Craig July 15, Glass and Logging Camp 6

We headed over to Tacoma today to see The Museum of Glass. This area puts such emphasis on the pursuit of the arts it is incredible. They have a large advertising campaign with the slogan “Art, ask for more”. I think it is for funding art instruction in the schools. We figured we better see some of it while we were here.

The Museum is in the downtown area of Tacoma. It is a stones throw from the water, but separated from downtown by the active train tracks. This posed a real accessibility problem as you don’t want people trying to run across the train tracks to get to the museum.

The solution… build a foot bridge, of course. But you can’t have just any bridge, you have to commission an artist to design your bridge. That way it will span the gap, functionally, yet create the transition from brick city office buildings to industrial railroad that will leave the traveler ready for the aesthetically pleasing form of the museum and what lies within. So you hire “Chulluly”, the god of glass art to achieve this transition. Here is what you get.

I guess this is why they have a 100% tax on alcohol. It may not be quite that high, but the $15 bottle of rum on the ferry boat, duty free, was $29 at the state liquor store. I think the sales tax is about 15% as well. I’ll have to check a receipt.

We entered the museum which ran us $24 for the whole family. Not too bad, but not free either. Shouldn’t the art be free for everyone to enjoy? OK, back on track.


We walk into the big silver cone you see in the exterior museum photos. It is actually a glass foundry. The low roar of the ovens and their associated heat greet us as we walk in. We take a seat in the audience, the comfortable tiered seating perfect for the demonstration going on in front of us. The museum is hosting a renowned glass artist from California. He runs a team of four apprentices, local artists from the area, each one in their mid twenties, with, we are told, a combined thirty plus year’s experience. We watch as they manipulate the glass. The spinning, blowing, hammering, heating, cooling and molding are alternated as abstract forms take shape. We find out that the local schools here, from grade school on up, all have glass “shop” classes. We watch for about an hour until they put the finished piece in an oven to slowly cool (anneal) it. This strengthens the glass and prevents surface tension from shattering it. All of us enjoyed the demonstration and learned a few things from it.


We moved on to the main gallery. No photography allowed here. As could be expected, the displays showcased superb craftsmanship along with political, religious, sexual and psychotic expressions. How come artists can’t be normal?  Even the kids were impressed with the work some of the artists had performed.


We left the museum, grabbed some lunch and headed for Point Defiance. This is a state park with a zoo, beach and some historical exhibits. It is located right on Puget Sound in an area called The Narrows and offers some wonderful views of the water and the surrounding shoreline.
Our first stop in the park was the Fort Nisqually reconstruction. Fort Nisqually was a Hudson Bay Company trading post. It was actually located about 20 miles away from this site, but was reconstructed here in the state park. Some of the buildings still contain original materials used in their construction. Others are simply recreations. We were not able to spend much time in the Fort as we arrived just before closing.




We moved on to the next stop, Logging Camp # 6. We pulled in with small expectations, but walked away in awe at the operation. I did anyway.



The site had an old diesel powered train and a few cars that took a small tour of the camp. The train conductor, a Santa Claus looking fellow, gave a very informative narration while we were on board. The tour included logging engines called “donkeys”. These donkeys revolutionized the way logging was done.


At the heart of the donkey was an engine, steam early on and replaced by diesel later. This engine would be used to power winches. First it had to be constructed. The engine and winches were all housed together in a steel frame. Large logs would then be shaped similar to a sled and the steel frame portion of the donkey would pull itself up onto the sled and be mounted in place.

The Donkey was used as a crane of sorts. A large log, sometimes a long as 100’, would be stood on its end vertically and held up with cables. The donkey would be located at the base of this log or pole. Other cables would then be run out in multiple directions as far as ¾ mile. These cables were used much like a rope tow or T bar on a ski lift. The logs would be partially lifted in the air and then dragged back to the donkey, where it would lift the logs onto the waiting trucks or railcars. When all the timber had been harvested as far as the donkey’s cables could reach, it would be cabled to tree stumps and using its winches, it would pull itself along the ground to the next area.

Quite the technological advancement from horse and ox teams.

We were able to view old pictures showing the hardships of this vocation. Wow, I have a lot more appreciation for the men that did this work.

Looking at pictures of all this hard work can be very tiring. So we headed home afterward for a little relaxation. These vacations sure can take it out of you.

Leah July 15: Glass

Today was a long day. First we went to the Museum of Glass. Next we went to Fort Nisqually. Finally we went to the logging camp.


The Museum of Glass was cool. We got to see the hot shop team make glass objects. It was awesome. After they made 2 glass forms we went into the gallery. We weren’t allowed to take pictures in the gallery so I don’t have any pictures to show you. My favorite exhibit was the web. The web is made up of cables with glass ball on them in the shape of a spider web that hung from the ceiling and took up the whole room.


After the gallery was the studio. The studio is an arts and crafts room. I made a stamp. Matt entered a contest. In the contest you draw a picture and if your picture is picked you get to come and watch the hot shop make the object that you drew. The museum gets to keep one to put on display and they give another one to you.

After the museum we went to Fort Nisqually. They were closing so we rushed through it. We did get to see a little bit of it. We got to go in one of the bastians. A bastian was a building that they attacked intruders from.


When we finished the fort we went to the logging camp. The logging camp I thought was boring. But the train ride was interesting. We saw an old logger, the last one of its kind. We went around on the train 3 times before stopping. When we got off the train we drove back to the RV. We entertained ourselves until bedtime.

Matt July 15: Glass, Glass, and More Glass

We went to the Museum of Glass today. First at the Museum we watched how the workers made the glass. First you put it in a fernice probably over 1000 degrees F. Then you take it out and blow air through a pipe to make it bigger and put it back in. Do that about ten times and now it’s time to shape it. They had a box with three curvy lines on each side that makes the design. Then you put it back in the furnace and take it out about five times. Now it’s time to let it cool.
They put it in a metal safe about 900 degrees F. They have to leave it in the box for 12 – 24 hours. Finally the last step painting. The artist paints it any colors he or she wants it to be. Warning! Kids don’t try this at home. Next in the museum we went to the gallery. You couldn’t touch anything or even take pictures of the art. In one side of the room the art wasn’t made of glass. My favorite was where there was a small latter covered with one dollar bills with people falling off the wooden ladder. It ment some people can succeed and people can fail.

Then we left the museum and went to the Fort Nisqually. We got there as they were about to lockup. Toe toured the grounds and soon we left and drove to the campground.