6 agricultural, geological, meteorological and historical facts about Washington State

1. The state vegetable is the sweet (Walla Walla) onion.

2. Washington is the largest producer of apples, hops, pears, red raspberries, spearmint oil, and sweet cherries.

3. The region was originally called Columbia due to the Columbia River, but it was renamed to avoid confusion with the District of Columbia. Instead, it was named Washington in honor of George Washington.

4. There are five active volcanoes in the state: Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, Mount Rainier, Mount Saint Helens, and Mount Adams. In spite of the fact that Mount Saint Helens is the only one of these five which is actively erupting, Mount Rainier is considered the most dangerous because of its proximity to the Seattle metro area.

5. The western side of the Olympic peninsula receives as much as 160 inches of precipitation each year, so it's a temperate rain forest. In the area east of the Cascades mountains, annual precipitation averages about 6 inches. Forests cover more than half of the state's land area.

6. Washington is second only to California in wine production; however, in spite of the wineries in various communities near Seattle, 99% of the states's wine grapes are grown in the drier eastern portion of the state.

6 wild (but not necessarily wonderful) facts about West Virginia

1. West Virginia is ranked 49th for median household income (Mississippi is ranked 50th). Overall personl inome growth over the past 30 years has been only 1/3 of the national average. It's also the only state where the death rate is higher than the birth rate. For five years, West Virginians ranked themselves as more miserable than people in any other state

2. The state reptile is the timber rattler. The motto is Montani semper liberi ("Mountaineers are always free").

3. West Virginia was created after delegates from unionist counties of northwest Virginia decided to break away from the confederacy. A number of secessionist counties were included. West Virginia was admitted to the Union in 1863. However, many voters in the pro-secessionist counties were fighting in the Confederate army when the vote was taken, and they refused to acknowledge the area as a separate state. After the war, West Virginia and Virginia disagreed about who should pay Virginia's prewar debt.

4. Harpers Ferry changed hands twelve times during the Civil War.

5. Due to the building of many new railroads following the war, coal mining became practical on a large scale. Currently, almost all of the state's energy is created by burning coal.

6. Many of the state's churches are small, independent and un-affiliated churches which don't fit into the categories listed on surveys, leading to statistics which seem to show many areas as unchurched.

Ten Far North California Travel Observations

This month, we're traveling to the farthest North, South, East and West churches we can find in California. Each week, in addition to church reports, we'll be reporting about our travels.

 1) As Jesus said, "This wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign." Well, we found one shortly after we got on I-5 North. A large home-made sign posted on a trailer truck read, "Saturday is the Sabbath; Sunday is the Mark of the Beast." Recently we visited some good folks at the Seventh Day Adventist church, and they didn't let us know about Sunday being evil. I'm curious whether it is best to skip Saturday to Monday (playing heck with the calendar) or do Saturdays twice.

2) Last week we were in Chicago for a late Christmas with our daughter and son-in-law and in Indiana for a wedding. We had snow expectations for the Midwest (like Cosby and Kaye in "White Christmas") but were disappointed. California came through with the holiday white; first with lots on Mount Shasta and more by the road along the way.

 3) The scenery was gorgeous, even with the bleakness of the desert (high desert -- low precipitation every year, but plenty of vegetation). Mountains covered with evergreens were all around, and snowy Mount Shasta dominated much of the time. A full moon shining on the Butte Valley would have been beautiful (sadly, it was cloudy the night we were there). In addition, Dorris boasts the highest flagpole west of the Mississippi.

4) I turned on the TV at the motel to see a couple engaged in activities that I would hope were a part of a loving marriage, but I have my doubts. I quickly changed channels but you'd think they'd understand we're on a church field trip. Otherwise, a nice room, a comfortable bed and clean.

5) There was a Mexican restaurant a short walk from the motel. The dining room seemed to be the living room for the family that ran the place -- kids watching Animal Planet on the TV and a treadmill as part of the decor. But the food was good, so all was well.

6) Train whistles! Amtrak's Coast Starlight and several freight trains come through the area every day.

7) The full moon rose above the mountains as we drove home. Wow. Sadly, no photo.

8) The motel offered a continental breakfast. I (Mindy) appreciated the hot coffee, and Dean had a pastry. We could have had oatmeal if we'd wanted it. The vending machine seemed to be in a midwinter slump, though.

9) We both had colds, so this was good practice travelling while ill. It will probably happen again this year. You don't want a picture of the mountain of used tissues, so here's another photo of Mount Shasta instead.

10) We paid $3.99 a gallon for gas on Sunday in Dorris after paying $1.79 a gallon for gas on Thursday in West Lafayette, Indiana.  In a Dorris market, a sixteen ounce jar of Jif Peanut Butter was almost $5, a couple of dollars more than you'd pay in most of the state. This is the price to be paid for living in the high country.

--Dean and Mindy