The area in which we were staying had boarded up buildings, and many of them had gorgeous murals.
Some with participation.
The hidden message:
Tacoma Mural
Tag: OrangeDoor
Our Room at McMenamins Elks Temple Hotel
The Elks Temple is a gorgeous little beacon in Tacoma. This was our first time visiting.
We splurged on the room, and it did not disappoint.
It had a very pretty balcony.
And a fun view of the herb garden.
And a gorgeous view of Commencement Bay.
But also, the local person highlighted was a twirler! Yay marching band representation!
Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge
Stop number two on our journey to Tacoma was this National Wildlife Refuge.
A very fun way to encourage distance.
For a time, this was a kind of corporate farm. A businessman built a huge dike and ran his farm using all the most modern techniques. That included building these two gorgeous barns.
Eventually, the farm was not profitable, and the dike was breached to restore the tidal flats. Now, visitors can take a long walk through the tidal flats. We did this, it was fun.
Us at the end of the boardwalk. There was a woman having a very intense phone conversation, one that would have better been had in private, so we didn’t stay long.
Tidal flats.
There were a lot of birdwatchers. They had a lot of gear. I had a small camera. This was the bird I too a picture of.
Mima Mounds
Given that it doesn’t take much time to drive to Tacoma, I planned two side jaunts on the way up. The Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve was the first.
The interesting thing about the Mima Mounds is that there is no clear answer about why the mounds are there. We hiked through the site and also came back with no clear answers. But it’s fun to see them undulate across the landscape.
As you can see, the mounds are not very high. But when seeing them rise across the landscape (see this picture) they make an impression.
We also saw some scat. It is apparently a very seedy time for this animal.
The Salmon Door
The primer color is not very inspiring, but I’m trusting the process.
Door Before Becoming the Orange Door
One thing about our house, the Orange Door? It doesn’t have any doors that are orange. The front door is white and the box built around it is orange, so that’s why we call the house the Orange Door.
But that’s about to change. When they repainted the house a few years ago, they didn’t consult us on color, so we ended up with this light mint color. They also didn’t paint the doors, so you can still see the original green. The second of these things always bugged me more than the first, though I do like the original green better.
I have procured a very bright orange paint that will make these doors orange. The goal is to have them done before the Big Party.
Spartan Race 2021 in “Portland”
We headed to east-of-Vancouver, Washington, so Matt could do a Spartan Race. Here he is on the way to the start.
Here was my first glimpse of Matt after the starting point. As you can see, they get muddy early. He usually wears a blue shirt for races and it was much harder picking him out of the crowd with the black shirt.
And here he is at the finish time. The clock is a general time clock. It didn’t take him three hours to finish.
The victor with all his spoils.
We were at the end of the day—I think the very last race, and you can see the many people who came before Matt grabbed a lot of protein bars.
There were a ton of people. More than I anticipated, and I felt a little uncomfortable. I wore my mask, even though we were outside. Not many people had theirs on.
We parked in a big field and I noted where the American flag they had flying was, so we could find the car after the race was over. But by the time Matt was done, they had taken down the flag.
And this guy was collecting all the tape that corralled people.
Dress Chosen
I tried on about 20 dresses at Savvy Plus, and this was the winner. I love that it goes with the blue shirt Matt picked out and also that it isn’t blue. It’s not an orange dress, but it has orange in it.
Apparently Our Info is Out There
Very quickly after receiving our marriage packet in the mail, this postcard followed.
So very many things delight me about this postcard. This will be the backup plan, if we can’t work out the courthouse wedding.
It’s interesting that our names and addresses were published somewhere. Good thing only J.P. Weddings was paying attention.
A “Hike”
My company is having a fitness challenge and I get a virtual badge if I take a hike. So off Matt and I went.
We found a new park called Moulton Falls Park in Washington. It was less of what I think of as a hike and more of a flat walk through the woods. That works, though. It was a nice outing.
My grays are very sparkly in this picture. I’m not sure why.
