Oct 4 - Capital of Washington State and Olympic National Park

We started our day by going to the area in Olympia, Washington, where the state capitol buildings are located. The legislative building was open (on a Sunday) and we had a really good guide. He explained that the building is 80 years old and cost $8 million to build. It was built with NO tax money! In the state of Washington, 1/3 of the forest land is owned by the Federal government, 1/3 is in private hands, and 1/3 is owned by the state of Washington. There is an elected official (forest commissioner) whose job is to use the forest to raise revenue for capital funding requirements of the state. He ensures that timber is cut and sold to provide funding for buildings (this includes building SCHOOLS.) There is NO tax money for state capital improvements. This forest commissioner also knows it is important to replant forest in order to provide for the future. The legislative building has marble from various areas. The first floor (including the grand foyer) is Alaskan marble. Other areas use marble from European countries. We also learned that when this territory was made a state, they wanted to name it Columbia but the federal government would not approve – using the rationale that if the District of Columbia became a state, it would probably be named the state of Columbia. The state officials then decided to name the state Washington and have honored George Washington by using his likeness as their state seal. Outside, they have a beautiful fountain, a memorial to WWI veterans, and a great view of the harbor. Once we completed our tour of the capital area, we headed to Olympic National Park. This park is different from others we have visited because the road circles the Olympic Peninsula and is on private property. There are lots of small villages and beautiful homes on this road. We stopped at one village, Hoodsport, where we learned they have the world’s largest population of octopus! As a result they have divers from all over the world come there in the summer. As we rode around the peninsula, we spotted three different groups of divers getting ready to go into the water. We made several stops to photograph the deep canyons we saw in the park. We got to Port Angeles, which is on the northern tip of Washington State, and found a marine research institute. That is where we photographed the starfish. That town is also the one with large mural and is where James had his picture made with his friend of the day! As we started around the western side of the peninsula we saw Lake Crescent at twilight and then were able to photograph a beautiful sunset over the Pacific Ocean. Since the distance around the peninsula is approximately 300 miles, we were late getting in but the trip was well worth it.