Tag Archives: Washington State

Decline to Sign, I-1552

There was a rally today (2/25) against Washington State Initiative 1552, which would “repeal critical protections for transgender Washingtonians” (Source). The news reports that there were over 2,000 people there and I readily believe that. I was delighted to see many people I know there supporting themselves and their transgendered friends and family. I started at the railing, but moved up to the sky bridge, where the view was better, though it was more difficult to hear (of course).

I was standing on the sky bridge when a young mother came out with her child who was maybe three. They walked over to see the cheering crowd and she turn to her child and said “look how many people love us!”. It was a lovely moment.

Later I found my first Tacoma Rocks Rock which I later hid. Oh and there is a photo of a flower on my table at lunch and some of the old buildings on the University of Washington Campus.

 

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Washtucna, WA

I drove to Pullman today and along the way I stopped in the town of Washtucna in Adams County. The town has a population of about 200 people. I picked Washtucna because I heard it had a good birding park known as Bassett Park after the first mayor. It was some nice little park with a small creek running through it and one of the local residents came and chatted with me for a while. And then as I was leaving the town I found their original sheriff’s office/jail which consisted of a very small wooden building with two jail cells and a front area for the sheriff. There was also the original outhouse, a two seater!  Altogether it was a pleasant little diversion on the long drive to Pullman and I’m glad I stopped.


  
  
  
  

image imageFarm Equipment

An eyeball bowling ball at Bass Pro Shop

15264688214_fa213f4f44_kThe new Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World Store at 7905 South Hosmer Street in Tacoma opened for business in October and its pretty great! It is huge (142,000 square feet) and full of camping, hunting and fishing merchandise. And there are some surprises including a restaurant with a full bar, a bowling alley with shark ball returns and bowling balls that look like eyes, a 12,000 gallon aquarium stocked with local fish (plenty of salmon), a boat showroom, stuffed wildlife exhibits, a lovely entry with a large fireplace and a holiday area that will soon house Santa. And outside in the parking lot there is a fire-tower. Apparently there are many Pro Bass Stores in other parts of the country, but this is the first one in Washington or Oregon.

 

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Bartell Drug Store

8729687089_ec59c38559_bOn Thursday I made a quick stop at Bartell’s Drugs at 2700 Bridgeport Way West for sundry items. Bartell’s Drug Company was created in 1890 in Seattle. There are 58 stores, all in Western Washington. It is the oldest family owned drug store chain in the nation.

 

Sequim Lavender Festival

HipstaPrint by Gexydaf
HipstaPrint, a photo by Gexydaf on Flickr.

I’ve been wanting to go to the Sequim Lavender Festival for years, but it seems like I always have had a conflict. But this year was looking good. Except that we left rather late and traffic into Sequim was awful and I we ran out of time. The festival downtown was great with more lavender stuff then I’ve seen for a long time. Next year I’ll go earlier in the day and right to the farms. Live and learn.

http://lavenderfestival.com/component/content/article/45-15thfestival

Washington State Surplus

Washington State sells equipment that it no longer needs at their General Administration Surplus location at 7511 New Market Street, Tumwater, WA 98512.  My dear husband thinks it is great fun to go there and buy stuff for pennies on the dollar (if we need it or not). Today we bought a couple of VGA cords for me and some speakers for him. In the past he’s come home with a nice, rolling desk chair for $15 that we’ve used a great deal. Mostly they stock office furniture and equipment, but they usually have a nice selection of knives taken from people flying in commercial planes. Last time I was there, they were selling large crab traps!

http://www.ga.wa.gov/surplus/index.html

Votes for Women, Celebrating 100 Years

Originally uploaded by Gexydaf  

What a thrill to go to the Day of Jubilation at the historic Lord Mansion, which functions as the State Capital Museum and Outreach Center. The Day of Jubilation celebrated the 100th anniversary of women getting the vote in Washington State. The American Association of University Women Washington State hosted a the event, which was a pink tea. Many of the guests came in period custom and were in character.

AAUW-WA’s website is http://www.aauw-wa.org/

AAUW-WA is a fine organization devoted to advancing equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research.

The website for the Lord Mansion is here
http://www.wshs.org/scmoc/building.aspx

A Daily Suicide, Washington State History Museum

Originally uploaded by Gexydaf
 
The Washington State History Museum, located at 1911 Pacific Avenue was today’s new place of the day and it was a real treat to have a chance to look around. The photo is of Handcrafted Native American masks in the Epidemic Memorial exhibit. The sign adjacent to the mask is titled Daily Suicide and in part states “Forty-five is another magic age for the Indian. That’s the age of death from alcoholism…it’s a daily suicide”. It’s a very powerful exhibit.

http://www.washingtonhistory.org/wshm/default.aspx

Since the orginal blog, it has been announced that the State History Museum will be closing.  I hope not.  It will be a tremendous loss for the State of Washington.

http://www.wshs.org/performanceMeasures/CustomerComments.aspx