Our cold, rainy Memorial Day weekend continued with a visit to one of the best named towns in the country, Walla Walla Washington.
The area around Walla Walla has always been farmed, only in the last few decades it has become known for it’s vineyards.
Further east, at the Idaho/Washington border lie the twin towns of Clarkston, Washington and Lewiston, Idaho. The Snake River south of the towns has an impressive canyon.
Washington Highway 129 leaves Clarkston south towards the Oregon border, which when reached turns into Oregon Highway 3. It is a very cool drive!
The Palouse Hills area of eastern Washington is unique in that they were created over tens of thousands of years from wind blown dust called loess. This land turned out to be very fertile for the growing of wheat and barley, and the hills are covered with these fields.
Near the crossroads town of Washtucna is an old bus that, much like Cadillac Ranch, people come along and paint it, over and over again.
Palouse Falls is a 200′ high waterfalls situated in a 377′ deep canyon, shaped like a huge bowl. It is very impressive.
The overlook has a large number of marmot’s.
Birds seemed to like to ride the updrafts from the falls.
Just down the road (and river) is the confluence of the Snake and Palouse rivers at Lyons Ferry. There is an impressive road bridge crossing the Snake.
Just down river is the more impressive rail bridge, which we had the good fortunate of catching a long freight train crossing.
The Palouse Hills is a very scenic area far from any large cities.
After a week of travelling about in the mountains, with a few small cities mixed in, Spokane seemed like the big city. And it has been that way for well over 100 years.
As a result downtown has a nice collection of older architecture.
The island in the middle of the river at the top of the falls was the home of the 1974 World’s Fair. This clocktower was part of the Great Northern Depot train station that was unfortunately demolished for the fair.
The falls itself is quite impressive.
Also of note is Manito Park and Duncan Gardens. As for that 278 miles – it is that far to Seattle.
State Capital – Olympia. The building is another traditional style set in the small town of Olympia. While it might seem strange that this small city is the capital when Seattle is just 60 miles away, in the early days of the European settlement Olympia was the most important towns, becoming the territorial capital.
State Symbol
State Tall Ship – Lady Washington
Boeing has a long history in the state, having been founded in Seattle in 1916. The factory in Everett is the largest building in the world by volume, but when you are inside it doesn’t feel that way because of separations. ( 2 photos below from Wikipedia)
Harold LeMay, a Tacoma refuse company owner, had one of the largest collections of cars when he died in 2000. His collection is displayed in 2 very different museum.
Seattle
1975Â Â Â 1978Â Â Â 1982
Seattle is a beautiful city that has been booming over the last couple of decades.
It is the cultural center of the Northwest.
The Chihuly Museum has the best art that he has ever created.
Next door is the Museum of Pop, with an eclectic collection.
Mountains
Mt Rainier 1959Â Â Â 1965Â Â Â 1967Â Â Â 1998Â Â Â Cascades 1970Â Â Â 2003Â Â Â 2006
Olympic National Park has two major sections, the mountains above Port Angeles, and a rain forest closer to the Pacific Ocean.
The day we chose to go to Hurricane Ridge was a fantastic, sunny day, with views forever.
Mount Rainier is the postcard of the state. (photo from internet)
With the mountains and abundant rain amazing waterfalls are found throughout the Cascades. (photos from internet)
Oceans and Rivers
1992- Puget Sound – Lopez Island – Shaw Reef   1994 – Columbia River Gorge   2000 – Sagebrush & Phlox in Columbia River Valley   2002 – Olympic Peninsula   2008 – Skagit Valley Tulips
The Puget Sound is one of the economic and recreation centers of the state.
The Pacific Coast is rugged and fairly unpopulated. (photos from internet, but I wish I was there for the bottom one).
Once a year many of the embassies located in Washington have an open house, officially known as The Around the World Embassy Tour.
This was the event we went to Washington for, and it didn’t disappoint. On this busy Saturday the embassies were open from 10-4. We had selected 14 from over 50 that were open. In the end we visited 17, but only 6 that were on our original list – regardless it was a great time.
Easily the best part was meeting the people from around the world. Each embassy had a variety of people – artists, musicians, delegates, and just regular folks from their home country. In the Peru embassy we met the artist Mario Arcevedo Torero.
Our morning continued down the street at the Embassy of Trinidad and Tobago, A recurring theme soon began that the smaller countries had the most lively groups.
At the Iraqi embassy we met this artist and his traditional (yet electrified) guitar.
India’s was so popular they took over the nearby street and had a concert, with the traditional dancers, as well as a drum circle.
The visit to Albania was great as well – really tasty free food, traditionally costumed people, and a free shot of alcohol at the end!
There were numerous people in their traditional dress.
Despite tasting our way through 7 countries we had lunch in Costa Rica. As with the others it was nice to taste the local foods.
While many had small tastes of food and drink, some had food lines set up for a nominal fee – it was well worth it.
The Dominican Republic was a lively place as well.
In addition to the dancers there were a number of craftsmen, including this chain saw artist who makes amazingly small items using a chain saw (and seemingly still has all his fingers).
The Korean Cultural Center featured dancers as well.
The second act we saw was a drum line. It is interesting that the cultures from around the world tend to use similar items for their entertainment – dance and drums.
The Haitian embassy featured an artist doing paintings on site.
Meanwhile over at Cote d’Ivoire the greeters wore traditional headdresses.
They also had a display of costumes.
This artist was proudly displaying her work – it was beautiful.
Ah Belize…. What a party….
Before you even entered the grounds you couldn’t help but feel the energy of the party.
People were dancing in front – people were dancing in back.
People from very different cultures were jamming out to the Belize party. Ironically they were next door to the Muslim Center, which we visited in what I would expect should be quiet respect, but you could still hear the party next door – hopefully they get along ok.
We went through a very quiet and strangely austere Brazilian embassy, then headed on up the street to see these two colorful ladies….
Coming from Bolivia! They had a number of dancers performing their traditional dances.
And posed for a group photo at the end of their act.
This older guy was very active in his dance.
And with that we ended our amazing day at the Embassy Open House. This is one you need to put on your list!
Washington Union Station is an architectural masterpiece that was designed by Daniel Burnham. It was opened in 1907, as a result of a decree from Theodore Roosevelt to provide a rail station worthy of the nation’s capital.
As you arrive you are greeted by Columbus Circle, along with a statue designed by Lorado Taft in 1912. This fountain symbolizes the 1492 expedition to the New World. The 3 flags represent the 3 ships, the figures on each side represent the new world and the old world.
The large bell is a scale replica of the Liberty Bell, and was cast by the same foundry in, ironically, Great Britain. This bell however was completed in 1976.
The colonnade is a signature Burnham design.
As you look down Delaware Avenue you get a sense of how close you are to the Capitol Building.
The Main Waiting Room, a misnomer now, is one of the largest rooms in the country, with 96′ high ceilings in a room that is 760′ along the entire corridor.
There are 36 Roman Centurions standing guard around the hall.
The entrance to the East Hall has a line of these Centurions as well as a great clock.
A close up of the clock shows the ‘4’ in Roman numerals is not IV, rather it is shown as IIII.
The East Hall was originally a dining room, with a Pompeii look.
A close up of some of the East Hall artwork.
The food court was once the train shed.
This view shows how it was outside the original Main Hall.
Washington’s Union Station is truly one of the great train stations in the country – well worth a stop, even if you drove of flew to the city.
The National Postal Museum was established through a joint agreement between the U.S. Postal Service and the Smithsonian Institution in 1993.
Located in the former main post office for Washington, it has a great collection of philatelic items.
In the mid 1800s the United States Postal Service was just starting up, and they had competition from private postal services – in a way they have come full circle losing much of the market to Fedex and UPS.
The museum had a nice collection of the various improvements in delivery, as well as a couple of the more unusual. This mailbox was stuck inside a cruise missle and fired on June 8th, 1959. It did reach it’s target, but was done only once because of the immense cost.
The museum has an amazing collection of stamps and letters. The one below is one of the earliest known U.S. Postal stamps from 1847.
A couple of survivors. This letter survived the Hindenburg fire and crash.
This is one of the few letters sent from the Titanic. The writer, George Graham of Canada wrote this brief letter and mailed it before reaching Cherbourg, the last stop before going trans-atlantic. The letter reached it’s destination – unfortunately George did not, dying in the accident.
An actual Pony Express delivered letter. Despite all of the publicity over the last 150 years, the Pony Express operated for about a year and a half.
There are a number of other small items including letter carrier badges from around the country.
One section detailed what goes into the design of a stamp.
The Postal Service has always celebrated famous Americans, including musicians.
Throughout the museum were various mailbox displays.
A number of the displays highlighted foreign mailboxes.
The 6 story atrium featured a number of aircraft that were used in the early days of air mail.
Also on display is a full size mail rail car. Imagine sorting the mail bumping along at 60 MPH.
Benjamin Franklin was, among other things, the First Postmaster General. He was well qualified as he was appointed postmaster of Philadelphia by the British Crown Post in 1737, as newspaper publishers often were appointed postmasters.
The Postal Museum is a great place to spend a few hours – well worth the time. And as most Smithsonian Museums, it has free admission.
The National Geographic Museum is located on 17th Street Northwest in Washington. The National Geographic Society was founded in Washington in 1888 by explorers and scientists, and continue to this day their effort to educate the public.
The organization’s headquarters greets you with their famed seal embossed in the floor.
In the first floor of one of the buildings is a small exhibit featuring, among other things, many of their famed magazine covers.
As well as some artifacts such as Adminral Peary’s camera he used on his Arctic explorations.
The main exhibition hall is located in a second building across the courtyard. The current feature is ‘Queens of Egypt’.
This display features seven of the famed queens including Nefertari.
Numerous small artifacts are on display.
Many have beautiful details and vivid colors.
A section called ‘The Listicle of Major Goddesses’ had much larger statues and artifacts.
The final section dealt with Death and Mummies including this funerary stela for Amun in Thebes.
A display highlighted the 6 stages of mummification including embalming, washing and waxing, extracting of the brain through the nostrils, extraction of internal organs – which were then scented and placed in canopic jars, drying, and finally the placement of the mask of pure gold over the face.
The Washington National Cathedral is the second largest church in the country, and serves as the church for many state funerals, among other activities.
Because of Washington’s unique building height restrictions it is the 4th tallest building in the city, despite only being 300′ high.
The day we visited they were having the annual Flower Mart. As part of this event there were a number of group performing, including the choir from the nearby St Alban’s School.
The main section rises to the aforementioned 300′, with a length of nearly 500′ making it an impressive space.
State flags line the cathedral. Despite the name it receives no money from the government.
There is a significant amount of carvings throughout.
The organ was built by Ernest Skinner & Son Organ Company. It was completed and installed in 1938, with over 10,000 pipes.
A closeup of some of the carvings.
The church suffered significant damage in a 2011 earthquake, and they have been raising money ever since to complete repairs. By selling Lego bricks at $2 each, they hope to raise the final $19 million to finish the repairs. The bricks are to build an exact replica of the cathedral.
A statue of George Washington was sculpted in 1947 and placed in the church. It is said to represent Washington not as a soldier, or president, but ‘just a man’.
As noted previously the Flower Mart was occurring on this day. As part of this celebration the country of Ecuador flew in fresh roses and was giving each lady a rose, presented by a representative of the embassy.
Many countries had floral displays, none more unusual that Switzerland’s rose cow.
Many lined the nave, with the stained glass windows providing backdrops.
The arrangements were very well done.
The Washington Cathedral is a stunning building, and the Flower Mart display added to the experience.
The United States National Arboretum is located a couple of miles away from the Capitol building in the northeastern section of the District of Columbia.
It is located on 446 acres of land, with numerous focus areas throughout.
One of the highlights however has nothing to do with trees, plants or flowers. It is instead the National Capitol Columns.
In 1958 an addition was made to the Capitol building, and the columns, which had been installed in 1828, were no longer required. For decades they sat unused, until in the 1980s they were relocated here.
The caps were retained as well, and show the great detail.
They surround the stone foundation, complete with a pool.
We moved on to the Herb Garden – which has a view of the columns in the distance.
The herb garden is well landscaped.
Numerous workers were hard at it, keeping the place looking good.
The previous evenings thunderstorm gave the entire area a fresh look.
The herb garden had numerous sections focusing on various uses including a section on dyes, such as these flowers.
The nearby visitor center had a mid century modern vibe to the design.
The azalea section lead up a hill, to a supposed view of the Capitol building
No view was found, but plenty of colorful bushes.
The Dogwood section was next…
The sunny morning highlighted the flowers and leaves.
The gardens were a perfect place for romance.
Our last stop for the morning was in the Asian Gardens.
These tall thin sculptures are made out of bamboo.
The Garden make a great stop away from the touristy areas of the city.
RDZ Photography 