The Last Dog EVER in the Washington State Capitol Building

Megan and I, and of course Farley, took Waveguide down to Olympia this weekend for a couple of nights. I had never been to Olympia by water before, and the weather forecast was perfect, so it seemed like a good plan. For once, the weather gods were cooperative, and the weather was indeed perfect.

Olympia is a very good boating destination. There's a fabulous farmer's market not far from the waterfront, and lots of interesting shops and restaurants within easy walking distance. For those too lazy to walk, there is even a free shuttle that runs from the waterfront to the Capitol. Unfortunately, Farley wasn't allowed in the farmers' market, and he wasn't allowed on the shuttle bus, so we had a pleasant walk to the Capitol. I tied Farley up on the Capitol steps, and checked in the very nice lady at the desk, telling her that Farley was outside. Imagine my surprise when she said that I could bring Farley in with us. Since Farley is a pretty good dog who doesn't bark much, and since there wasn't much chewable amid all the granite and marble, we took Farley in with us. We checked out the rotunda and the various statues without difficulty. That was until we walked into the Senate gallery. Inside, a battle-ax tour guide demanded that we immediately get that dog out of HER building. We told her we had permission, and she demanded to know from whom. We told her, but she still insisted we leave IMMEDIATELY. 

So we did, but I stopped on the way out to give the nice lady at the desk a heads up that she was about to be chastised. She thanked me, and protested that she had asked her supervisor specifically about the dog policy. As she was telling me this, Farley decided that the half-decayed mussels he had scarfed down that morning at the dock (before I could stop him) would be taking a U-turn in his digestive tract. He threw up violently, leaving a 3' diameter pool of hot puke on the marble floor. I asked the nice lady if she had any paper towels. She didn't, but she was helpful enough no give me a mostly empty box of kleenex before heading to the bathroom to get some towels. So I proceeded to clean up the mess as best I could, using my bare hands to scoop the puke into one of Farley's poop bags. The nice lady arrived with some paper towels at about the time the scowling battle-ax appeared in the lobby, telling me that Farley had also made a mess by George Washington's bust. I went upstairs to find Megan (who had stopped at the washroom on the way out) cleaning up the mess.

We did a good job of cleaning up, and no harm was done, but I'm sure that Farley is the last dog EVER to set foot in the Capitol.