February 4th
TACOMA WASHINGTON
We started this day driving through Gig Harbor. We didn't get out and explore because it was pretty cold and snowy/rainy. I love little sea towns like this though. We then drove to the light rail station so that we could explore downtown Tacoma! It was completely free, and the kids were so excited about it. Funny how something to everyday to so many people was such a novelty to us.
There were many free and really neat things to do in Tacoma. We started out by going through the Bridge of Glass where we were able to admire glass art by Chihuly. It was all so beautiful!
The Union Station Courthouse had even more Chihuly art displays- but on a much larger scale! The kids thought it was great that we had to go through security to go in. They also really loved the statue in front of the courthouse. They kept goofing off about not being able to pick up the "heavy" luggage.
I had found a cute umbrella Mural in Tacoma on Pinterest, and really wanted to go see it. It may be my favorite mural of all time. I also just felt that this was the most fitting mural for the misty/rainy Washington state.
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POINT DEFIANCE
This just may be one of my very favorite places in the whole United States. It is so magical. From the moment I walked in, I was mesmerized. Our first impression of the place was the Japanese garden. Because I have lived in Japan, my expectations of Japanese gardens are really high. This one met my standards. It was so lovely. The kids and I walked around the garden for a bit and it brought back so many lovely feelings and memories. The flowers were in bloom and it was JANUARY. I kept on thinking about how grateful I was to be enjoying a January full of beauty- because it is usually such a depressing and dreary month for me. (and I didn't even know what was to come in the following months and how lonely and dreary March and April would be)
I didn't know I'd be falling in love with Point Defiance. But as we started to drive around the loop, I gasped and almost cried it was so beautiful. I wish we would have had the time to hike and explore more, but it was too cold and wet for that this particular day anyway. Photos could never do it justice. It was a magical fairy forest. We spied some deer almost immediately, and little racoons came right up to our van begging for food. We didn't give them any, but they were so darn cute and added to the fairy tale feel of the forest. Even the deer didn't shy away! A baby came so close to the van that we could have reached out and pet it!