Personal Challenge 2018 - Week 42

This is the 42nd week of my personal 50-week States of the Union Challenge. Each week I research one of the 50 United States (in the order they attained statehood). I share tidbits of information about the state here on my blog and I create a card that is inspired by something about that state.

This week's state (the 42nd one to attain statehood) is...

Washington

Date of Statehood: November 11, 1889

Washington State is 52 percent forest. The state is home to an incredibly diverse range of flora and fauna, including some of the oldest trees in the country.

Seattle is Washington's most populated city. In fact, close to 60 percent of Washington residents live in the Seattle metropolitan area.

You may not think of Washington as a beachy state due to its rainy weather and cold winters. However, it beats California and Florida for having the longest continuous beach in the United States in Long Beach Peninsula.

Washington hosted the World’s Fair twice. In 1962, the Century 21 Expo (also known as the Seattle World’s Fair) was held in Seattle, where the Space Needle was built for the event. Then, in 1974, the first environmentally-themed world’s fair, Expo ’74, was held in Spokane. To this day, Spokane is the smallest city to host a World’s Fair. 

It's no surprise Washington gets their fair share of rain. Though it isn’t the rainiest state in America, it does get an average of 38.15 inches of rainfall a year. But, Mt. Mitchell takes the trophy for the most rain a place in Washington ever got in a single day in 1986 with 14.26 inches!

During the period of World War II, there was a secret bomber-making factory south of Seattle, Washington. To hide the factory, Boeing camouflaged it by entirely covering it with a fake neighborhood created by a Hollywood set designer! The fake neighborhood included fake houses, trees, and artificial sidewalks. The intention was to hide the presence of an airplane production facility down below from other potential bombers.

Now the biggest online retailer in America, Amazon.com was started by Jeff Bezos in a converted garage in Bellevue, just outside of Seattle, in 1994.

If you’re looking for wild horses in Washington, you’ll find up to 12,000 of them roaming the Yakima Indian Reservation.

A bicycle can be found grown into a tree just off Vashon Highway on Vashon Island in Washington. The story goes a young boy chained his bike to the tree before he had to leave for the war in 1914. In the boy’s absence, the tree continued to grow, enveloping the bike as it did so. The bike now sits over seven feet off the ground!

Washington is a popular location for filmmaking. Films shot in the state include 2002's The Ring (which used Seattle’s fog to great effect), The Hunt For Red October (1990), and 10 Things I Hate About You (1999).

Father’s Day originated in Washington in 1910. It began as a statewide holiday, created by Spokane resident Sonora Smart Dodd, who wanted to find a way to honor her own father, a civil war veteran and single parent who had raised six children on his own. 

Longview, Washington, is home to several bridges made specifically for squirrels. The first bridge, called Nutty Narrows, was constructed in 1963 by local builder Amos Peters to help squirrels cross a busy street. The bridge was so popular amongst squirrels, residents, and tourists, that four more have been constructed in different styles.

The skeletal remains of the Kennewick Man, one of the most complete ancient human skeletons every discovered, were found by two college students in Kennewick, Washington in 1996. Scientists believe the skeleton is around 9000 years old. 

While Washington is home to many awe-inspiring forests, the Ginkgo Petrified Tree Forest in Eastern Washington is one of the most unique. In the 1930s, highway workers digging up land for a new road found their progress hindered by pieces of fallen tree as hard as rock. These were the fossilized—or petrified—remains of ancient trees. The government decided to set the land aside for a historic preserve, and founded the Ginkgo Petrified Tree Forest

It’s illegal to shoot Bigfoot in Skamania County, Washington. According to one account, the law was put in the books at the height of the Bigfoot craze—not to protect the mythical creature, but to protect citizens from the overly enthusiastic, weapon-toting paranormal enthusiasts flocking to the area. 

Other Washington laws include the following:

It is illegal to attach a vending machine to a utility pole without prior consent from the utility company.

All lollipops are banned.

No person may walk about in public if he or she has the common cold.

It's against the law to buy any kind of meat on Sundays.

A law to reduce crime states: “It is mandatory for a motorist with criminal intentions to stop at the city limits and telephone the chief of police as he is entering the town.

People may not buy a mattress on Sunday.

It's against the law to pretend that one's parents are rich.

In Seattle, you may not carry a concealed weapon that is over six feet in length. 

I decided to go with this bit of Washington information for my card's inspiration... Washington is the biggest producer of apples, raspberries, and sweet cherries in America. As of 2010, more than 90 percent of America’s red raspberries and close to three out of every five apples in the U.S. were grown in Washington. The official state fruit is the apple.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Supplies Used

Stamps: Penny Black Hedgehog Apple Basket and Unity Loved More stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and colored with Copic Markers

Papers: Recollections Black, 110# Red, and 110# White CS andPaper Studio Lime Green Gingham DP

Embellishments: Eyelet Outlet Apple Mix Brads

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