Welcome back Grand Adventurers! I'm your host Marc Guido,
and we are spending a few days around beautiful Olympia, Washington.
Come along!
Washington State's South Sound area is comprised of numerous islands and peninsulas
separated by various inlets and passages of the southern portion of Puget Sound.
The city of Olympia is located at the head of Budd Inlet,
the southernmost arm of Puget Sound.
Although it's Washington State's capital city, Olympia is still of a very modest size.
Only 55,000 people call the city home.
It was founded where Washington State's Deschutes River discharges into the South Sound.
Employing over 20,000 workers, state government is far and away the biggest employer here,
by a large margin.
Several Coast Salish tribes, which joined to become the Squaxin
following the Treaty of Medicine Creek in 1854,
inhabited this region for thousands of years
prior to the arrival of European settlers in the mid-19th century.
Olympia is generally acknowledged as the wettest city in America,
averaging 64 days of rain each year.
It's even wetter than Seattle,
which benefits from the rain shadow created by the Olympic Mountains.
Olympia's urban waterfront along Budd Inlet is known as Percival Landing,
named for a former commercial steamship wharf that once served the city.
It's now home to a city park, boardwalk, and numerous dining establishments and businesses.
Immediately adjacent to Pervical Landing, Olympia Farmers Market
is a massive open-air outlet open Thursdays through Sundays,
from April to October.
The first non-indigenous settlement in the South Sound was New Market in 1846,
now known as Tumwater, which borders Olympia to the south.
Tumwater Falls are a series of cascades on the Deschutes River in Tumwater,
located near where the river empties into Budd Inlet.
Here, the lower falls once powered this defunct brewery for Olympia Beer.
The brewery donated the falls in the 1960s
for the establishment of the small city park on this site.
We're staying for a few nights at the RV park at Little Creek Casino,
operated by the Squaxin Island Tribe about midway between Olympia and Shelton.
While well-kept and offering the amenities afforded by the casino and its hotel,
this RV park is not cheap.
We're paying three different rates depending on the day of the week,
ranging from $50.76 to $64.86 plus tax per night
after our Good Sam discount is applied.
Dining is available in several casino restaurants, including a seafood bar,
and a grab-and-go area called The Boardwalk with separate outlets
for cheesesteak sandwiches, brick oven pizza, Chinese and espresso.
RV park guests have access to the hotel's indoor hot tub and salt water swimming pool --
something that we took full advantage of.
Shelton lies on the Hammersley Inlet of Puget Sound,
linked by water to Olympia.
Logging started here as early as 1853,
and in 1888 the Northern Pacific railroad line reached Puget Sound,
connecting the region to the eastern states.
The city was incorporated in the 1890s.
In addition to logging, Shelton's economy was built around farming, dairying,
ranching and oyster cultivation.
Many of the sawmills once operating in Sheldon have since closed,
although Sierra Pacific still operates a large lumber mill along the waterfront here.
Shelton was once a transit stop for a small fleet of steamboats
that comprised what was known as the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet,
connecting Shelton to Olympia into the early 20th century,
when automobiles and highways supplanted the transportation needs supplied by the steamboats.
One curiosity worth seeing just south of Olympia and Shelton are the Mima Mounds,
encompassed by the Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve.
These low, flattened, domelike natural mounds dotting an otherwise flat prairie
have confounded explanation for centuries.
Theories for their origin include burrowing by pocket gophers,
accumulation of wind-blown sediments around vegetation,
alluvial deposits from melting suncups in retreating glaciers,
the shrinking and swelling of clays in poorly drained soils,
and even seismic ground shaking by major earthquakes.
No one has yet been able to determine their origin for certain.
Excavations have shown that underneath their blanket of prairie grass
lies a mixture of loose sand, fine gravel, and decayed plants.
No matter their origin,
the Mima Mounds provide a relaxing, sylvan environment for a peaceful stroll in nature.
We hope that you've enjoyed visiting the Olympia, Washington area with us!
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