Washington State Capitol

We were delighted to jump into our hired red PT Cruiser. Off for a one day roadtrip.

 Olympia's Legislative Building was completed in 1928 and is one of the tallest masonry domes in the world. Weighing in at 11 million pounds its hard to believe the dome moved 1 inch in the 2001 earthquake. It also holds the worlds largest collection of Tiffany chandeliers deemed now irreplaceable hence the big-daddy located within the Rotunda was not only hanging by some severe chain it was also backed up with kalvar. Not even Del Boy or Rodney could cause havoc here when every 10 years these one tonne light fittings receive a clean and check over.  Alaskan and Italian Marble is heavy used inside and in the state reception room was the original carpet, which at the time was the worlds largest machine made single loomed carpet. Not a red wine stain in sight!

Visitors are allowed into the viewing galleries for both the House of Representatives and the  Senate. The lawmakers meet every January with sessions lasting 105 days so they were just coming to the end of it when we arrived. There was none of the shouting and bantering that goes on back home in the House of Commons.  Here it was a very civilised electronic voting machine.

The car tells us it's 7 degrees! We drove through a snow flurry at one point. We drove over  the 4.1 mile Astoria- Megler bridge that spans the mouth of the Columbia river between Astoria, Oregon and and Point Ellice near Melger, Washington.  Opened in 1966 the bridge was built to withstand 150 mph (240 km/h) wind gusts and river speeds of 9 mph (14 km/h).

Olympic national park is a remarkable spot. It is divided into three basic regions: the pacific coastline, the Olympic mountains, and the temerate rainforest.  In 1981 it was designated a world heritage sight.  We layered up for a quick jaunt along the pacific facing beach. Funny to think that the next piece of land out West was Japan!

At one point we were pulled over by the police. We were speeding, apparently. On winding down the window we were asked if we were local. From the UK came the reply! He highlighted the error of our ways with a definite air of 'you're not from round these parts are you sir' and with this he bid us farewell.  As night fell we made our way home. We were familiar to dodging roos in Oz but here we were now dodging Elk! Of equal size and intelligence when it came to the green cross code!