5/7 Tuesday.
I had booked a
bus tour with Port of Tacoma a month ago.
Planned to checkout Mima Mound before the tour, as it's the time for camas.
On my drive south, I first stopped at
Nisqualy NWR. I've always like it here. Maybe better to come during dusk or dawn to see more birds.
This spring, the water is suprisingly low.
I didn't see any migrating birds.
1 heron, 1 female hooded merganzer, 2 bald eagle sitting in the mud flat.
A couple of people carrying camera with large scope and tripod.
I visited
Mima Mounds a few times before, now (spring) is better.
The flowers were not as abundant as Glacier Heritage Preserve when we visited ~10 days ago.
The mounds are more pronounced here.
A lot of camas, buttercup and lomatian. Patches of penstemons.
This time, I walked more south than before, less people and more flowers.
Overall, very quiet on this Tuesday.
I arrived at Falbulich Center (the meeting location) for the bus tour of Port of Tacoma exactly at 1pm.
It's a large office building, and I had no idea where exactly I shall be. No front desk.
Had to find someone to ask where the tour is.
The bus was waiting outside on a different side.
It left soon after I boarded the bus. There were ~3 more empty seats.
A few things I learned that I still remembered:
- the Port Authority doesn't own all the land here. There's a concrete business operating here before the port.
- you can rent space here. One of the largest tenant is car detailer. See the photo of new cars parked here, all with white roof and hood cover.
- crew of these ships stayed onboard, so they don't need to go through immigration
- there are special organization to handle onboard crew members' need (medical, grocery...)
- cranes are lined perpendicular to the ships, each (un)loading a row of containers
- each container is then loaded onto these trains (see photo) by this kind of truck
- odd shaped objects are operated by special crew, and they enjoy the challenge
- Port of Tacoma had to buy neighboring properties to avoid being developed, so avoid being sued for noise or other problems
The view from the bus is often limited.
The guide is entertaining.
One of the guy working at lift dock came up the bus and talked to us.
He's black. Very nice and happy to chat. He said he loves his job. That's good to hear.
My fellow tour participants are almost all white.
We returned around 3:10pm.
On my drive south, I first stopped at Nisqualy NWR. I've always like it here. Maybe better to come during dusk or dawn to see more birds.
This spring, the water is suprisingly low.
I didn't see any migrating birds.
1 heron, 1 female hooded merganzer, 2 bald eagle sitting in the mud flat.
A couple of people carrying camera with large scope and tripod.
I visited Mima Mounds a few times before, now (spring) is better.
The flowers were not as abundant as Glacier Heritage Preserve when we visited ~10 days ago.
The mounds are more pronounced here.
A lot of camas, buttercup and lomatian. Patches of penstemons.
This time, I walked more south than before, less people and more flowers.
Overall, very quiet on this Tuesday.
I arrived at Falbulich Center (the meeting location) for the bus tour of Port of Tacoma exactly at 1pm.
It's a large office building, and I had no idea where exactly I shall be. No front desk.
Had to find someone to ask where the tour is.
The bus was waiting outside on a different side.
It left soon after I boarded the bus. There were ~3 more empty seats.
A few things I learned that I still remembered:
