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Thursday, July 7, 2016

Bonsais, Cars and Locks

On July 1 we moved 60 miles south to a new "Base Camp" in Gig Harbor. This quaint town is only a couple miles from the Narrows Bridge which connects us to downtown Tacoma and from Gig Harbor RV Resort it is only a short walk to downtown Gig Harbor. We can board the trolley at the corner and from that we are able to connect with the entire Seattle/Tacoma transit network consisting of bus, light rail and train service. On the 4th of July, Pierce Transit was providing free service, network wide, so we hopped on a couple buses for a "tour" of Tacoma.

Home on Site 44

Gig Harbor is a picturesque small town with
easy access to lots of things to see and do.

Outside of the Gig Harbor History Museum
PACIFIC BONSAI MUSEUM
After our Saturday shopping trip to the Tacoma Sam's Club and Walmart, we visited the free outdoor Pacific Bonsai Museum.

Weyerhaeuser Company opened the Collection in 1989.

Some of these trees are over 500 years old.

Many beautiful examples are showcased throughout
this one acre garden.
LEMAY CAR MUSEUM
We spent Tuesday in downtown Tacoma at the World Famous Lemay America's Car Museum. This modern 165,000 square foot car Museum kept us occupied all day.

1957 BMW Isetta
Top speed is 53 mph, 300 cc, 1 cylinder
1 door (the front opens), emergency hatch in roof.
Kurt remembered riding in his Uncle's Isetta
1959 BMW 507 Roadster
1961 Chrysler 300
followed by a '69 Corvette, 427 L88
View from Kerry Park overlooking Seattle
on our way to the Lake Washington Ship Canal
LAKE WASHINGTON SHIP CANAL
The Hiram M. Chittenden Locks first opened July 4, 1917 connecting the fresh water Lake Washington to Puget Sound. This engineering marvel is still in operation today 99 years later. In fact, this is the number two tourist destination in Seattle. We were just in time to catch a guided tour starting in the visitor center of the locks and 21 step fish ladder viewing area.
This is the only Army Corps of Engineer
Botanical Garden.
This 7 acre garden contains trees and plants
from around the world.
There are two locks, operating in parallel.
One for large vessels and one for small.
On busy days up to 100 pleasure craft are passed
through the lock in a single operation.
West Point Lighthouse at Discovery Park was
a nice place to walk while we waited for
Seattle rush hour to pass.

3 comments:

Mark & Teri said...

Tiny trees and tiny cars! You guys are getting it all in this summer.

Virginia said...

That would have been a great name for the blog.

Wallace and Carolyn Sternberg said...

Y'all are certainly seeing the sights!!!