Day Two - Boeing

Day Two in the Seattle area saw us heading north to Mukilteo, WA, location of one of the Boeing factory lines. The Everett facility is home to the 747, 767, 777 and 787 Dreamliner production lines, and is open to the public for tours 7 days a week. 

It's EXCELLENT.  Buy your ticket online before you go, as walk-in tickets are limited.

It was extremely cool to see the gigantic (and I mean GIGANTIC) hangers where they manufacture the airplanes.  They are so big that it is hard to comprehend the scale - there were 4 or 5 completed or mostly completed 747s in one of the hangers and they looked small. It wasn't until later in the week when we had the opportunity to stand next to a 747 that I realized how big it was.

Unfortunately, there are no cameras or cell phones or purses or ANYTHING allowed on the tours, so I have no pictures from the production lines for you.  However, I do have pictures from the "Future of Flight" exhibit that is part of the visitor center.

 One real, live 727 cockpit that you can sit in and flip all the switches.  It even had a warning sign that the control yokes are connected so don't hurt your copilot when you go into a steep climb.

Rachel and John are examining the navigator's station.  I admit to feeling a little sad at this display - my Dad worked on the 727-stretch when I was born in Seattle, so things like this always make me miss him.  Although if he had been with us, he would certainly have gone into lecture mode about airplanes. 

In honor of John's Dad (who is not deceased, merely in Florida), we took a picture in front of the GE turbine engine.  He worked for GE for many years.  Not on engines, though.

 

We had a great time at Boeing, then headed back to the city to meet our friend Cara in the International District.  She took us to Kinokuniya Bookstore, and the Japanese grocery next to it, and a dollar store across the street, which were all great fun.  Her mother was along for the ride and we had a lovely time poking around and looking for the most kawaii things we could possibly find. Then they took us out to dinner at the Fisherman's Terminal.  We got there before her father, so while we were waiting, we wandered around the docks.

 Fisherman's Terminal is a (mostly) commercial dock, so it had a huge variety of fishing vessels, and some pleasure craft as well.  We saw a couple of crab boats, but unfortunately, F/V Northwestern, of Deadliest Catch fame, was out to sea while we were there.

This was, possibly, the oddest boat I've ever seen.  It appeared to have a flat bottom like a scow, but the sides were very high and appeared to be plywood. It had a hatch on the front, like you could drive a vehicle in and out. And it was called "Thor". William and Rachel thought it was hysterical. They're still talking about it.

Next up: Glass!