Often referred to by its full title, Washington State, to distinguish it from Washington (D.C.), Washington offers rugged coastline, mountains, volcanoes, and hundreds of coastal islands to explore. The Cascade Mountains bisect the state, with the damp forested coastal areas to the west, and pineforests, deserts and irrigated farmland of the Columbia River Plateau to the east.

Regions

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Puget Sound, with Seattle, the state's largest city; King County, filled with the Seattle metropolitan area; and the islands and waters between Seattle and the Olympic Peninsula

The San Juan Islands, a scattering of forested islands in the serene waters adjacent to British Columbia. Ferries, private boats, kayaks, and orca (whales) criss-cross the waters, while float planes and bald eagles soar overhead

the Olympic Peninsula on the west coast, with rain forests against a spine of dramatic mountains

Southwest Washington

North Cascades

Columbia River Plateau

Rocky Mountains

Palouse

Cities

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There are many cities in Washington; these are some of the more popular.

Bellevue - Fifth largest city in state. Major commercial center on Eastside of Lake Washington with a quickly growing downtown.

Bellingham - Home of Western Washington University. Near Canadian border.

Olympia - State capital and hub of the fast growing South Sound area

Seattle - the largest city in the Pacific Northwest. Home of the University of Washington.

Spokane -- Second largest city in Washington, unofficial capital of the Inland Empire.

Tacoma - Third largest city in state. Major port and several good museums downtown.

Vancouver - Fourth largest city in Washington. Across Columbia River from Portland, Oregon.

Walla Walla - at the heart of southeast Washington's blooming wine country

Yakima -- the self billed 'Palm Springs of Washington'

Other destinations

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Klondike Gold Rush - Seattle Unit National Historical Park - Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park preserves the story of the 1897-98 stampede to the Yukon gold fields and Seattle's role in this event

Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail - Between May 1804 and September 1806, 32 men, one woman, and a baby traveled from the plains of the Midwest to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. They called themselves the Corps of Discovery

Mount Rainier National Park - 14,410 feet volcano. Contains more snow and ice than all other Cascade range volcanos combined

Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument - At 8:32 Sunday morning, May 18, 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted and life in the area was altered for better and for worse

Nez Perce National Historical Park - Since time immemorial, the Nimiipuu or Nez Perce have lived among the rivers, canyons and prairies of the inland northwest

North Cascades National Park - Home to 50% of all glaciers in the lower 48 states

Olympic National Park - Temperate rain forest, rugged Olympic Mountains and wild coastline

San Juan Island National Historical Park - here in 1859 the United States and Great Britain nearly went to war over a dead pig

Talk

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Most people in Washington speak English with a Pacific Northwest accent. This accent is considered very similar to general American. Washingtonians generally have little to no problem understanding different accents of the english language.

Incase people traveling, with you for...