ABC Wednesday--here we are at W

...and W is for the state of Washington.

Starting from the red central circle in the south central of the map--THAT IS HOME!

Home of Washington's apples and a wide variety of other fruits and vegetables that grace your table--the Yakima Valley.

The Larson Building is a landmark of downtown Yakima. We will spiral--sort of, clockwise around the state. There are many locations to visit that highlight the state's history. Ft. Simcoe (black dot) marks one historical era between the settlers and the Native Americans of the area. It is only one of several historic forts which figured in Pacific Northwest history.

Continuing south over Satus Pass and past the city of Goldendale to the Columbia River, we find the Maryhill Museum of Art (brown dot). What is a first class art museum doing there in the middle of nowhere? (It really is the middle of nowhere.) Sam Hill built the mansion for his dear wife Mary. She saw it, and immediately returned to the city. But with Sam's art connections and his own vast collection, the museum blossomed there in the desert.

I had never thought much about Mt. St. Helens, over in the southwest corner area of the state (purple dot), until about 1000 feet of its elevation dropped in on the rest of the state in May of 1980. Washington boasts at least four volcanoes that are considered active. Fortunately, the activity is generally considerably less than that bit of spectacle in 1980.

Let's go up the coast--we can always find some critters along there. Eagles, deer, and these tide pool denizens on the Olympic Peninsula (red dot).

The beaches of the Olympic Peninsula are incredibly beautiful.

Turning back east we cross the Olympic and the Kitsap Peninsulas and the Puget Sound, and take a hop up onto the observation deck of the Space Needle for a bird's eye view of Seattle. (bright blue dot)

drop down to see its Aurora Bridge

and along to catch a Mariners game at "The Safe."

Over the mountains to the Wenatchee Valley--another center for fruit growing (and another W.)

Keep on going east to the Inland Empire city of Spokane. This shot is the famous Spires--symbol of Gonzaga University--well, it's famous if you are an alum, and Gonzaga has made a name for itself in basketball on the national scene (though the team was very good when we were there fortyhmmmmm years ago as well.) (Spokane's dot on the map is yellow.)

We will finish our tour in the southeast corner of the state with another W--the city of Walla Walla (light blue dot). The name comes from an Indian word for waters.

I am privileged to have some many fascinating places to visit here at hand in my own state. We visit many of them often--and you may have noticed that I did leave Mt. Rainier off of this list. you see it often here in the blog, so I thought I would feature some of the other areas. And I don't have pictures of lots of areas--we could visit the San Juan Islands and the Okanogan Valley and the Palouse and........

Visit the ABC Blog to find other participants. and thank Denise for starting us and keeping us going on a fourth round of ABCs.