Blog Trotters, Welcome to Washington State

The Evergreen State. Washington was the 42 State to be admitted to the Union on November 11, 1889. It is the only State to be named after a President. The Puget Sound area, where I make my home has an average of 39 inches of rain a year. People think we have one of the heaviest rainfalls in the nation, but with the exception of the Peninsula that is not true. We may have steady continuous rain for days on end, but we rarely have the downpours that other States have.

Washington is divided into three regions. The Peninsula, Puget Sound area and East of the Mountains. That would be the Cascade Mountains. The East side of the State is a dryer and more desert like climate. It's main industry is Orchards. We grow more apples than any other state as well as peaches, cherries, nectarines, pears, grapes. I almost forgot, the East side has become rather famous for their wineries also.

Washington is the only State that I know of that you can go snow skiing in the morning and water skiing in the afternoon.

The town I live in is Arlington. It originated on the banks of the Stillaguamish River, but had to move to higher ground sometime in its history. When I moved here about 27 years ago, it was not unusual to see horses being ridden down the middle of the street. As well as some farmer driving his tractor downtown too.

The two pictures taken here are of the main street. The first one looking South and the second looking North. From one end to the other is less than one mile. The early industry in our area was logging. It then switched to Dairy Farming. That sadly, is no longer profitable and one of our last Dairies has sold their land to the city for parks. We are now a bedroom community, with many of our residents traveling to Seattle which is about 40 miles South of us for work. They also commute to Everett which is about 15 miles South of us. When my husband and I moved here the town had about 3,000 residents. Today there is closer to 16,000 residents.

To the West of me about 15 miles is the Puget Sound. Home of many species of marine life, from the majestic whale to the smallest of hermit crabs. We are known around the world for our salmon.
I had to include this picture because of the Bald Eagle flying over the waters. Probably looking for fish.
I love sunset pictures, so I had to include one. Some interesting facts about the Sound are that it covers 2458 square miles, has 2500 miles of shoreline and ranges in depth from an average of 450 feet to the deepest point of 930 feet. Puget Sound is a salt water waterway and connects to the Pacific Ocean by the Strait of Juan de Fuca which forms the boundary between Canada and the Peninsula area of our State.

We have some of the most beautiful mountains in the States. Unlike mountains in the East, our mountains are relatively young. They are steep and sometimes treacherous. Pictured here is Mt. Baker in October. Before the Winter snows arrive. She usually receives at least 180 inches of snow in a winter season. Her record is 1140 inches. Mt. Baker reaches 10,778 feet into the sky and is the 4th tallest mountain in the Cascade Range.
We also have many beautiful Glacier fed lakes. This one was so clear we could see all the way to the bottom. At least 25 feet straight down right at the shore. In fact Washington State has more glaciers than any other of the 47 contiguous states combined.
I just had to throw this one in for the effect. This is Darius, my youngest grand enjoying a handful of Mt. Huckleberries. If I tempt you to continue reading me, you will notice I generally have a number beside my grandchild's name when I write about him or her. Darius' number is 1419, meaning he is my first child's fourth child and my 19th grandchild.

To the South of me about 90 miles is the Majestic Mt. Ranier. The highest point in Washington State at 14,441 feet. When I checked for annual snowfall, I got a wide range of numbers from as low as 333 inches to a record of 1122 inches. Almost all of the mountains in the Cascade Mountain range are considered active. You may remember Mt. St. Helens blowing her stack on May 18, 1980.
To the Northeast of me is Whitehorse Mountain. She is actually almost out my back door. She is small in comparison to other mountains in the Cascade range reaching only 6840 feet into the sky.
On the Peninsula, you will find the Ho Rain Forest. It is one of the rainiest points in the world, averaging between 141 and 165 inches a year. It is also the only Rain Forest in the Continental United States.
As you look at the picture above of the Boeing Plant in Everett, you will see the largest building in the world. It covers 98.3 acres. Each of those blue sections is a door into the plant, large enough to take a plane into. Currently they have been working on the new 787 Dreamliner, which they took up just this year. The plant was originally built so Boeing could build the 747.
No visit to Washington State would be complete without a visit to the Space Needle built for the Worlds Fair in 1962.
Or a visit to the World Famous Starbucks.
This picture was taken on a Summer Family Hike to the Denny Creek area on Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascade Mountains.
This is why I call myself Gramma2Many. Pictured here are all of my children, most of the spouses, myself and my husband. As well as all but two of my grandchildren and one boyfriend.

This is one of our favorite family summertime activities.....hiking.

I hope you enjoyed your visit to Washington State. I wish I had more time to show you the rest of the State. We just scratched the surface. Be sure to let me know if you plan to visit my area, I would love to show you around. If you have enough time to sit a spell, I could even throw a salmon on the barbecue.

Edit: My son told me that I was wrong about who was on this hike. I am missing Gina and three of her five children. Sorry it was very late when I finally got this written and posted.

Children: 6

Grandchildren:19