July 5 -- Ellensburg, WA

Today started with an overly large breakfast (at about 1pm) at a diner chain called Perkins, followed by an introduction to geocaching in the scrubby hills surrounding Ellensburg. Geocaching is an interesting hobby, although it must look awfully suspicious to be secreting camouflaged packages in more urban areas. Saw a bounding bobcat bounce across the road in front of the car (except Kris was dozing and missed it) and later found a tiny tick tickling my calf during a short walk to a cute cascade with colourful critters flitting about. We ended up 'logging' 2 real geocaches. One was a small ammo can filled with all sorts of goodies and a disposable camera with which to take photos; the other was a micro (a film canister). We also went to the small but pretty Umptanum Falls, a virtual geocache and a great getaway from the town. Finished the day with another BBQ - this time at Tina's mother's RV in the KOA campground near Ellensburg - and a chance to pass clubs with Tina for the first time this century.