The falls are located adjacent to the old Olympia Brewery, which is currently vacant. They're kind of in the middle of town, but as you follow the trail back you forget that.
There's a fish hatchery here too, and in the late summer to early fall you can watch the salmon run. There's a 'ladder' in the river to help them on their way, and I definitely want to come back one year while that's happening.
I should probably tell you now I'm slightly obsessed with the rhododendrons in this part of the country. They thrive here and grow to be the size of trees in a Honey I Shrunk the Kids kind of way.
They were in full bloom while we were visiting and I have a large number of plant pics to prove it.
We did finally peel ourselves away and drove on into Olympia to see what we could see.
There was a Farmer's Market happening and it was packed with all sorts of goodies and also people. I like to people watch and enjoy seeing the trends in different parts of the country.
Also I'm accidentally seeing as many state capitals as I can. Not something that was ever on my bucket list, but I've been to fourteen out of fifty now so I might as well add it. My list is only in my head, so adding to it is not a problem.
... to take pictures of rhododendrons. Ha! Kidding!
But only sort of.
There's a very moving WW2 memorial on the grounds around the capitol. A bronze wheat field containing 4000 individual stalks representing the WA servicemen and women who lost their lives in the war.
We walked through the capitol and I thought it was interesting there was no metal detector at the door. It's also interesting to see the dates out here. We're East Coasters so WA feels young in terms of our nation's history. So fun to see another part of America. It's an amazing place, this country we call home.
Aaaand one more for good measure.
