Our Rain Forest

A Washington DC grandparent asked a Washington Post "Travel Q&A" columnist how he could take his grandson, who is "not keen on flying over 'big oceans,'" to see a rain forest. K.C. Summers, the columnist, had the following suggestions, in order:

1. Central America
2. Costa Rica
3. Belize or Panama
4. Puerto Rico
5. Olympic Peninsula

He finally--after lengthy descriptions of all the other rain forests--gets to ours in the last sentence:

And if you'd like to avoid crossing an ocean altogether, there's Washington state's Olympic Peninsula ( http://www.olympicpeninsula.org), home to a temperate rain forest.

Yes, K.C. Summers, he said they'd like to avoid crossing an ocean! It's too bad North America's only temperate rain forest--right here on the Olympic Peninsula--is mentioned as an "oh yeah, one more thing..." in this column. Vacationing near the rain forests of Washington state could reduce a traveler's carbon footprint for summer travel, and help ensure the very survival of our ancient forests.