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Day 34:
Today I met Bluto, hands-down the coolest dog of my trip.
9100 miles and counting.
I woke up in HOH Rainforest, Olympic national Park. I was not supposed to be here, and had no idea it existed. Now I am waking up here.
I stayed up late into the night taking pictures out along the river where the earthcache had me walk. Because of that, I slept in a little bit. I woke up to a hustling and bustling national park parking lot and skedaddled. I made it to Forks which is where I officially started my day with a couple of finds, learning some information about the town, taking pictures of vampires for my wife, and having breakfast.
From there I decided since I was close, I’d head out the Cape Flattery. That wasn’t originally on my agenda, or even on my radar in anyway. But it looks like the top left corner of our country, so I thought I better visit. It was a fun drive out, and indescribably beautiful. I failed at almost every geocache I looked for. I made time for the earthcache and the virtuals as well.
Once I walked out to Cape Flattery, I realized that is where I need to be tonight, overnight for the sunset and photographing the night sky. Once again, the galactic band is going to be right over top of an amazing foreground. Cloudy right now, hopefully that clears up. It did not clear up that evening. So I just slept instead of partying all night.

Day 35:
9250 miles and counting.
This morning I woke up in the Makah Reservation, at Neah Bay. The top left-hand corner of our continental country. I stayed out here overnight hoping to get some pictures, but the sky was overcast and cloudy all night. So that did not work out. Today I’m heading back towards Seattle area. On the way there I saw a van like mine parked on the rock and sandy beach. So, I stopped and chatted with that family for half hour. Turns out they are from DC, right by me, out here living life in a rental Beast. Took some great pictures of a Beached Beast.
I decided to take the ferry, even though they said it was a two hour wait. Because in life when you have a chance to take a ferry, always ride the fairy. I got to the ferry port and had a couple hours to kill. I walked around town, took in the sights of Kingston, and did the things I normally do in a strange town. Now I have another new best friend.
I put my van on a boat and road across the water. That was neat. I used that time to brush my teeth and get cleaned up a little. As soon as I got out on the other side in Edmonds, I head straight for Seattle proper. First, I had to go back to a giant needle and wrap my mouth around a bolt. After that it was time to head towards the Fremont area, I had a 4:30 PM visit at the Geocaching Headquarters. It is always brought up as a big time deal. I figured I better check it out. I would regret it if I did not. It’ll be dull, but I’ll have the memory and picture. I got there with about 2 1/2 hours to walk around and find all those world ranked favorited hides. Justifiably so, some really fun stuff for being in the heart of the city. After that it was time to go in and head up to the 3rd floor. I can honestly say I was visiting headquarters, because I think that’s what I was supposed to do. Without being disrespectful I hope, it wasn’t really the kind of thing I thought I would enjoy. I’m not big on history, memorabilia, tradition, any of that kind of stuff. I learned years ago that traditions are just peer pressure from dead people. But of course, I did what I was supposed to do. Boy, am I glad I did. I had a really nice time. I felt a real connection to something that I have a passion for my life, and lots of other people do as well.
After that I visited in the library, and then I skedaddled out of the city. Tomorrow I plan on doing the hike to Monte Cristo and hope to be at the trail head tonight before sundown and find a place to sleep.
I parked myself for the night at the picnic grounds just down the mountain from my big hike tomorrow!

I did start an album of this trip that I am updating as I process. HERE.

I made this video of the Milky Way:

Day 32:
Today (8/20/2022) is the long time celebrated, International Geocaching Day. It is also the day of a giant event in Seattle. Today was an unbelievable day for me. It was a day that NEVER SHOULD HAVE HAPPENED. I have been minding my own business, working my way from coast to coast over the past month. Taking pictures, finding geocaches, breaking my van Pervvie, setting world records, released an album…I mean it has been a really decent month for me. Yesterday I was at Snoqualmie Tunnel. Apparently like every other geocacher on the planet. I had no idea why there were so many people/geocachers there on the same day. Turns out, there is a pretty big deal event in Seattle today. I had no idea. This is not my part of the world, events are not my favorite thing about geocaching, I have been on the road living in a van for just over a month. I thought that was neat, but I probably would not go. This was the first I was hearing of it. I didn’t have anything in my wardrobe. I am socially weird, awkward, and do not interact great with others.
My wife made a great point. She said, and I quote, “if you spent a month driving cross country, having a great time, finding all the geocaches that you think are important, and then you accidentally end up 30 miles from the biggest event ever…that would be like smacking the Karmic Universe in the mouth, Fresh Prince style.” She had a great point.
I landed here, because of my own travels, mere hours before this big-time event. So, I went. I hate cities. That was the primary reason to not go in the first place. Parking, people, yuk. But this is Seattle, there is still plenty of parking. I can contend with NYC, anything else is basically sprawling.
I had a blast! I did a bunch of the labs and found all the caches within a miles walk in all directions. So many favorite points! I talked to a lot of strangers. Mostly, I did the multicache 3 times. I walked it and did the math 3 times, because I could not get a green light. Turns out I was mistaking an uppercase I for a lowercase l. See? Even as I just typed that I can’t see the difference!
I hung around town until mid-afternoon. That was enough for me, time to get back to my road trip. Next was the coast. So, I started driving toward Aberdeen, stopping and finding a bunch of the most favorited along the way. I didn’t make it all the way to Aberdeen. I had an altercation with a certain King of Burgers and found myself sleeping at a nearby rest area. I can’t thank my wife enough for making sure this day in my life happened. Socializing with a bunch of other socially awkward rejects, hell of a way to spend my day.