Seattle

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Ok, I guess I owe y'all another two days' worth of blog. I'll start with yesterday, July 13th.

We left the Ramada at Harrison Hot Springs (a very poor hotel), did a little souvenir shopping and made our way towards the USA. On the way we saw lots of raspberry-like bushes along the roadside, and even saw someone who stopped on an adjacent street complete with hat and gloves picking berries. Needless to say, we stopped at the first available opportunity and filled our bellies with delicious, juicy, sweet raspberries (or blackberries, I dunno. Tasty berries).

Just a few minutes later we were at the border crossing. The wait wasn't too long, I guess we were lucky. Just 15 minutes or so. The border police who checked our passports had a little chat with us, advised Tamar and Ethan to visit the Gum Wall in Seattle.

Across the border we drove to Whatcom Falls Park, a very nice place for a picnic and a walk in Bellingham, just north of Seattle. The parks service has a trout raising farm there for restocking the rivers, so we saw the rainbow trout in the pools. While there we decided, sort of last minute, to visit the Boeing facility, and I got tickets online (cheaper than walk-in tickets).

We stopped on the way at an outlet for some urgent things (a raincoat for me, bathing suit for Ethan, a couple of other things). We got some take out Chinese and off we went to the Boeing factory. Gilat fed me all the way there (about a half hour drive). We made it on time for our tour, locked our bags away in a locker (no bags or electronics allowed on the tour! They are very strict about that).

The Boeing tour started with a short introductory movie and then we joined our guide. Our guide was a character! Big straw hat and huge mutton chops, and he didn't explain and point out things. No. He told a story. He had a rich, slightly Irish accent and made everything into a wonderfully exciting tale, from the beginning, how Bill Boeing grew up and started the Boeing company all the way to the assembly line of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner. He led us through the factory, the largest building in the world by volume (13 million cubic meters) with six assembly lines, each with doors that a complete Boeing 747 Jumbo Jet can fit through. We saw how they assemble those 747s, the 777s and the Dreamliners. We saw where they roll the complete airplanes over a bridge across the highway to the painting shed, and we saw fully painted Dreamliners, almost ready for delivery.

He told us how Bill Boeing started with a couple of planes he designed for mail delivery right after WWI all the way to how the Dreamliners are made mostly of polycarbonate composites, stronger than steel and lighter than aluminum. He told us how as a child (a Boeing Brat, he called it) he'd visit his father at the plant, how a favorite trick of job hunters is to join the tour, make paper planes with their resumes and try to hit engineers on the head with them to impress them, and how workers make their way around the factory on bicycles and tricycles. An altogether enjoyable tour. Very recommended!

After the tour we wandered around the visitor's center there, saw full size models of plane engines, the tail of a Jumbo Jet, the cockpit of an old 727 that the kids pretended to fly and various other exhibits before driving to the hotel.

You can see what we did here:

Ah, how nice to stay at a good hotel. Put Best Western on your 'Good Hotels' list. Breakfast included, pool, coffee machine, fridge and microwave in the room. Clean and modern.

Ok, today. Today was all about Seattle. After getting up early and doing much needed laundry before our Alaska trip we went off to town. Getting into Seattle and finding parking is not easy! Seemed to take us half the day just to find the parking we put on Waze! Very confusing (and frustrating), but we did manage in the end.

We had a short walk down Virginia street to Pike Place Market and the waterfront. We saw the line outside the very first Starbucks cafe, but didn't join. Instead we opted to wander into the market.

Now, if you like markets you'll love Pike Place! It started as a farmers market for local produce, but now it has everything. Lots of souvenirs and art, some very interesting, flowers, vegetables, seafood and snack stalls. There was one fishmonger who's famous for throwing salmon. When someone buys a king salmon (those are BIG fish! some almost a meter long!), the worker outside the shop calls out, all the other workers join the call, and then the guy outside throws the fish to his colleague inside, who catches it on paper and wraps it up. And the crowd cheers! It's something to see!

We visited the Gum Wall. In a word EWWW!!! The whole alley is covered with gum stuck to the walls, dripping off window sills, drain pipes, everything.

We walked around the waterfront and saw the giant Ferris wheel. While the kids were looking around yet another souvenir shop Gilat and I decided to splurge and get tickets for the Duck - an amphibious bus built from a WWII amphibious troop landing vehicle. Some of the buses are original WWII and some are copies.

Our 'captain' was also a character. He wore several hats while he drove around town, pointing out interesting spots and telling anecdotes along the way. Then we reached the water. The captain, Rob R. Ducky (yes, that's right - Rubber Ducky) asked if anyone was nervous. We all said no so he said 'So I'm the only one'. Then he drove right into the water! Cool! We rode/sailed all around Lake Washington while Rubber Ducky regaled us with stories. For instance he showed us a famous rowing school that was built as a boathouse. But later, when Seattle started registering boathouses and limited their number to 500, and the registers ran out, they approached the college and demanded they bring the house on to shore. The school didn't agree. They turned the houseboat into a real boat, approved by the coast guard and all other relevant parties. The city tried to be smart. They said 'if you call it a boat, prove it. Every three months put out on the lake and sail around'. So that's what they do! The building, roof, balcony and all, sets sail. And they hold a party afterwards.

Back on shore the bus boat took us back to our starting point with more stories along the way.

We had something to eat in Westlake Center, then took the monorail to the Space Needle. A nice, very quick and inexpensive ride. We walked around the needle, saw some Chihuli glass works (we didn't go into the exhibit), then took the monorail back. We stood in line at the First Starbucks, took pictures and got frappachinos, then went back to the car and to the hotel.

A long and enjoyable day. Watch the video here:

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