The Final Event

Sunday was the final geocaching event for the weekend in Seattle. In fact, the event was not in Seattle, but about 40 miles east at one of Washington's many state parks. The event known as APE, sponsored by the Washington State Geocachers Association, became a mega event with over 500 geocachers pre-registering. This was the 6th year for the event.

a beautiful drive through and around the Cascade Mountains and forests

some creative folks ready to hike

walkers and bikers and strollers

what would an APE event be without and ape?

"The APE is found in the rugged, snow-capped Cascade Mountains, 

just a short drive from Seattle, 

where you can walk through the spooky 2-mile-long 

Tunnel of Light, find one of the 

oldest caches in Washington, and visit the APE tribute cache. 

Plus, we hear that Sasquatch and Fen Dweller

 have been sighted in the area - so watch out!"

people lined up to BUY stuff

food, coins, tags, t-shirts

only the line for the restrooms was longer

for those who did not want to walk the tunnel,

there were caches hidden on the grounds for us to find

this was a very creative, tough one

requiring the skills of many to solve

the abandoned train tunnel

now a very popular biking/hiking destination

walkers were to bring flashlights or headlamps because the tunnel is DARK 

hats for the ceiling drips,

temps in the tunnel were in the low 50s

we decided after all the walking of the past three days, a 5 mile

round-trip hike in a damp, dark tunnel was NOT a good idea

signs of fall

EVERYTHING has a steep pitched roof in this part

of the country, including fire hydrants

a beautiful, fragrant walk in the Cascades

this is also a ski resort area

something bright yellow

interesting pink something

after spending time at the event and in the state park

we stopped at a unique root beer place

the ice cream in the root beer floats was placed so it

flowed out of the mug

the root beer was SO GOOD, served in a big frosty mug

the burgers were huge and delicious

it was the location of another event

I am getting closer to 100!

as we were driving to our hotel for the night

this sign caught my eye

soooo...it is OK to race from 5:01 AM to 9:59 PM????

but no one can WATCH the racing at any time?????

The reason for the hotel stay is to avoid driving in rush hour traffic Monday morning to get to a pick-up destination for our bus tour of the city.