Greg has become our RV travel cruise director (in the spirit of Julie McCoy) since embracing the Eventbrite app. As a result, we have met the coolest people and seen and done amazing things over the past week…all for free!

More Fort Lewis Highlights

There is so much to learn about JBLM, and I’m sure we aren’t even scratching the surface! (I am no military expert. I learn by reading (mostly) plaques, so forgive me if anything sounds wonky!) Also, the view of Mt. Rainier is amazing on a clear day.

I Corps Headquarters

The fact that you can just walk right by a building of such importance is hard to believe! From the I Corps website: “This three-star headquarters manages the daily activities of more than 40,000 Soldiers across the Indo-Pacific, including personnel stationed in Washington, Hawaii and Alaska.” Even more surprising is this bit of information: “While deployed, America’s First Corps commands all branches of service – Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines – as well as international forces.” Wow!

Eisenhower’s Fort Lewis Home

In 1940 Dwight Eisenhower and his wife, Mamie, were assigned to officer housing on Fort Lewis. He was a Lieutenant Colonel at the time (later a Five-Star General before his time as president). Their exact house is still in circulation as officer housing!

On a rainy day we walked to the house. I didn’t realize how creepy I may have looked taking a picture from across the street wearing my neon green raincoat. I guess I didn’t look like I was trying to be sneaky, so there you go…

Beautiful Church and an Old Gymnasium

We really enjoy the old architecture and craftsmanship of some of the older buildings we see on military bases. JBLM does not disappoint!

Local Events Discovered by Our Cruise Director Using Eventbrite

Greg has been working hard to keep his passengers (well, the two of us) entertained with fun activities that are fun, informative and free!

Nisqually Land Trust Hike

You know it’s going to be great when the directions provided are just GPS coordinates! What an honor to hike on a family’s land that is protected by the Nisqually Land Trust. Its creek is vital to the life cycle of salmon. The land and nature all around is sacred to the Nisqually Tribe.

While we were there the Chum salmon were at the end of their run, so there were a TON of decaying salmon (they die after spawning) in the creek. A nice bonus was that there were at least 20 bald eagles circling the area as we hiked. They apparently don’t mind the ready-made salmon buffet that was all around!

The people we met from the Nisqually Land Trust are generous with their knowledge and time and are doing good for all of nature. We very much respect what they do and are grateful to have gotten the chance to spend some time with them!

Jazz at a Church?

Yup! Marine View Presbyterian Church near Dash Point hosts a monthly jazz series! We were treated to a two-hour concert by an amazing jazz quintet called Duende Libre. This group combines the sounds of West Africa, Cuba and South America with jazz. We never expected something that good at a church jazz concert. (Can you blame us?)

(Side note) I grew up in the jazz world via my dad (bassist) and have had that complicated music ingrained in my brain since birth. Live jazz is both joyful and slightly painful to me.

Port of Tacoma Bus Tour

Okay, I had no idea what to expect. This tour was amazing and full of so many facts and amazing machines and equipment! Here is a tiny fraction of the things we learned on this awesome bus tour:

• A port doesn’t have to have water.
• Washington State has the most ports in the U.S.
• Longshoremen move everything on and off the ships, trains, trucks, etc.
• Crane operators load and unload huge container ships while leaning forward looking through the glass bottom of the crane. As a result, they only work four-hour shifts and get paid for eight.
• The Port of Tacoma can accommodate the very largest container ships in the world and have cranes almost as tall as the Space Needle…and a little shorter than Godzilla.
• Every import container goes through a radiation detector. Bananas and cat litter always trigger the alarm. (This must explain why cats get the zoomies after a trip to the litter box.)
• The port as an organization does a lot to better the health of the wetlands and waterways in the area.
• Longshoremen with great hand-eye coordination operate 42′-tall straddle carriers that carry containers and load them onto trains while the operator sits sideways, not front-facing! They resemble Star Wars AT-AT walkers. Creepy, really.
• A wetlands area on the port was invaded by European Grape Snails from an import container 15 years ago. Any work on restoring that wetlands has been on hold because of these invasive snails. Apparently, it has been quite a frustration for the port administration as they are forced to work at a snail’s pace. (so, so sorry)
• There is a cargo ship company out of the Port of Tacoma that brings supplies to Alaska several times per week. If they stopped their deliveries, parts of Alaska would run out of supplies within two weeks. Scary! And they didn’t miss a single delivery during Covid.

Catio Corner

Don’t misunderstand…we LOVE our catio. It’s just that we can’t both fit in the window at the same time. And sometimes we give in to the urge to not take turns. And we can just stand in the window and force the “other one” to stay in or out. It’s kind of a high, really, so we like to do it. It also ends up forcing a human off the couch to rescue one of us from the rule of the dominant cat of the moment. Total buzz kill, those two people! Scoop our litter boxes, peasants.