trucks and low and behold, it was face down sitting on the rear bumper.  Are you serious?  I brought it into the house and asked Mom, guess what?  She looked at me knowing that I found the phone but asked anyway.  A four-hour long crisis was averted, and the phone had a sleep over outside. 

I asked Mom again if she wanted to go for a ride and again, she said no, so I went to go fix my caches by myself.  I drove out to Spanaway first, since that one, The 507 Series:  Spanaway, Wash. (GC3V7QF), had been out of commission for a while.  I didn't take me very long to get out there but once I got to the park and ride, I had to sit there for a while because some butthole in a green Jimmy, sat there where I needed to be and stuffed his face with a couple of hamburgers.  I called Mom and gave her the play by play since I was bored.  I literally had to sit there for ten minutes while the entire process would have taken me less than a minute.  I did finally get it replaced.  I drove back towards Yelm. 

I stopped and grabbed the newest one in Yelm first, Cache and Dough (GCA58QK) at the Farrelli's that opened a few months ago. It was a quick lamp post skirt hide.  I think the cache container was supposed to be difficult to open but someone had broken it, making it an easy find for me.  I noted it was broken in my log. 

Along the Yelm, Rainier, Tenino Trail, I had to fix two, Hwy 507 and 105th Trail Cache (GC8YF5W) and Curious George (GC8YF5Z).  I found a place to park the Escape and I walked to both of them since they weren't that far away from one another.  When I originally hid these, there was more brush hiding them from view.  Now, it's harder to keep them hidden and they go missing more often.  I wish people would leave them alone.  I fixed them while Mom was called into work to help with an emergency rock to teeth accident. 

I walked back to the Escape and drove into Rainier.  I didn't need to fix any of mine there, but I wanted to get the newest one in Rainier, Cutie Pie Memorial Park (GCA7RA0).  I knew it was going to be at the sign at the Rainier Sportsmen's Club.  I parked the Escape near the sign as close as I could, looked and saw where it was.  I was almost too short to reach it but got on a rock and was able to grab it.  I signed my name, stood back on the rock and placed it back where I found it.

I got back into the Escape and drove towards Tenino.  I didn't need to fix any of mine in Tenino but there was a cache out by the Skookumchuck Grange that I wanted to get before it disappeared again.  This was a replacement cache, Just Because (abandoned but now revived) (GC9Q0G4).  I arrived only to see there were people everywhere.  I parked and started looking.  I figured someone would have noticed that I didn't belong there while pulling a plastic ammo can out of its hiding place.  No one said anything and no one questioned me.  It was weird. 

While getting back on the road, I saw a fire truck drive by and was like, that looked a lot like Ben in the driver's seat.  I messaged him later on and he said, that was him and Mike at the fire station, just a few yards past the Grange.  I also found out that the people at the Grange were having a funeral.

I continued on through Bucoda and into Centralia to fix, The 507 Series:  Centralia, Wash. (GC8M6XJ).  It has been disabled for a bit. I got it replaced quickly, made a few notes in my notebook and drove back to Tenino.  I stopped by the station to hang out with Ben for a while.  He and Mike were sitting at the table hanging out.  Mike chatted to us about buying model trains on Ebay.  I left and drove back into Rainier.  I picked up Mom and we drove into Lacey to hang out with Mandee for a bit.  She was having a going away party before she moved to Kentucky. 

I drove Mom back home, checked on my friend's dogs, got home, ate some food, started the potato salad and got cleaned up.  It was a busy day!

Next Adventure:  Mother's Day