Washington advertises itself as the forest-clad Evergreen State. Actually, vast eastern portions of it are reclaimed from sagebrush desert by irrigation. The Cascade Range is a weather barrier that confines most of the rain to the Puget Sound area, which is a world of green. Two-thirds of the state's population live in Seattle and other urban centers along this inner sea coastline. There are three National Parks around Seattle: Rainier with its glaciers, the primitive North Cascades, and Olympic, with its dramatic rain forests and wilderness strip along the Pacific Ocean. (Courtesy of Rand McNally http://www.randmcnally.com)