Visit to Boeing

Today we visited the Boeing Aircraft Co Future of Flight Aviation Centre, at Everett, WA which is about a 25 mile drive north of Seattle. http://www.boeing.com/commercial/tours/index.html Unfortunatly they do not allow cameras on the tour so we could not take many photos however it was a very interesting tour during which we were shown the largest single building (by volume) in the world which houses the final assembly of the 747, 767, 777 and the new 787. The 787 is a completly new design of aircraft using carbon fibre in about 80% of its construction.

This aircraft is a modified Boeing 747 that is used to carry large aircraft assemblies from other parts of the world to Boeing for assembly. 

An assortment of new Boeing aircraft awaiting delivery.

The Boeing future of flight hall.

Betty in front of the new Rolls Royce Trent engine for the Boeing 787.

The Beech Starship which was a commercial failure - I do not know why it is in the Boeing collectiom.

Betty beside the new General Electric GE-90 engine which powers the new Boeing 787 airliner.

Travelling from Salem OR to Seattle Washington

Yesterday we travelled from Salem, Oregon to Seattle Washington with an overnight stop at Longview in Washington state with the plan to visit Mount Saint Helen's volcano, unfortunately mother nature had other plans for us as the cloud base was very low and raining, anyway we attempted the drive to Mount Saint Helen's but had to give up before we reached the observation post as the visibility was less than 20 feet due to cloud and with a winding road it was just to dangerous.

The road trip itself to Seattle is rather uninteresting with very few photo opportunities.

A view up the valley towards Mount Saint Helen's. As you can see the cloud base was very low and also the river is still full of debris and ash washed down from the volcano.

Cold Water Lake on the way to Mount Saint Helen's. Again full of debris from the volcano. All around are fallen trees however the area is making a remarkable recovery with new trees shooting up all over. 

First view of Seattle from I5 freeway. The freeway is 7 lanes wide going one way and jamb packed with vehicles. On the left is the Space Needle tower and in the front foreground the SAFECO baseball stadium in the centre background is the Bank Of America Tower which is the tallest building in Seattle at 1050 feet.

The entry to Seattle's Chinatown otherwise known as the International District, it is nowhere near as good as Brisbane's Chinatown and pretty much a dump.

One of the ferries on the Puget Sound.

A very large totem pole (60' high) stolen from Alaska and erected in Seattle's Pioneer Square - see http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=2076 for the full history on it.

The top of another totem pole.

A view showing the ferry docking.

Virginia Street one of the very steep sloped streets in downtown Seattle, we had an excellent dinner at the bottom of this street.

Pike Place Market is an open-air shopping place next to the water.



One of the many old buildings close to Pike Place Market.

 Tomorrow we are off to visit the Boeing aircraft factory but unfortunately they do not allow cameras so no chance for photos.

Lobster dinner hosted by Ann & Jason Kaiser

We had a fabulous dinner tonight hosted by Ann & Jason Kaiser, a whole lobster per person with Thai som tam (Papaw) salad, the generosity of people here is amazing and we had a terrific night.

Ann & Jason's home.

Robie Tom & Jason getting a keg of beer set up for the night, not know how to set one up I was given the task and made a fool out of myself by spraying beer all over myself.

Ann topping up her beer with Robie in the background.

Ann trying to get the last drop from the keg.

Jason showing me how to cook the lobster.

I get recruited into the task of cooking lobster.

Betty and Sharon.

Somehow I got roped into cleaning and separating the cooked lobster and laying them out on the plates. I definatly belong at the other end of the food chain i.e. consuming food instead of preparing it.

The final result, Thai Som Tam (Papaw) salad with a whole lobster - delicious even if I do say so myself.

Drive from Salem to Lincoln City on the Oregon coast

Robie & Sharon took us for a drive today to the Lincoln City on the Oregon for a seafood lunch which was delicious. Here are a selection of the many views along the coast.

Premier RV Resort, Salem where we are camped.

Shops at Depoe Bay.

CLICK THE PICTURE TO SEE AN ENLARGED VIEW.

Tom checking out the ice creams.

Sunny Day at Depoe Bay

Shot taken from Whale Cove Inn, a boutique hotel which has only 8 luxury suites.

Fireplace at Kyllos Restaurant..yummy food,excellent service.