Today I saw a request for name suggestions for Washington State’s newest additions to the ferry fleet. I’ve got a dozen or so ideas that I’ll be submitting, and you can too by following the directions outlined in the news release below. Now before you start submitting things like S.S. Minnow, Ship of Fools or Taxpayer’s Folly, keep in mind that the Washington State Transportation Commission has certain requirements – such
I’m reading (actually, listening to) a book called The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire that Saved America by Timothy Egan. In it, Gifford Pinchot comments that Washington State’s Lake Chelan bears a striking resemblance to Italy’s Lago di Como (Lake Como). I thought that was interesting so I put together this little side-by-side comparison thanks to the technological marvel that is Google Maps. What do you think? Does
You don’t see a whole lot of Flag Day parades anymore these days. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find half a dozen people who even know what Flag Day is. For those still wondering, Flag Day is a United States commemorative day (not yet an official holiday) that falls every year on June 14, commemorating the adoption of the flag of the United States, which happened that day by resolution of
We began building our Ocean Shores home in 2008. When we moved our borrowed 5th wheel trailer to the construction site in October of that year, we started daily beach walks. The beach nearest our home is part of the Oyehut Wildlife Recreation Area, managed by the WDFW as a subunit of the John’s River Wildlife Area nearer to Westport, Washington. Almost immediately upon taking these walks, we started seeing
One of Washington’s jewels is our state park system. Yes, it is expensive to run, and goodness knows the political shenanigans that take place to keep it alive. But… if you look around our state, we have some pretty awesome parks within reach of almost everyone in the state. It is well worth the cost of an annual Discover Pass for you and your family to enjoy these gifts. End
As I tweeted last week, the Washington State Department of Natural Resources’ Committee on Geographic Names is meeting to consider changing the names of a number of Washington State locations, the most prominent being Soap Lake in Grant County. Someone had the bright idea of renaming it “Lake Smokiam” despite the local community having spent th0usands of dollars marketing the lake’s alleged medicinal properties. Needless to say, Soap Lake residents
Isaac Ingalls Stevens was the first governor of the newly-formed Washington Territory in 1853. I’ve been reading more about the significance of his life since I began diving into library books about Washington state history. In a previous post I wrote about how I visited the cemetery where our first territorial lieutenant governor, Charles Mason, is buried. He served as the acting governor of Washington Territory while Isaac Stevens was
Earlier this week I became aware of a plan to pave over part of the parade grounds at old Fort Steilacoom in Lakewood. The property belongs to Western State Hospital – itself an icon of Washington State History – and the hospital is managed by the state Department of Social and Health Services. Through my work with 28th District State Senator Mike Carrell, R-Lakewood, who represents the district in which
Kelly was feeling under the weather one day last week, so I decided to take Parker off her hands and get him out of the house for a bit. I had wanted to make a day out of it, perhaps visiting the recreated Fort Nisqually on Point Defiance, visiting the old Fort Nisqually in DuPont (and the historic Dynamite Train), or Fort Steilacoom Park between the two. Being that the
Being cooped up in the house for days on end is enough to drive anyone mad, and throwing a four-year-old in the cage can sometimes seem just plain cruel. So needless to say, I had to get my poor wife and son out of the house before we all ended up in the newspaper the next day. Despite the intermittent weather on Saturday, we decided to visit Tumwater Historical Park