The Belly of the Beast is the capitol of Washington State, Olympia. We drove down there yesterday so we could sign a couple of petitions, one for voter ID in Washington, and the other to repeal the new “Millionaires Tax” which is an income tax. Lots of nice people were at the signing-we were lucky to make it in time, through the horrible traffic (on a weekday, the slow traffic was nearly the whole journey).

This is downtown Seattle. Stop-and-go all the way to Tacoma.

This was the signing, in Tumwater, which is just south of Olympia. While we were there, nobody bothered us. Other signing events have seen harassment by Leftist goons, but none showed up this time.

Within about half a mile of there, we visited one of our favorite places in Western Washington. That would be Tumwater Falls Park. Hubby took me there in 2001, shortly after we started dating. It was a nice, warm day, and the park was nearly empty-no screaming kids or rowdy teenagers to spoil the atmosphere. The park is on the site of the former Olympia Brewery, which finally closed for good a few years ago. The slogan of Olympia Beer was “It’s The Water”, and here’s said water, and the beautiful surroundings.

The Upper Falls, with the defunct brewery in the background. That big log in the middle of the falls has been there for all the 26 years we have been going there.

We did see some wildlife at the park. Can you spot both mallard ducks in this photo from the upper falls?

A few years ago, I noticed a little waterfall along the trail on the west side of the falls. I called it Fairy Falls. Here it is again. Now, in the past all that moss was bright green, and will be again.

Above are the Middle Tumwater Falls. On the right are the old fish ladders, built in the 1950s to enable the passage of spawning salmon up the river in the fall.

Old concrete fish ladders.

Below are the Lower Falls. You can easily see how the rushing water (The Deschutes River) has worn away the rock. Given enough time, all that rock will disappear, and end up as sand and gravel on ocean beaches on the west coast of Washington State.

Finally, here’s a view of the base of the falls, where the river continues its course a bit more calmly!

Speaking of wildlife, while we were eating our picnic dinner in the park at the top of the falls, I heard a bird calling, and knew immediately that it was a White-crowned Sparrow. I caught him! Isn’t he cute?

And listen-here he is singing his little heart out. On our way back to the car, we heard another sparrow answering him!

It was a great day, and I’m glad Hubby agreed to drive all that way down. The parks made the traffic headaches worthwhile.