Historic Lake Crescent Lodge on the Olympic
Peninsula in northwest Washington was built in 1915 and is an ideal
basecamp for enjoying Olympic National Park, while experiencing the charm of a
turn-of-the-century resort.
The comfortable, spacious guest rooms are nestled
among the giant fir and hemlock trees on the shores of beautiful Lake Crescent.
A variety of guest room options are available at the lodge, including the
historic lakeside Roosevelt Cabins
relax hotel at a stunning location,
we stayed at the pyramid rooms ,very quiet and peacefull,
Although
California was sighted by Spanish navigator Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo in 1542, its first Spanish mission (at San Diego) was not established until 1769. California
became a U.S. territory in 1847 when Mexico surrendered it to John C. Frémont.
On Jan. 24, 1848, James W. Marshall discovered gold at Sutter's Mill, starting
the California Gold Rush and bringing settlers to the state in large numbers. By 1964,
California had surpassed New York to become the most populous state. One reason
for this may be that more immigrants settle in California than any other
statemore than one-third of the nation's total in 1994. Asians and Pacific
Islanders led the influx.
Leading industries include agriculture,
manufacturing (transportation equipment, machinery, and electronic equipment),
biotechnology, aerospace-defense, and tourism. Principal natural resources
include timber, petroleum, cement, and natural gas.
Death Valley, in the southeast, is 282 ft below sea level, the lowest point in the
nation. Mt. Whitney (14,491 ft) is the highest point in the contiguous 48 states. Lassen Peak is one of two active U.S. volcanoes outside
of Alaska and Hawaii; its last eruptions were recorded in 1917.
Austrian-born
bodybuilder-turned-actor Arnold Schwarzenegger became governor of California in 2003 in a
special recall election, replacing Gray Davis. Gov. Schwarzenegger was
reelected in 2006. Jerry Brown was elected governor of California in 2010,
an achievement made more remarkable by the fact that he had already been the
state's governor from 1975-83.
Almost twenty years after California passed
the "Save Our State" initiative, which denied public, social,
educational, and health services to illegal immigrants, Gov. Jerry Brown signed
a bill in 2011 giving illegal immigrant college students access to state-funded
financial aid, the second half of two-part legislation known as the "Dream
Act."
People first reached Florida at least 12,000 years ago. The rich variety of environments in prehistoric Florida supported a large number of plants and animals. The animal population included most mammals that we know today. In addition, many other large mammals that are now extinct (such as the saber-tooth tiger, mastodon, giant armadillo, and camel) roamed the land.
The Florida coastline along the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico was very different 12,000 years ago. The sea level was much lower than it is today. As a result, the Florida peninsula was more than twice as large as it is now. The people who inhabited Florida at that time were hunters and gatherers, who only rarely sought big game for food. Modern researchers think that their diet consisted of small animals, plants, nuts, and shellfish. These first Floridians settled in areas where a steady water supply, good stone resources for tool making, and firewood were available. Over the centuries, these native people developed complex cultures. During the period prior to contact with Europeans, native societies of the peninsula developed cultivated agriculture, traded with other groups in what is now the southeastern United States, and increased their social organization, reflected in large temple mounds and village complexes.
The majority of the
rain falls in the afternoon or overnight in Costa Rica. The hot August sun
evaporates moisture from the sea and rainforest canopy creating a layer of warm
moist air that rises as the day progresses. As the air rises it expands and cools
causing the water to condense out forming clouds. Later in the day as the
temperatures fall the air can hold even less water and some of it falls as
rain.
August is in the
middle of the rainy season but many years there is a lull in the rains
(especially in Guanacaste) usually starting in July and ending in August. Costa
Ricans call this little dry season veranillo
(how
does it happen?) and if you're lucky you
won't need your umbrella at all on a visit to the northwest.
The Caribbean side
is solidly in the rainy season weather pattern with some rain nearly every
evening or overnight.
The beaches and
lowlands have high temperatures in the low nineties and low temperatures in the
upper seventies or low eighties. A week or two of temperatures in the mid
nineties is possible at low elevations and especially on the Nicoya coast
during August. The higher you go the more it cools off so if you're looking for
some relief head to the mountains. Temperatures around the central valley are
usually in the upper seventies and low eighties this time of year.
