Earlier this month we took a small trip to the Washington coast. It was a much needed break for the family. Our previous vacation was two years previous, and even that one was short. Then the year before was also short, and before that it had been years. part of the reason is economical, but also a large part is logistical. Everybody has different schedules and obligations, etc.
The capital with the family under the tree eating lunch
Along the way we stopped at the state’s capital, Olympia, and had a picnic lunch by the capitol building. It was not, however, our first stop. A few miles out of Seattle we realized we didn’t have a map. We didn’t really need a map of Washington, the directions to our destination were not complicated, but it’s always nice to have one in your vehicle.
It wasn’t just a map we were missing though. Our AAA (Automobile Association of America) cards somehow managed to get left at home. Were we travelling 30 miles south to Tacoma for the day, it wouldn’t be an issue, but if something happened a few hundred miles from home, we wanted to be sure we could at the very least get towed and or some sort of roadside assistance. We needed our AAA cards.
Lunch time!
Rather than turn around, I looked up on my phone (technology – yay!) where the nearest location was. turns out, there was one in Olympia, and we decided to make a stop there and then have lunch by the capital building. I went in and was able to get temporary cards printed out and a map without any hassle. While there I figured I might as well get a AAA Washington State TourBook. It was more of an impulse acquisition, really, but it did come in handy so I’m glad I decided to pick one up.
After lunch we headed back out on the road, only to stop a little while further in Winlock. Why? To see the world’s largest egg. Alright, technically it isn’t a “real” egg, but it was still cool to see and worth the detour off of I-5. [Edit: Originally I had typed Winthrop, which is decidedly NOT where the world’s largest egg is, thanks to James for the correction.]
Further down the interstate in Longview we stopped off to check out the infamous squirrel bridge. Yes, it’s actually a bridge for squirrels.
The squirrel bridge happens to be near a statue that seems so outlandish, we had to stop off and take a look at it.
Also nearby is a marker commemorating the local Moticello Convention helping to establish what would eventually become Washington state.
Then we went into Oregon. But that’s another blog post.