Olympia: Procession of the Species

Since we have been showing Alyssa colleges we thought is was time to let her visit her sister who is actually living the college life. Although I was more than happy to put her cute little behind on the plane and send her up on her own, David decided that maybe she wasn't quite ready to navigate it without us. So, I bought cheap tickets and booked a hotel room for "mom and dad" and we packed our bags.

It turned out that we were hitting Olympia during their "Procession of the Species" parade day. Bethany's roommates came down for it and we had a blast. What the heck is it? "The Procession of the Species is a joyous, spontaneous artistic pageant where community members celebrate their relationships with each other and with the natural world."

After a beer at the Fish Tale Brew Pub, we headed out for a walk downtown. We came across the FireSide Bookstore and had to stop in. Jane Laclergue is the proprietor and her charming husband was there as well. We talked about books, brothels, and earthquakes. The store is in the Olympian Hotel building. Although it is no longer a hotel, it was once the place where all of the politicians stayed and the call girls were flown in from Vegas! It was also damaged in the 2001 Olympia earthquake (6.8), but it looks great now.