Another Coin for the Collection

Well, we did it once again, finished another geotrail. It's always fun dragging Andy along, yes dragging is a very appropriate word. We all have the things we like to do and not do, geocaching isn't a high priority for him, but dirt bike shuttling isn't our cup of tea either. We support each other and that's all that counts. 

We finished up the four parks on an absolutely beautiful day between nasty rainy ones. We did come back the following day for the geocoin and lunch with a good friend of his. Lunch with this particular friend always ends up with a new car...not kidding. 

Neah fitting right into the Keller lady cachers

On the geotrail of fallen leaves. 

More Days in Auburn

Second day on the trail, we ticked off eight more, that seems to be the magic number before we tucker out. There are four more to nab, so we hope to finish it off tomorrow. I'm taking full advantage of this awesome whether we are having! I'm not counting on the weatherman to hold the rain off. 

Managing Crazy with Geocaching

So last night I was checking out the geocaching site for the first time since Neah's birth. You'll never guess...they launched a geotour last Saturday in Aurburn. Well, we were planning on going to story time in Maple Valley today, so we decided to hit the trail afterwards. 

Pyper made comments like this all day:

"I love going on road trips!"

"Let's go to another park with a Geocache!"

"Can I have another snack?!"

Along the White River, before we got mud in our mouths!

Cache and play on!!!!

The caches for this geotour are all in Auburn Parks, so lots of playtime for the energizer bunny. There are 20 in all, and we accomplished 8 today. Pre-Neah we would have gone for them all, but I don't think any of us could have hung in there that long. Pyper requested to finish the mission tomorrow! Who am I to dispute  that?

I guess you can manage crazy with Geocaching, we had a great day listening to books on CD, eating snacks, playing in the beautiful weather, and of course caching, though I think that is becoming lower and lower on the priority list. It's the journey that we enjoy most, and spending time together. Neah did great too!

Our First House Guest: Cousin Eddie

Well, we had our first house guest! Cousin Eddie had some school prep to take care of while his parents and brother headed to Portland for Uncle Jeff's high school reunion. He stayed three days. How to entertain an eleven year old that is used to TV and video games in a household of a pregnant lady with a three year old and no TV?

The first day after taking care of the school prep, we got a call for a play date for Eddie, great, that takes care of entertainment for sure. The second one we decided to....you guessed it, Geocache! 

We headed to Mount Vernon to complete their 2015 Geocoin Challenge. It was a successful mission as all ages had a ton of fun finding, collecting, and playing. We also got a cool coin out of it. Eddie went by the caching name of Mr. Pugbert. We had fun, hit up the farmer's market, finished the challenge, and tired everyone out. Mission complete!

Date Night

Scheduling a date night isn't quite as easy as one might think. First you must enlist the helpful hand of someone you trust, and in our case there aren't that many we trust with our one and only. Next, the participants of the date need to have the same days off as the helpful hand. So the stars finally aligned after a couple of months, and Sharon came over, and we went out. 

In the previous post/s I talked about some of the lab caches that are milling around the Seattle area during the Geocaching Block Party. Somehow I convinced Andy that this was going to be a fun endeavor, luckily it was.

We headed to Ballard, where we had no luck at our first geocaching spot because we lacked the aid of a black light. But we happen to be in "beer town" so we made a stop at NW Peaks to quench Andy's thirst drown his disappointment from not finding our "code word."

We ended up with finding all 16 lab caches and learned a ton about Ballard's past and present. Andy wondered why we didn't buy a house in Ballard after getting a wiff of the Chocolate Cakery in town. We had a ton of fun, thank you Sharon for making it a night to remember!

Block Party 2015

2015 Geocaching Block Party always falls on Interational Geocaching Day. And since the Head Quarters for Geocaching is in Fremont, we get to celebrate with people from all over the world that fly in for the event. During the week of the Block Party, the organizers put together all sorts of activities that keep folks entertained. My favorite activity is called a lab cache. It's a cache where there is no physical cache container, but the coordinates bring you to a cool place, activity, or history lesson. 

They started lab caches at the 2013 Block Party with a Brewery Tour and Block Party Tour. Last year they added two fun tours for visiting folks, which was fun for us too. One of the tours was the iconic downtown Seattle touristy places, and the other one was visiting quirky Seattle places, which was super fun and entertaining.

This year they added two more tours to the mix where you learned about the history of two Seattle neighborhoods. One was Georgetown, and the other was Ballard. 

Pyper and I started in Georgetown earlier this week making new friends and spitting geocachers everywhere while enjoying new sights and new foods. 

Iconic Georgetown boots at Oxbow park sit right next to a cowboy hat of the same proportion. Making friends and getting fresh Greek yogurt at Ellenos, Pyper chose ginger raspberry. 

We made it to the Block Party! Our third one. Supposedly, this is also the last year the block party will be held, it's the 15th anniversary of geocaching as well. There's always a great big logbook, fun photo ops, and great caches all around. 

 

The inflatable logbook, Pyper did the signing. She came as a princess for the party. 

Pyper enjoying some of the caching activities of the Block Party. 

We are looking forward to what next year will bring. We've had a fun filled year of caching, traveling, and learning. 

The Last One

So Andy is home and joining us on our celebratory last State Park. Yes, technically we have completed the 100 State Park Challenge, but because there were 103 State Parks participating, we decided to fill in all the blanks on our passport.

We decided to save Cama Beach for last for a couple of reasons. The first one is that I was going to have trouble sending my hard work through the mail system, hoping that it got to the right spot. Second, it's fun when Pyper gets her special coins handed to her in person, she'll get two for this mission since we combined both the 50 and 100 State Park Challenges. Third, there happens to be a really cool craft at the park to do. Fourth, we get to go camping. Fifth, we will be attempting what's known as a 5/5 geocache, the hardest ones around. I probably could go on and on...

Cama Beach #103, Camano Island #104, Beach Treasures, Crazy about camping

While camping Pyper said, "This is home!" Love it that camping is so normal for her as it is for us. 

5/5 Cache, flying her kite, meeting Ranger Tina to get our coins, making amulets. 

We found a great spot to camp, enjoyed some time by the water, made all sorts of amulets, found our 5/5 geocache, collected our coins, and found a great cafe. 

Our next mission is to make a killer photo book...hopefully that will make the birth deadline. 

Last Big Road Trip

Well, all good things come to an end eventually. We completed our 100 parks on this trip, with a couple bonus ones. All I can say is "WOW" to this part of the state. It's amazing to see this area with a different perspective. Yes, we lived here shortly, but we never quite explored like Pyper and I did on this trip. 

Day 1:

Forks of the Sky - Index Town Wall #90

Lake Wenatchee #91

Peshastin Pinnacles #92

Squlichuck #93

Wenatchee Confluence #94

Twenty-five Mile Creek #95

Hitting the road again feels great. 

Visiting some old haunts. We stocked up on provisions at Anjou Bakery, then she insisted on visiting the helicopters when I told her we were close to where I worked on the rappel crew. Now that and "ice cream social" has been included in the schedule at the base, I think we have a new rappeller in the making.  

Day 2:

Lake Chelan #96

Alta Lake #97

Bridgeport #98

Cool trails by the lake, a morning swim, three delicious crepes, and just some slow exploring of the land today. It's nice not to be in a hurry. 

Day 3:

Steamboat Rock #99

Sun Lake - Dry Falls #100

Daroga #101

Lincoln Rock #102

We made it into Steamboat the night before and enjoyed our time here. We got the second to last camping site available. 

Headed towards home after ticking off #100. 

Well, that's it! We have officially completed the challenge. But there is just one more park on the list... The Challenge is 100 of 103 parks, so at this point we should tick them all off, just for the sake of doing so right?

On the Road Again...

Well, we have two areas of Washington to hit up to finish up our little State Park Mission. This road trip focused on the Southwestern corner of our state. 

 

Day 1:

Millersylvania #75

Willapa Hills Trail #76

Rainbow Falls #77

Lewis and Clark #78

Ike Kinsea #79

Seaquest #80

Day 2:

Cape Disappointment #81

Fort Columbia #82

Battleground #83

Beacon Rock #84 

Discovering big guns is always fun. A lot of history here at the coast. 

Heading back along the Columbia on the Washington side, very scenic. 

Day 3:

Spring Creek Hatchery #85

Maryhill #86

Brooks Memorial #87

Yakima Sportsman #88

Iron Horse-Hyak #89

That light at the end of the tunnel is 2 miles away. 

Well, we are getting closer the end of this mission. 

Mt. Pilchuck

So one of the State Parks on the list is Mt. Pilchuck. The last time I remember hiking/climbing this peak was proabably over 10 years ago, and I did it solo. I also remembered a little bit of snow and not much else. 

Today I enlisted Andy's help knowing that I would need it to get to the cach two miles up the trail, and also to the peak. This is state park #74, but unfortunately we were the first ones to discover the missing stamp that would validate our claim here.

Pyper hiked the first 1.5 miles, which was feat, since it was all uphill. Then  she proceeded to sack out until the summit. At the summit, there is a rock scramble, and then a ladder to where the rebuilt lookout tower sits. The views are absolutely incredible. 

This is the play by play link Andy collected with while we were out on the trail. The pictures are linked to the map and also to our elevation and speed. It's a cool way to see our adventure. Andy will be using the same application while he is on his trail ride this week.

https://www.gaiagps.com/public/Lz3Yt1UbWVmC9aryv1HBbbj3

Pasco-ing

Well, we decided to change up the mode of transportation just a little. We were going to hit up the Tri-cities Geocoin Challenge this year, but this year's event coincided with the heat wave, which brought 111 degrees to Pasco. No thank you; that's when we decided to hit the coast a couple of weeks ago. It's been a little cooler, so no time like the present to try and complete the challenge. We hopped a jet plane, rented a car, and hit the road. This year's challenge was pirate themed with an incredible five piece coin.

It was go, go, go all day long. We bumped into a couple of groups attempting the same mission. Honestly, I wasn't quiet sure we were going to be able to finish with our time contraints of having to catch the last flight out of Pasco at 6pm. But somehow we managed to motivate and squeeze in 30 caches, which is an all time high number for us, and had just a little time to spare. At least we saved ourselves 7 hours of driving to the Tri-cities area and back. So this is the fourth coin we've collected, the first one being the 2012 coin. 

We also managed to slide in Sacagawea State Park while in Pasco for a total of 73 state parks.

Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun

Out for five days and four nights, camping, caching, and playing as we go. Since there will be a Photobook I'm just going to highlight and show the best of the best. 

Day 1:

#52 Belfair

#53 Potlatch

#54 Triton Cove

#55 Dosewallips

#56 Anderson Lake

We love the ferry rides, and unfortunately don't need to go on any more to complete our state park mission. It's already getting warm out, can't wait to get to the coast to cool down. 

Day 2:

#57 Fort Flagler

#58 Fort Townsend

#59 Fort Worden

#60 Miller Pennisula

#61 Sequim Bay

We, or should I say I, hiked over five miles today, mainly with the stroller. We saw two new lighthouses, Marrowstone Light and Point Wilson Lighthouse, and had fun exploring forts and beaches, and catching little 2 inch crabs at sunset.  

Day 3:

#62 Bogachiel

#63 Pacific Beach

#64 Ocean City

#65 Twin Harbors

Woke up in Sequim, hit up the Farmer's Market, then ventured into Forks and on down the coast for some real beach time. This was our longest day driving, glad we lucked out with the last campsite on a Saturday night, and a beautiful sunset.

Day 4:

#66 Westhaven

#67 Grayland Beach

#68 Lake Sylvia

Of course there are other things to do besides caching, like hiking the tallest lighhouse in Washington State, which has 135 steps up it. It states that you must be 6 and/or 40" tall to climb up because you must do the whole thing unassisted. They made an execption with Pyper and she cruised up the thing, no problem.

We also saw "real pirates" during a pirate festival in town. She says that's what she wants to be for Halloween this year. We enjoyed more beach time, which was nice a cool, about 20 degrees cooler than home, splendid.

Day 5: 

#69 Schafer

#70 Tolmie

She always requested to picnic in the back of the truck. The truck has its advantages for sure, but it was definitely easier driving in the car. We ended up doing 600 miles on this trip, which is small compared to the 1400 miles we travelled on our last big trip.

Waterway Caching

Ticking off more State Parks within the depths of Puget Sound, Pyper and I hit the road again leaving the camping stuff behind. I kick myself later when she asks if we can go camping when she spots a cool location. 

#47 Kopachuck State Park

Hitting the first trail and park early. We find a huge banana slug, a cool cache, and this might have been where we picked up a hitchhiking tick. 

#48 Penrose Point State Park

Penrose Point might be one of my favorite spots in the world now. There is a spit that unveils only at low tide and the geoduck are plenty of fun for little ones. 

#49 Joemma Beach State Park

Nothing like being safe near the water. We found the cache then checked out the boating situation dockside. 

#50 Jarrell Cove State Park

Someone has her hand in the cookie jar. 

#51 Twanoh State Park

Last stop of the day at Twanoh before heading home. 

Island Hopping

All we knew was our general destinations, three State Parks, on three different islands. We packed to camp without knowing where that would be, and our route in would be by ferry. 

After breakfast, we took a drive up to Anacortes to catch the ferry over to Lopez Island. What a gorgeous day to be out on the water, enjoying the saltiness of air and the views all around. Lopez Island is the first stop the ferry makes when doing the inter-island loop. We headed out to Spencer Spit State Park and enjoyed our breezy walk out the spit to an old cabin. 

Out exploring the PNW neighborhood

After stretching out our legs we hopped the ferry over to Orcas Island. We were pleasantly surprised be the topographical relief of the place and made the tip top of the island our destination. We were greeted with a view to write home about and an amazing piece of CCC history. 

Team Keller does it again

The campgrounds looked pretty booked up, but Andy managed to spit a little site next to the campground host that was more than we could hope for without a reservation. We enjoyed solitude, old growth, a private creek, left over fire wood, the closeness to "real" bathrooms, and friendly wildlife of mule deer and bats. It's a site to keep in mind for future jaunts in that direction. 

Check out the backyard of our campsite

We "slept-in" for camping standards and enjoyed a lazy pack-up and breakfast before heading into town for some coffee and bakery treats. 

Our next hop was over to San Juan Island, specifically Lime Kiln Point. This State Park is known for it's whale watching, Lighthouse, and views. We enjoyed all the above with the added bonus of a State Park stamp. 

Heading home is always an adventure in itself

Mission accomplished a day early. 

Spencer Spit State Park #44

Moran State Park #45

Lime Kiln State Park #46

Island to Border

We headed to Widbey Island for some sunny caching, working our way the long way up towards Bellingham. 

Pre-Nap:

Ferry ride from Mukilteo to Clinton

South Widbey State Park #35

Fort Casey #36

Fort Ebey #37

Joseph Widbey State Park #38

We love every inch of our coastlines

Admiralty Head Light House at Fort Casey State Park. 

  

Post Nap:

Deception Pass (Rosario Beach) #39

Shrimp Shack Stop for dinner

Bay View State Park #40

Larabee State Park #41

We wrapped up and headed into Bellingham, crashing at a friend's house who was out of town.

Day two:

Peace Arch State Park #42

Birch Bay State Park #43

Bellingham Farmers Market

I think she feels the same way as her Dad when it comes to our neighbor up North. 

We hit Cache #1,000 today!!! 

Girls Road Trip

So the idea was to hit up a couple of State Parks in two days with an overnight while Andy went for a trail ride for the same amount of time. But all plans change. Andy went to San Diego to buy a new bike and then went riding when he got back. On day two of our road trip, Pyper and I decided to keep going East instead of looping back around towards home. After six days and five nights we did make it home. 

It was overcast when we left, turning into a light drizzle as we headed North, then East onto State Route 20. I got so use to our nice days I didn't even bother packing rain gear so I stopped at the drug store for emergency ponchos, which we actually didn't use. We did however have to have a pink polk-a-dot kid umbrella, I'm getting weak at her cuteness. 

We made it to Rasar State Park for a beautiful forest walk and an easy cache find in a very light drizzle. The lush canopy provided us most of the cover from the rain. We delighted in the ripe salmon berries and a park to ourselves. 

Our next stop wasn't too for down the road. I use to give interpretive programs at both these parks and haven't been back since, 2003 I believe.  Rockport state park is an amazing park filled with old growth left pristine by the logging companies for some unknown reason. We had a sing-songy hike the whole way while counting slugs. 

Next on the list was organic ice cream at my favorite roadside farm stand. They didn't disappoint with raspberry chocolate chip ice cream and a strawberry short cake. 

Onward over the most glorious mountain pass of Washington to our final destination while Pyper slept off her sugar. I made a wrong turn, but we made it to the lake with time to play and explore.  

Day 1:

Rasar State Park #13

Rockport State Park #14

Pearagyn State Park #15

Day #2

Cinnamon Twisp Bakery

Conconcully State Park #16

Curlew State Park #17

Crystal Falls #18

Camp at Sullivan Lake

Day 3:

Crawford Sate Park/Garner Caves #19

Mt. Spokane State Park #20

Nine Mile Falls Recreation Area #21

Day 4:

Bowl and Pitcher State Park #22

Breakfast at Frank's Diner in a Train

Amber Lake #23

Steptoe Butte #24

Field Springs Falls State Park #25

Camp Wooten #26

Hang out with Daddy in Walla Walla

Day 5:

Walla Walla Farmer's Market

Lewis and Clark Trail #27

Palouse Falls #28

Day 6:

Potholes State Park #29

Gingko Petrified Forest #30

Wanapum State Park #31

Homestead #32

Iron Horse Cle Elum #33

Easton Lake #34

Obviously after the first day everything is summed up, but of course there will be a Photobook of this adventure when we finish it. We hope it will be successful. At least it's fun and I guess that all that really counts. 

#12 Checked Off

Continuing on our State Park Geocache mission we headed just out of town to where old growth trees still tower above.

Olallie State Park #12

Pyper with a rather impressive Red Cedar which sometimes she likes to call a "Maple Valley Tree"

Pyper captured me with a good sized Spruce tree.

Little Big Adventure

Trying to get some caching and dirt biking in, we decided to head over towards the Hood Canal once more, but this time we took the easy way across the ferry. 

Ferry from Seattle, at least there is a view at all. 

We hit up Ilahee State Park together, then dropped off Andy for a cross mountain trek to the summit of Green Mountain and onward to Belfair. 

Ilahee State Park #10/100. 

Dropping off Andy at the trailhead then he sends us a picture of the next one. 

We had some successes and failures, but we all made it home. 

Mancesher State Park #11/100, this cache was particularly heavy.