Flat Stanley Goes to Washington

On my way home

2009-05-17T18:02:00.000-07:00

It's time for me to go home. I have enjoyed my time in Washington. It has been fun to see Seattle, Whidbey Island, Canada and Ireland. People have been friendly and I'm glad I was sent here.

I will have fond memories of my stay here!

Interesting facts about Washington

2009-05-16T08:15:00.000-07:00

Washington is the 42nd state in the USA; it became a state on November 11, 1889.

State Abbreviation - WA
State Capital - Olympia
Largest City - Seattle
Area - 71,303 square miles, Washington is the 18th biggest state in the US
Population - 5,894,121 (as of 2000) Washington is the 15th most populous state in the US
Major Industries - farming (fruit, berries, nuts, cattle, wheat), lumber, tourism, hydroelectric power, computer software, aircraft, aluminum refining

Major Rivers - Columbia River, Snake River, Yakima River
Highest Point - Mt. Rainier - 14,410 feet above sea level
Bordering States - Idaho, Oregon
Bordering Country - Canada
Bordering Bodies of Water - Pacific Ocean, Puget Sound
Origin of the Name Washington - George Washington, the first president of the US.

State Nickname - The Evergreen State
State Motto - "Alki" (By and By)
State Song - Washington, My Home
State Bird - American Goldfinch
State Flower - Coast rhododendron

State Tree - Western hemlock
State Fruit - Apple
State Fish - Steelhead trout
State Marine Mammal - Orca

State Gem - Petrified wood
State Dance - Square dance

Back to Seattle!

2009-05-15T20:00:00.000-07:00

Today Dena took me back to Seattle!

I got to ride another ferry to Bainbridge Island! Bainbridge Island is located within the Central Puget Sound Basin, east of the Kitsap Peninsula and west of the City of Seattle. The island is approximately five miles wide and ten miles long, encompassing nearly 17,778 acres, or 28 square miles, and is one of the larger islands in Puget Sound.

It was cool to see Seattle from the water!

From the ferry I could see large cranes that lift shipping containers off barges. They kind of look like something straight out of Star Wars!

A tree farmer?

2009-05-14T16:26:00.000-07:00

Today I went to see a lumber mill!

There were piles and piles of logs and pallets and pallets of lumber! It was so cool!

With ideal climate, soil, and growing conditions, trees in Washington grow fast. There’s a reason that it’s called the “Evergreen State”. Washington is home to 23 million acres of forestland of which 16.2 million acres are classified as commercial forest. Only 18% is owned specifically by the forest products industry and account for 80% of Washington’s annual harvest – 3 billion board feet.

Washington State is the largest exporter of forest products and the largest softwood lumber producer in the US. Despite Washington’s history as a producer of primary wood products, the secondary forest products market, like paper and pulp, is also flourishing. Many Washington colleges have programs dedicated specifically to the Forest Products industry.

Click here if you would like to see a video of how this sawmill works.

Click here to find out how they manage their trees.

For more information: www.choosewashington.com

Conway, Washington

2009-05-13T17:51:00.000-07:00

Today, Dena took me to Conway. That's right, there is a Conway, Washington, just a few miles from Mount Vernon. I went to the feed store while I was there.

It's a very small town. Population in the 2000 census was only 84. Like Grovespring, children attend school at Conway Elementary School from Kindergarten through the 8th grade, and then go to high school somewhere else. Parents choose a high school from the three closest: Stanwood, Mount Vernon or LaConner. Since only Mount Vernon provides a bus to the Conway area, most of the students go there.

Did you know?

2009-05-11T18:03:00.000-07:00

There is farmland in the Puget Sound?

Part of Washington agriculture is aquaculture. Farmers grow mussles, clams and oysters throughout Puget Sound. In fact, one of the largest mussel growers in the world is on Whidbey Island.

Penn Cove Mussels, Inc. was established by the Jefferds family in June of 1975 in Coupeville, Washington. Penn Cove was chosen for the mussel farm due to the unique hydrological and geographic features of the cove which make it the most prolific mussel growing area in the state. The geography of Penn Cove makes it a nutrient trap for the outflows of the Skagit and Stillaguamish River systems. The fresh water and nutrients combined with sun shine provided by the rain shadow effect of the Olympic Mountains tends to turn Penn Cove in to a bay of plankton soup for the mussels.

Mussels are very efficient filter feeders, with adults able to filter about 15 gallons of water per day; They can filter up to 60% of the plankton out of the water which they take in.

The mussel farm in Penn Cove is the home of the oldest and largest commercial mussel farm in the United States and Penn Cove Mussels have won top honors and international tasting competitions.

For more information: www.penncoveshellfish.com

Going through photos...

2009-05-07T16:50:00.000-07:00

Dena and I went through the photos from Ireland and we found many pictures of different birds we saw in Ireland:

Swans...

Doves...

Clamdiggers...

Seagulls...

and Magpies!

The flight home

2009-05-06T23:27:00.000-07:00

Today we flew home. After going through customs we waited in the Dublin Airport for our flight. Dena bought me some snacks...

After a long flight, we made it home to Seattle.

I'm ready for a good night sleep!

The Last Day Around Dublin

2009-05-05T21:18:00.000-07:00

Today was our last day in Dublin, so we decided to walk round the city a while. Our first stop was Grafton Street.

Grafton Street is one of the two principal shopping streets in Dublin city center, the other being Henry Street. It runs from St. Stephen's Green in the south to College Green in the north. The street was named after Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton, who owned land in the area. The street was developed from a then existing country lane by the Dawson family in 1708, after whom the parallel Dawson Street is named.

Since the 1980s, the street has been mostly pedestrianised, with the exception of the short stretch running between Nassau Street and College Green. This short stretch contains two notable Dublin landmarks, the eighteenth century Trinity College Provost's House, home to the head of the college, and the late twentieth century statue of Molly Malone, which has become a popular Dublin meeting place.

The Molly Malone statue was designed by Jeanne Rynhart and was erected to celebrate the city's first millennium in 1987. 'Molly Malone' is a popular song, set in Dublin, Ireland, which has become the unofficial anthem of Dublin City. It has also in Ireland acquired the status of an Irish anthem.

The song tells the tale of a beautiful fishmonger who plied her trade on the streets of Dublin, but who died young, of a fever. Recently a legend has grown up that there was a historical Molly, who lived in the 17th century. However, there is no evidence that the song is based on a real woman, of the 17th century or at any other time.

The song lyrics are as follows:

In Dublin's fair city,
where the girls are so pretty,
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone,
As she wheeled her wheel-barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!"

"Alive, alive, oh,
Alive, alive, oh",
Crying "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh".

She was a fishmonger,
And sure 'twas no wonder,
For so were her father and mother before,
And they each wheeled their barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!"

(chorus)

She died of a fever,
And no one could save her,
And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone.
Now her ghost wheels her barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, "Cockles and mussels, alive, alive, oh!"

Some other sights we saw were The Spire of Dublin. The Spire, officially titled the Monument of Light is a large, stainless steel, pin-like monument 390 ft in height, located on the site of the former Nelson's Pillar on O'Connell Street in Dublin.

A statue of James Joyce, the world-famous Irish writer, walking with a cane in his hand.

O'Connell Street and alot of other interesting things.

Tomorrow we fly home. I have had a great time visitng Ireland and I will be sad to leave.

A park in the City

2009-05-04T17:13:00.000-07:00

As we were walking around Dublin today we came upon St. Stephen's Green.

St Stephen's Green is an inner-city public park within the city center. The park is rectangular, surrounded by streets that once formed major traffic arteries through Dublin city center.

Until 1663 St Stephen’s Green was a marshy common on the edge of Dublin, used for grazing. In that year Dublin Corporation, seeing an opportunity to raise much needed revenue, decided to enclose the center of the common and to sell land around the perimeter for building. The park was enclosed with a wall in 1664. The houses built around the Green were rapidly replaced by new buildings in the Georgian style and by the end of the eighteenth century the Green was a place of resort for the better-off of the city. Much of the present-day landscape of the square comprises modern buildings, some in a replica Georgian style, and relatively little survives from the 18th and 19th centuries.

While the central park of St Stephen's Green is one of three ancient commons in the city, its current layout owes much to the restorations of the 1800s.

The grounds are roughly rectangular and are centred on a formal garden. One of the more unusual aspects of the park lies on the north west corner of this central area - a garden for the blind with scented plants, which can withstand handling, and are labelled in Braille.

Further north again is a large lake. Home to ducks and other water fowl, the lake is fed by an artificial water fall, spanned by O'Connell bridge, and fronted by an ornamental gazebo. The lakes in the park are fed from the Grand Canal at Portbello.

It was really nice to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and enjoy some quiet time watching the ducks and seagulls in the pond and enjoying the fountains.

Skerries Mills and the Beach

2009-05-03T19:34:00.000-07:00

Today we caught the DART north to see Skerries Mills.

The DART is a rapid transit system that runs up and down the coastline of Dublin Bay.

Skerries Mills is located north of Dublin in the seaside town of Skerries. The mills in Skerries were used for grinding corn: wheat, oats and barley - wind power complementing water power, particularly in times of drought. At the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII in 1538, the Canons Regular of St Augustin of Holmpatrick owned c.1000 acres of land in the vicinity of present-day Skerries and counted a watermill among their possessions.

The second windmill, known as The Great Windmill of Skerries was probably built towards the end of the 18th century when the former had fallen into disrepair. Stormy weather in the mid- 1840's badly damaged this mill but it was rebuilt in a five-sail version and became a popular symbol in holiday posters for Skerries.

There are three sets of grinding stones in the Skerries watermill, powered by an overshot waterwheel. A large mill-pond controlled by a series of sluice-gates feeds the water to the mill. The four floors or lofts are served by two bag-hoists; winnowers and a blower are located above the stone floor and below the hoppers in the top loft.

The Skerries windmills are both tower-mills, where the cap or top of the mill is turned to the wind. The older of the two mills is perched on the site of a prehistoric fort, the highest point in the town. The cap is thatched and turned into the wind from inside by a hand lever.

The Great Windmill of Skerries commands magnificent views of the coast and surrounding countryside. This mill contains two sets of grinding stones and the cap is pulled into the wind by a tail-pole.

The mills enclose a four-acre mill field where the annual crop is grown.

Our tour guide deomonstrated how the waterwheel worked by releasing the water. The water turned the wheel and the wheel turned the stones to grind the wheat into flour. It was LOUD. The windmills work similarly, but instead of water, the wind turns the sails.

After our tour of the mills, we walked down to the beach.

The tide was way out and we could see Rockbill Lighthouse from the shore. There were seagulls and shorebirds settled in the beach. We were able to collect some shells and sand from the beach too!

A Cathedral and a Church

2009-05-02T17:49:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Saint Patrick's Cathedral and Christ Church.

Saint Patrick on his journey through Ireland is said to have passed through Dublin. In a well close to where the cathedral now stands, he is reputed to have baptised converts from paganism to Christianity. To commemorate his visit, a small wooden church was built on this site, one of the four Celtic parish churches in Dublin.

In 1191, under John Comyn, the first Anglo-Norman archbishop of Dublin, Saint Patrick's was raised to the status of a cathedral and the present building, the largest church in the country, was erected between 1200 and 1270. Over the centuries as the elements, religious reformation and persecution took their toll, the cathedral fell into serious disrepair, despite many attempts to restore it. Eventually between 1860 and 1900 a full-scale restoration based on the original design, was carried out by the Guinness family.

The gothic style cathedral has high vaulted ceilings and many colorful stained glass windows. Someone was playing the organ and it was neat to read all the monuments.

After Saint Patrick's Cathedral we walked over to Christ Church.

A wooden church was built at this site in 1038. In 1171 the original simple foundation was extended into a cruciform and rebuilt in stone for the English crown. The present structure dates mainly from the 1870s, when a major restoration took place, making the cathedral look more Victorian than Anglo-Norman.

It was in this period that one of Dublin's most charming structures was added: a Bridge of Sighs-like affair that connects the cathedral to the old Synod Hall, which now holds the Viking multi-media exhibition "Dublinia."

It's a beautiful church and also contains the largest cathedral crypt in Britain or Ireland, constructed in 1172-1173. The crypt had many artifacts including a mummified cat and rat found trapped in the organ.

Did you know?

2009-05-01T15:22:00.000-07:00

Saint Patrick's Day is an Irish holiday?

Saint Patrick's Day, sometimes referred to as St. Paddy's Day or simply Paddy's Day, is an annual feast day which celebrates Saint Patrick, one of the patron saints of Ireland, and is generally celebrated on 17th of March.

The day is the national holiday of Ireland: it is a bank holiday in Northern Ireland and a public holiday in the Republic of Ireland. Saint Patrick's Day is celebrated worldwide by those of Irish descent and increasingly by people of other ethnicities as well, notably in Argentina, Australia, New Zealand and North America. Celebrations are generally themed around all things Irish and, by association, the color green.

Green ribbons and shamrocks were worn in celebration of St Patrick's Day as early as the 17th century, even though St. Patrick's Blue was the color traditionally associated with St. Patrick. He is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish, and the wearing and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ubiquitous feature of the day. The phrase "the wearing of the green", meaning to wear a shamrock on one's clothing.

The Library and a Castle

2009-04-30T16:51:00.000-07:00

We are staying at the Regency Hotel in Whitehall. Whitehall is on the northern outskirts of Dublin's inner city between Dublin and the airport. Dublin is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the center of the Dublin Region. Founded as a Viking settlement, the city has been Ireland's primary city for most of the island's history since medieval times. Today, it is ranked 10th in the Global Financial Centres Index and has one of the fastest growing populations of any European capital city.

After a nice continental breakfast, we caught the bus to Dublin. The hotel is conveniently located right next to a bus stop and it only takes 10 minutes to get to the city center. We walked from the bus drop off to the Chester Beatty Library.

The Chester Beatty Library is a public charitable trust established under the will of the late Sir Alfred Chester Beatty, which was granted probate in 1969. The role of the Library is to protect, preserve and make available to the public in the form of exhibitions, popular publications, lectures and other events the heritage enshrined in the collections of the late Chester Beatty.

Next door to the Chest Beatty Library is Dublin Castle. Dublin Castle was first founded as a major defensive complex upon the orders of King John of England in 1204, shortly after the Norman invasion of Ireland in 1169, when it was commanded that a castle be built with strong walls and good ditches for the defense of the city, the administration of justice, and the protection of the King’s treasure. Largely complete by 1230, the castle was of typical Norman courtyard design, with a central square devoid of a keep, bounded on all sides by tall defensive walls and protected at each corner by a circular tower. The building survived until 1673 when it was damaged by fire and demolished shortly afterwards. No trace of medieval buildings remain above ground level today, with the exception of the great Record Tower. It is the sole surviving tower of the original fortification, its battlements an early 19th-century addition.

The castle is a tourist attraction and, following major refurbishment, is also used as a conference center. During Ireland's presidencies of the European Union, including most recently in the first half of 2004, it has been the venue of many meetings of the European Council. The crypt of the Chapel Royal is now used as an arts center, and occasional concerts are held in the grounds of the Castle. The complex of buildings is usually open to the public, except during state functions.

I enjoyed looking at the ornate fixtures and the artwork. Everything is so grand and large.

Airplane Ride

2009-04-29T12:15:00.000-07:00

Today, Dena told me she was taking me on a special trip. She said it was going to be long and that we would be riding in an airplane, Like cars, airplanes have seat belts and for safety, I had to buckle up for take-off.

It was so exciting! I got to sit in a window seat. Before we left the airport, I saw some other airplanes parked next to us. Can you guess where we were going?

IRELAND!

Ireland is the third-largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islets. To the east of Ireland, separated by the Irish Sea, is the island of Great Britain.

Trying to figure out the time zones was a little confusing. Washington state is 8 hours behind Ireland. We had been traveling for twelve hours. In Washington it was 4 in the morning and in Dublin it was 11AM. I actually watched the sunrise from the airplane window.

I soon found out we were going to be landing in Dublin.

Dublin airport opened in 1940. It has only 2 runways, but serviced 23.5 million passengers in 2008. It’s a busy place! We went through customs and got our passports stamped and then it was off to catch a bus to the hotel. As you can see, the buses have two levels and they drive on the left side of the road!

We were very tired when we arrived at the hotel, so we decided to get some sleep. I can't wait to see what tomorrow brings!

Brrr!

2009-04-25T18:18:00.000-07:00

Today I went to Mount Baker.

Mount Baker is 10,778 feet, making it the fourth-highest mountain in Washington State. It is visible from much of Greater Victoria, Greater Vancouver and south to Seattle in Washington. It is also one of the snowiest places in the world; in 1999, Mount Baker Ski Area set the world record for snowfall in a single season—1,140 inches.

Mount Baker is also an active glaciated andesitic stratovolcano in the North Cascades of Washington State. It is the second-most active volcano in the range after Mount Saint Helens. It last erupted in 1880.

It still has alot of snow on it and will continue to have a good amount of snow at the top throughout the summer. It was cold. Brrrr!

I even tried jumping into the ski lift, but it was closed for the season. It’s probably a good thing, because I don’t think I know how to ski.

On the way up we stopped at a park near at the base of the mountain. There was a HUGE douglas fir log. Did you know you can tell a tree's age by the number of rings it has? Each ring counts as one year. It was so big, I lost count.

Further up the mountain we stopped at Nooksack Falls. The Nooksack River was used for hydroelectric power from 1906 to 1997. There's a lot of water running through there and it's loud!

The area is beautiful. The trees are SOOOOO tall. The view at the summit was spectacular. I won't soon forget it.

A trip to Starbucks

2009-04-24T17:01:00.000-07:00

After preschool Miss Jana took me to Starbucks and I met her daughter Amanda. She is really nice and bought me a hot chocolate!

The original Starbucks was opened in Pike Place Market in Seattle, Washington, in 1971 by three partners: English teacher Jerry Baldwin, history teacher Zev Siegel, and writer Gordon Bowker. They opened their first store to sell high-quality coffee beans and equipment. Now, Starbucks is the largest coffeehouse company in the world, with 16,120 stores in 49 countries.

They don't make a bad cup of coffee either!

More information: http://www.starbucks.com/

Preschool Friends

2009-04-24T16:06:00.000-07:00

I met some new friends today at Saint Paul's Preschool.

Miss Jana is a friend of Dena and Molly's and she asked if she could take me to school and introduce me to her students.

It was so much fun! Today they went on a nature walk and I got to eat lunch with them.

They even allowed me to change the calendar today.

Oh, the BEST part was they read my story! Can you believe it? They really made me feel special.

Playing foosball at work

2009-04-23T17:18:00.000-07:00

I went to work with Molly today.

She is a drafter in an architect's office called Theisen Architects. Architects plan and design buildings and help supervise the construction of a building. Molly's office in an old telephone switching building. It even has a crooked window in the front!

I got to watch her work on her computer. She takes sketches and draws building plans on the computer. Her office has done plans for schools, houses and restaurants.

Molly's boss, Tom, is very nice and he likes to have fun. He even has a foosball table in the office! I tried to win a game agaist the designer Scott, but he was just too good for me. I'll have to get in some practice time.

Did you know?

2009-04-22T11:30:00.000-07:00

There's an Underground Seattle?

Seattle's first buildings were wooden. In 1889, a cabinetmaker accidentally overturned and ignited a glue pot. An attempt to extinguish it with water spread the burning grease-based glue, and the Great Seattle Fire ended up destroying 33 city blocks.

Instead of rebuilding the city as it was before, city officials ordered that all rebuilding use stone or brick—insurance against a similar disaster in the future. They also decided to take advantage of the destruction to regrade the streets one to two stories higher than the original street grade. Pioneer Square had originally been built mostly on filled-in tidelands and as a consequence it often flooded.

To regrade, the streets were lined with concrete walls which formed narrow alleyways between the walls and the buildings on either side of the street, and a wide "alley" where the street was. The naturally steep hillsides were used, and through a series of sluices, material was washed into the wide "alleys", effectively raising the streets to the desired new level, generally twelve feet higher than before, though some places were nearly thirty feet.

At first, pedestrians climbed ladders to go between street level and the sidewalks in front of the building entrances. Brick archways were constructed next to the road surface, above the submerged sidewalks. Skylights with small panes of clear glass, (which later turned to amethyst-colored because of manganese in the glass), were installed, creating the area now called the Seattle Underground.

When they reconstructed their buildings, merchants and landlords knew that it would just be a matter of time before what was originally the ground floor would be underground, and what was originally the next floor up would be the new ground floor. As a result, there is very little decoration on the doors and windows of the original ground floor, but extensive decoration on the new ground floor.

Once the new sidewalks were complete, building owners moved their businesses to the new ground floor, although merchants carried on business in the lowest floors of buildings that survived the fire, and pedestrians continued to use the underground sidewalks lit by the glass cubes (still seen on some streets) embedded in the grade-level sidewalk above.

Today, people can take a tour of parts of the underground city.

More information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Underground_Tour

A new friend!

2009-04-21T21:00:00.000-07:00

"Pam is thrilled she was finally able to meet Flat Stanley at rehearsal at McIntyre Hall!" -Pam

I had the pleasure of meeting Pam Rolfson at a Skagit Valley Chorale rehearsal tonight. The Chorale is preparing for their spring concert coming up this weekend. Pam sings first alto in the Chorale and is a friend of Dena and Molly's. She is REALLY nice and her glasses are SOOOO cool! She was so excited to meet me when she heard I was in town, she ordered the box set of all my books!

It was nice to meet you Pam!

Did you know?

2009-04-20T10:34:00.000-07:00

There’s a troll in Seattle?

The Fremont Troll (also known as The Troll, or the Troll Under the Bridge) is a piece of whimsical public art in the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle.

The idea of a troll living under a bridge is derived from the Scandinavian folk tale "Three Billy Goats Gruff."

The Troll is a mixed media megalithic statue, located on N. 36th Street at Troll Avenue N., under the north end of the Aurora Bridge. Aurora Avenue North was renamed "Troll Avenue" in its honor in 2005. Despite its name, the Troll is not under the nearby Fremont Bridge. It is clutching an actual Volkswagen Beetle, as if it had just swiped it from the roadway above.

The piece was the winner of a competition sponsored by the Fremont Arts Council in 1990, and was built the same year. The Troll was sculpted by four local artists: Steve Badanes, Will Martin, Donna Walter, and Ross Whitehead. The Troll is 5.5 m high, weighs two tons, and is made of steel rebar, wire, and concrete.

More information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fremont_Troll

Today I became an international traveller!

2009-04-19T18:15:00.000-07:00

Dena took me to another country today! We drove North to the Peace Arch and I was in Canada!

The Peace Arch is a monument situated on the Canada – United States border between the communities of Blaine, Washington and Surrey, British Columbia. The Peace Arch, which stands 67.2 ft tall, was built by Sam Hill and dedicated in September 1921, and commemorates the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in 1814. The monument is built on the exact United States – Canada boundary, between Interstate 5 and Highway 99, in the grass median between the northbound and southbound lanes. The Peace Arch has the flags of the U.S. and Canada mounted on its crown, and two inscriptions on both sides of its frieze. The inscription on the U.S. side of the Peace Arch reads "Children of a common mother", and the words on the Canadian side read "Brethren dwelling together in unity". Within the arch, each side has an iron gate hinged on either side of the border with an inscription above reading "May these gates never be closed".

Here I am standing right on the border looking towards the United States. Canada is behind me. As you can see, the Peace arch is HUGE!

As we were leaving the park, I saw a really cool sculpture of a sea horse. It's scales are made of horseshoes!

Seattle!

2009-04-18T17:53:00.000-07:00

I went to Seattle today! It's HUGE! The buildings reach up to the sky. So many people, so many cars, so much activity! There is a hustle and bustle here that I haven't experienced.

Seattle is the most populous city in the state of Washington. A coastal city and major seaport, it is located in the western part of the state on an isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, and is about 96 miles south of the Canada – United States border. By the 2007 Census estimate, the city has a municipal population of 594,210, making it the twenty-fourth largest city by population in the United States. Seattle's current official nickname is the "Emerald City", the reference is to the lush evergreen trees in the surrounding area.

We started at the Space Needle. The Space Needle is a major landmark of the Pacific Northwest and a symbol of Seattle. Located at the Seattle Center, it was built for the 1962 World's Fair, during which time nearly 20,000 people a day used the elevators. The Space Needle is 605 feet high at its highest point and 138 feet wide at its widest point and weighs 9,550 tons. When it was completed it was the tallest structure west of the Mississippi River. It is built to withstand winds of up to 200 mph. There is an observation deck and a restaurant at the top. The restaurant rotates. You can see the entire city up there! It's so tall!

After the Space Needle, we went to Pike Place Market. Pike Place Market is a public market overlooking the Elliott Bay waterfront. The Market opened August 17, 1907, and is one of the oldest continually operated public farmers' markets in the United States. It is a place of business for many small farmers, craftspeople and merchants. Named after the central street, Pike Place runs northwest from Pike Street to Virginia Street, and remains one of Seattle's most popular tourist destinations.

It was fun and there were many people! We bought fresh flowers and watched the fishmongers throw fish across the market. People were selling all sorts of handcrafted items, honey, preserves and fresh fruit & vegetables. There were so many smells, and the sounds: a man was playing a violin and it echoed up into the market, people were chattering, birds were singing, cars were driving by! It was an exciting day!

Oh, and I was able to clear up one misconception: There isn't a Starbuck's on EVERY corner in Seattle, but there sure are a lot of coffee shops. They really take their coffee seriously up here!

Did you know?

2009-04-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

Washington has a volcano!

Mount St. Helens is an active stratovolcano located in Skamania County, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is 96 miles south of Seattle and 53 miles northeast of Portland, Oregon. Mount St. Helens takes its English name from the British diplomat Lord St Helens, a friend of explorer George Vancouver who made a survey of the area in the late 18th century. The volcano is located in the Cascade Range and is part of the Cascade Volcanic Arc, a segment of the Pacific Ring of Fire that includes over 160 active volcanoes.

Mount St. Helens is most famous for its eruption on May 18, 1980, at 8:32am PDT which was the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in the history of the United States. Fifty-seven people were killed; 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles of railways, and 185 miles of highway were destroyed. The eruption caused a massive debris avalanche, reducing the elevation of the mountain's summit from 9,677 feet to 8,365 feet and replacing it with a 1 mile wide horseshoe-shaped crater. The debris avalanche was up to 0.7 cubic miles in volume. The Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument was created to preserve the volcano and allow for its aftermath to be scientifically studied.

More information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_St._Helens

Boeing

2009-04-15T17:15:00.000-07:00

Dena took me to work with her today at Boeing.

The Boeing Company is a major aerospace and defense corporation, originally founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. The Boeing plant is the largest building by volume in the world. In fact, it is so big you can see it in space. During World War II they built a temporary neighborhood on the plant to disguise the building from enemy planes that might fly overhead.

Dena works on the 747 airplane. The 747 is the largest airplane in the Boeing fleet. They just started construction on the newest 747 model.

Here I am next to the wheel of the last manufactured 747-400. Production has already begun on the new model, 747-8.

The Boeing plant is HUGE and there is so much activity going on there. It's so exciting!

Here are some interesting facts about the 747:

- The 747-400 wing measures 5,600 square feet, an area large enough to hold 45 medium-sized automobiles.
- The 747 fleet has logged more than 42 billion nautical miles, equivalent to 101,500 trips from the Earth to the moon and back.
- The 747 fleet has flown 3.5 billion people - the equivalent of more than half of the world's population.

Did you know?

2009-04-14T11:30:00.000-07:00

Washington has a rainforest!

Temperate rain forests are found on the coast, at the lowest elevations, or on the western side of the Olympic Peninsula, like the Hoh Rain Forest. An abundance of animal and plant life thrives on the moderate temperatures and abundant rain in the area. In the summer, fog is everywhere, further adding to the humid conditions that support the diverse ecosystems of the rainforests of the Olympic Peninsula.

More information: http://www.destination360.com/north-america/us/washington/olympic-rain-forest.php

Fort Casey

2009-04-13T11:00:00.000-07:00

Instead of heading home from West Beach yesterday, Dena told me she was taking me further South down the island to Fort Casey State Park. It was so cool!

Built as a coastal defense fort, Casey was officially activated in 1900. Fort Casey, with Fort Worden and Fort Flagler, comprised a "triangle of fire" guarding the entrance to Puget Sound and the Bremerton Navy Yard as well as the cities of Seattle, Tacoma and the State Capitol at Olympia.

During World War I Fort Casey was used as a training post. After the war the post was placed in caretaker status and removal of armament begun. Fort Casey was reactivated during World War II again as an induction and training center. Two batteries were modified to hold 3" anti-aircraft batteries and the barracks were rebuilt. In 1956 it was acquired by the Washington State Parks and Recreation Commission and is now 467 acre Fort Casey State Park.

When we first arrived, we saw the Admiralty Head Lighthouse.

Built in 1861 and rebuilt in 1903, the lighthouse guided tall ships toward the Whidbey Island shore where they could fill their sails with wind. It was the last brick lighthouse designed by renowned German architect Carl Leick - its walls 18 inches thick to withstand the earthquakes that shake western Washington. Admiralty Head's Fresnel lens was extinguished in 1922, but the lighthouse today welcomes visitors with the help of dedicated volunteers.

After the lighthouse, we explored the fort.

There are still a couple cannons and it was fun exploring the underground rooms and pretending what it was like when the soldiers were there.

We even watched people flying kites in the large field.

Dena took me further South to catch the ferry to the mainland.

We fed the seagulls popcorn and they followed us all the way across the Sound.

It was so exciting to watch them dive after the popcorn!

On the mainland there was another lighthouse! It is called the Mukilteo Lighthouse.

A fun filled day!

2009-04-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

Today was a big day! First we went to West Beach for a picnic. I was kind of worried when we woke up this morning because it was pretty windy and raining. Thankfully, the rain stopped before we left!

West Beach is on the Northwest side of Whidbey Island. Whidbey Island is the largest island in Washington and the 40th largest island in the United States. The island was named after Joseph Whidbey in 1792. To get onto Whidbey Island you have to ride a ferry from one of the routes at the central or south end of the island, or you have to drive over Deception Pass Bridge at the North end.

Since Mount Vernon is North of Whidbey Island, we drove over Deception Pass Bridge. Construction of the Deception Pass Bridge was started August, 1934 and completed July 1935. The bridge, one of the scenic wonders of the Pacific Northwest, is actually two spans, one over Canoe Pass to the north, and another over Deception Pass to the south. Traveling over it sure was impressive!

We stopped at Deception Pass State Park to get some pictures of the bridge. We had to park the car and walk down a short path to get to the beach. The trail was so neat! The fir and cedar trees are so tall, I couldn't see the tops of them! The undergrowth is made up of ferns, huckleberries and moss. It's SO green! No wonder Washington is called 'The Evergreen State'.

Look how small I am at the base of this old fir tree!

The drive to West Beach was just a short distance from the bridge. We met Molly's parents and her cousin Ashley for a picnic and then explored the beach a little. Oh, it was so neat! The rocks are round from being tumbled in the sea and they are many different colors! Just look at them!

I want to send some home to all my friends in Grovespring.

The air smelled like salt and the waves crashed on the shore. There were seagulls flying with the wind overhead.

As we were walking back to the car, it started raining.

Our day didn't end there, but I'm pretty tired after all the excitement today. I'll write about the rest of the day tomorrow while Dena is at work.

Coloring Eggs

2009-04-11T19:00:00.000-07:00

Dena and Molly had to work yesterday, so I spent the day acquainting myself with their 5 cats and the house gnome.

Today, we colored Easter eggs. It was so much fun!

We colored 5 dozen eggs.

At dinner, I heard we are going to the beach for a picnic tomorrow! I can't wait!

My first day in Washington

2009-04-09T20:00:00.000-07:00

I was sent to visit Dena in Washington. She lives in Mount Vernon. Mount Vernon is a city in Skagit County, Washington. The city was named after Mount Vernon, the plantation estate of George Washington. In 1998 Mount Vernon was rated the #1 "Best Small City in America" by the New Rating Guide to Life in America's Small Cities.

Dena and her roommate Molly were really excited to show me the sites! Mount Vernon is known for its annual Tulip Festival. Farmers grow fields and fields of tulips and daffodils to harvest the bulbs. Right now it’s too early for tulips, but the daffodils are in full bloom. It was so neat to see a field of all those gold flowers!

See if you can find me in the daffodils (you can click the pictures to make them bigger).

I also got to see the Skagit River. The Skagit River was named after the Skagit indian tribe. It starts in the Cascade Mountains of British Columbia and travels 150 miles south to Puget Sound. It is the only large river system in Washington that contains healthy populations of all five native salmon species and two species of trout. Runs include Chinook, Coho, Chum, Pink, Sockeye, and Steelhead and Cutthroat trout. The river supports the largest wintering Bald Eagle population in the continental United States. When the salmon run is plentiful, there can be as many as 600 to 800 eagles on the river.

A train went over the bridge while I was looking at the river. See it?

It was a great first day and I look forward to many more adventures here in Washington.

A letter from my friend in Grovespring, Missouri

2009-04-03T09:00:00.000-07:00