Washington
additional Washington travel links...
 Washington, the Evergreen State, is defined by the Columbia River, Cascade Mountains, Olympia Mountains, beautiful cities, San Juan Islands, and Pacific Ocean. Its nickname, the Evergreen State, comes from the abundance of evergreen trees throughout the State. However, to have the abundance of evergreens, there needs to be adequate moisture, which the Pacific Ocean provides. For example, the Douglas firs in the Queens Rain Forest in the Olympic National Park grow over 200 feet tall.
Washington has vacations for everyone from the extreme sailboarding in the Columbia Gorge, elegant dining in Seattle followed by a stroll thru Pikes Market, and relaxing in the quiet San Juan Islands to climbing Mount Rainier. Washington also has romantic vineyards and great golfing. Agri-tourists enjoy visiting Washington to learn about their successful orchards where they grow peaches, cherries, and apples.
Washington has many great destinations for its visitors:
- Bellevue has the Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art that shows dolls from handmade porcelain to plastic dolls, which were mass-produced.
- Tillicum Village Northwest Coast Indian Cultural Center (Blake Island) is a one-hour cruise from Seattle and provides an interpretive program at traditional longhouse. Visitors to Blake Island can also enjoy a baked salmon dinner. Ferry access to the Blake Island is available.
- Lake Coulee has the Sun Lakes State Park with a waterfall that is greater than Niagara Falls.
- Grand Coulee Dam is one of the largest concrete structures in the world. It was build for multiple state power, flood control, and irrigation.
- Northwest Trek at Eatonville has 635 acres of animals native to the northwest. Tram guided tours bring visitors close to the animals.
- Lopez Island in the San Juan Islands offers miles of back roads through farmlands for bicycling and sports fishing near the port of Ricmond.
- Ocra Island is available by ferry. Offers charters to see the whales.
- Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park is not to be missed.
- The Hovander Homestead at Ferndale depicts life at the early turn of the 20th Century.
- Maryhill Museum of Art in Maryhhill. It is a museum in the chateau-like home of an entrepreneur and collector.
- Mount. Rainier National Park and Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument. Both natural sites are worth of exploration. Mt. Rainier has 26 glaciers, forests, and meadows. At Mt. St. Helens, visitors can see nature's destruction and recovery.
- Olympic National Park is a rain forest with self-guiding tours.
- Port Townsend is one of Washington's oldest cities and historic seaports.
- San Juan Islands are known for fishing and relaxing, but they are also becoming paddlers' paradise. There are kayaking outfitters in the San Juan Islands that provided guided tours and lessons.
- Seattle has everything and should be a destination. It even has an underground tour of its underground city in Pioneer Square. There are museums and cultural centers sharing the pioneer, northwestern, and Asian cultures in Washington. Seattle also has the Space Needle and Woodland Park, a zoo. Visitors also can take harbor and Puget Sound cruises from Seattle where they can also go parasailing, swimming, and scuba diving between games of golf and horseback riding.
- Ocean Shores occupies a sandy peninsula between Grays Harbor and the Pacific Ocean. There is an interpretive center about the early pioneers and shipwreck as well as tsunamis.
- Pasco is on the confluence of the Yakima, Snake, and Columbia Rivers that made it a transportation center.
- Spokane has gardens and riverfront activities.
- Tacoma Point Defiance Park, Zoo, and Aquarium and the Washington History Museum.
- Besides the great outdoors Walla Walla has Fort Walla Walla to visit, culture, history and wineries.
 To explore Washington, start at the Columbia River Gorge and drive up the scenic coastal roads to Aberdeen, where there is a steelhead fish hatchery, and the Olympic Mountains or take I-5 to Olympia and Tacoma. Rather than going to Seattle on the highways, take a ferry from the Olympic Peninsula. Use Seattle as the base for day trips to Mt. Rainier and the Cascade Mountains or north to Bellingham and the northern area of Puget Sound. The San Juan Islands, Bellingham, and other locations along Puget Sounds are great places for observing killer whales or other aquatic animals and bird life. While using Seattle as a base, visitors can take weekend trips to Victoria, Vancouver. Vancouver has been called one of the most beautiful cities in North American.
After leaving Seattle, the next travel base should be Wenetchee for hiking, fishing, mountain biking, and skiing. Spokane should be the next important place to stop because between Wenetchee and Spokane there are many beautiful natural areas to explore including, Moose Lake, Colville National Forests, and the other rugged areas along the Columbia River above the Cooley Dam.
Recreation in Washington has something for everyone, especially, around Seattle and the coasts. There is automobile racing, professional football, basketball, and hockey, hydorplane races, sailing, and boating. Hiking and horseback riding and fishing are available all over Washington as well as white-water rafting, kayaking, parasailing, mountain climbing, bicycling, skiing, swimming, scuba diving, tennis, rifle skeet shooting, jogging, and lawn bowling.
Some suggested trips with Washington as the center:
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