20th November – Seattle, WA, USA

A trip to the post office with the highlight of USGS Postal Service having Star Wars stamps! We bought a fantastic world map yesterday and found out that it was too long to send via post. For $110 we could have couriered it… but we didn’t.
We found the original Starbucks shop, the one that started the franchise, 13,500 shops ago!
An arty shot too!
We have found some interesting advertisements and products.

This beer ad was a good one.
Did you know you can buy a home enema kit? And this one was the biggest joke. Diet Cola with vitamins and minerals!! No joke.

19th November – Seattle, WA, USA

If you come to Seattle, you have to go and have a tour of the Boeing factory! This complex is massive and the shed is the world’s biggest shed, it’s even in the Guinness Book of World Records. It was a cool and wet day, so an indoors trip was the best way to spend it.

First up, was the “flight of the future” displays. We both have spent a lot time on planes and seeing them in a different light, that is, up close and personal was good. The tail fins on these large jet air liners are large and the engines, unlike myth busters showed the other night, can suck you in. Captain Tan and First Officer Dan, took this leg of the flight.
My best Austin Power’s impersonation.. haaalp!!!
There was also a cut away section of fuselage and the interior of the new 787 Dreamliner, Boeing largest passenger plane.

After hanging out there, we went on the camera free Boeing factory tour. Impressive! This shed was huge and there were 747’s in the distance and either side of our fourth level viewing platform were the 777 assembly line complete with four planes in varying phases of assembly. The other side had the 787 Dreamliner, the new series. This plane was painted up and was shown to the world on the 7th August, 2007 (07/08/07) but was incomplete on the inside. The plane has had some setbacks and so far hasn’t hit the skies. We saw the first 787 and another one was in the line up. This plane is made from carbon fibre, so it has less pieces, less fasteners and 65% larger windows. They expect it to be in the air around March next year.

Outside we saw the Dream lifter, a 747 that has been modified to fit 787 pieces from around the world. Imagine a 747 attached to a glass blower’s pipe, a few minutes in the oven and few quick blows, yep, this was Boeing’s attempt at the Michelin Man plane! On the line up outside awaiting test flights were planes for Angola Airlines, Korean Air, Qatar Airlines. Driving back past the runway a brand spanking 777 for Emirates embarked on it’s maiden voyage to Dubai!

That night, on a recommendation from Hornado, we went to Benihana, a Japanese restaurant. Our traditional teppanyaki chef (from Mexico) did an awesome job. An onion ring volcano, complete with flames was the highlight. The food cooked in front of your eyes, the speed, the skill, the entertainment and the taste made it well worth it. We met some people from Seattle, Ray, Hanya and Ella, who were great company. The Teppanyaki experience is something we want to do again!! Good choice, Horn.

We walked home with Seattle starting to light up with Christmas decorations.

17th November – Vancouver, BC – Seattle, USA

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to the USA we go. Up very early this morning to be picked up to head to Seattle with Leo and Andrea. We were on the road at 6.45am. We collected Andrea, petrol, oil and coffee and drove to the border where we waited in queue. The signs had indicated a 90 minute wait to cross the border, however we were into the USA in 45 minutes even having to get out the car and queue having three Australians in the car. We made it to our hotel in Seattle at around 11.00am, quickly checked in and then headed into town for the four of us to take advantage of the good US dollar and do some shopping. Leo purchased a new camera with the boys driving a very hard bargain with a poor unsuspecting kid working in the camera shop!! We left Andrea to do her shopping and walked down to the famous Pike Place Markets. The smell of fresh fruit, veggie and produce in the air.

We're not sure what the significance of the pig is to the Pike Place Markets but there are a few around so I got Dan to "Ride the Pig".

The Pike Place Markets are world famous. Mainly for a book that was written about the people that work in the fish market and make what could be a very mundane job into a whole lot of fun, throwing their fish and all sorts. The crowds love it and queue to watch the show. They also play jokes in the public. I was standing next to this monk fish when it started to move. I tapped Dan and said it's still alive! Then it moved again. I looked up to see one of the guys laughing at me with a piece of string tied to the fish with him pulling it.We didn’t stop at the Markets for long this afternoon heading off to a pub near the water so the boys could have a few beers and we could all have some lunch. Dan had to select off the worlds largest menu we're sure!!

A nice view out the window to enjoy lunch and a few drinks.

Before we knew it a few hours had passed and it was time for Andrea and Leo to head off to catch their flight to El Salvador. We headed back to our hotel, venturing out for dinner but having a fairly quiet night after an early start. So far, we like Seattle. It feels a little like San Francisco with the hills and being so close to the water.