sunny with a high of 75//

Washignton-named after the first president of the United States, George Washington-was admitted into the Union in 1889, making it the 42nd state. The Cascade Moutain Range [which includes from north to south: Mount Baker, Glacier Peak, Mount Rainier, Mount St. Helens, and Mount Adams] divides the state in two: western Washington and eastern Washington. Western Washington has a 'marine west coast climate', with mild weather, wet winters, and dry summers. This part of the state also supports 'dense forests of conifers and areas of temperate rainforests.' Eastern Washington has a relatively dry climate due to the rainshadow effect of the Cascades. Washington is truly a 'land of contrasts': deep forests saturate the Olympic Peninsula, while the eastern part of the state is a semi-desert. The state dance, adapted in 1979, is the square dance. And while its no surprise that the state fruit is the apple, you might not have known that Washington had a state FOLK song-Roll on, Columbia, Roll on, or that the state gem is petrified wood.