Another State Capitol

The sun is shining and it's going to be 90 degrees today. The few kids that are left in the campground should have a wonderful day in the pool. But we're off to Olympia and the state capitol with a stop at Trader Joe’s on the way. This will probably be the last TJ’s for a while. They’re not widespread in other states like they are in California. But I have a supply of fizzy water to last awhile.

Tours are conducted on the hour at the Capitol and we made the 11 a.m. one. We were the only ones there so had a private tour. Our guide was a retired history/political science professor and John thought he was one of the best guides we’ve had. Washington became the 42nd state in 1889. They wanted to name it Columbia but Congress said “no” because it could be confused with British Columbia. So now it’s confused with Washington, D.C. Their state seal is a picture of George Washington and their state flag is the only one with the picture of a person on it.

The Capitol is beautiful. It was finished in 1928 and is one of the more typical domed capitols. It's the fifth tallest domed building in the world.
The light fixtures are by Tiffany and the chandelier hanging from the dome is large enough to put a Volkswagen in. It was supposedly Tiffany’s largest project. There are many decorative touches throughout the building, like these in the Senate Chambers. The interior is marble from the United States and Europe. Some of it came to Olympia as ballast in sailing ships. The legislature only meets 4 months in odd-numbered years and 2 months in even-numbered means. A lot of building for not much legislature.

I was successful in getting a Christmas tree ornament!!

We drove through the charming downtown and stopped at Cascadia Grille for lunch. Yummm!

When we got back to the campground, one of the rangers showed us the view of Mt. St. Helens from one of the campsites on this beautiful, sunny day.