The cursed fishing trip

Way before we were ever in Washington, Tyler asked Ben if he wanted to go fishing. Ben was game, and we just had to figure out when it would happen. After the wedding, we headed north, and picked up a fishing license at Cabela's along the way. We did not get a catch record card with the license, due to some employee oversight (we didn't even know that he was supposed to have one). It wasn't until about 10:30 pm that Tyler realized Ben didn't have a catch card, which put the fishing trip in jeopardy. Ben headed to the only open retailer who would sell fishing licenses at that hour, Wal-Mart. They couldn't  do anything. Ben gets pulled over for a headlight being out on the van on the way back to the house (no ticket). The guys resolved to hit up a gas station on the way to the fishing destination, a drive of two hours. It's midnight by this point, and we all turn in for the night, Ben and Tyler getting two hours of sleep before getting up to leave at 3 am. Nicole and I hoped they'd be able to stay awake on their drive. They left for fishing around 3:30am (?), and this time Tyler gets pulled over on the way south (he gets a ticket, boo). They were able to get the catch card though, after buying another fishing license. 

 Elk herd

 They got there after 5 am, got rigged up, and waited. 

 And waited. 

 Finally, Ben nabs a nice steelhead trout. It would prove to be the only catch made that trip. 

 Poor Tyler, so much trouble gone through for this trip, and no fish to show for it. All in all, we had a good laugh about the money spent - the ticket fine, three fishing licenses, and the gas, for one fish. Ben summarized the experience by saying, "You don't go fishing to catch fish, you go so you can have a good story to tell."  

The lone fish on the grill for dinner the next day. It's creepy how the eyeballs turn white. 

While the mens were off fishing, the kids continued to run wild, happy to play together, while the moms packed to head to Grandma's house. As soon as the mens returned, we left. It was eight hours of driving that day for Ben and Tyler. Ben was pretty sick of driving by this point, we'd been doing it for five days up til then.

The kids took turns swapping vehicles as we made stops, entertaining each other for the 4 hour drive. Fun times for them.