Washington State 1

Tuesday, August 22, 2017—Before you read about our trip to Iceland in October, I decided I had to tell you about our wonderful, quick trip to the state of Washington. After almost two years living full time in their View RV, Lou and Janice Oien purchased a home in Tacoma that we wanted to check out. At the same time John Rogers was house sitting in Port Townsend and invited us to come stay with him. So on my birthday we left the Larzeleres’ cottage in Elk Rapids, drove home to get our bags, and then got a Sprint flight, Detroit to SeaTac airport, and paid a visit. Oiens picked us up at the airport and we returned to the house to explore it and walk around their neighborhood before we got dinner and shared some lovely pastries to celebrate my birthday.

Wednesday was devoted to exploring Tacoma; some places the Oiens had already discovered and some that were new to them. 

Our first stop was at the haunting Tacoma Chinese Reconciliation Park.
The Chinese garden motif allows the park to stand both as an acknowledgment of the forceful expulsion of the Chinese population of the City of Tacoma by municipal leaders and a large crowd on November 3, 1885, and as a celebration of the city’s multicultural past, present, and future. The expulsion was an act of exclusion in response to complex conditions of the time, among them economic decline and anti-Chinese sentiment. The park is an act of reconciliation and inclusivity toward appreciation of the people of diverse legacies and interests who are part of the city as a dynamic community.

The bridge at Chinese Reconciliation Park

We were gifted with many views of Mount Ranier while
we were in Tacoma. It never got old!

Puget Sound

Our second visit was to Point Defiance Park to see the gardens.

The roses in the Rose Garden were magnificent, but what really blew us away...

...were the dahlias in the Dahlia Test Gardens.

Because it is a test garden, there were always three of each variety.

Janice admires thee the Fuchsias.

Just one of many Fuchsia varieties.

On our way back we stopped to see the workshop where they were having a dining room table built from two massive slabs of red wood. It was near the small town of Gig Harbor so we had drinks and a snack at Tides Tavern on the dock with a lovely view of a small inlet of the Sound and Mount Ranier. 

The Woodworker and the Oiens look at slabs similar to what they will have.

We crossed back over the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and returned to downtown Tacoma, where we walked over the Chihuly Bridge of Glass and the Museum of Glass. It was late enough that we didn’t take time to visit the Museum but we enjoyed the outside exhibits and the interesting fountain beside it, as well as the Board walk along the water.

This is just a section of the Glass Museum fountain.

These niches filled with fanciful glass works line the Glass Bridge.

The old Union Station is now a government building. This is the view of it from the Glass Bridge.

The ceiling of the Glass Bridge.

Finally, we visited the Tacoma Stadium High School. There will be more about it on our final day. 

Read the plaque below for the fascinating history of the incredible building.

We happened upon the Athletic Director who talked to us about the High School
and encouraged us to come back earlier another day to tour the building.

What an amazing high school stadium! The end of the field washed away so
the track isn't complete and can't be used for official meets.