Airplanes, Salmon and the San Juans

FLYING HERITAGE COLLECTION

Monday we drove to Everett for a Boeing Factory Tour. Since our tour time was scheduled for 4:00 p.m. we visited Flying Heritage Collection (FHC) since both are located at Paine Airfield. FHC was established by Paul G Allen, co-founder of Microsoft. The two hangers contain warbirds and tanks from both the US and other countries. An interesting fact about this collection is that all the planes and tanks are in operable condition. In fact, many times each year, the planes and tanks are taken out and operated. Each exhibit tells a story about where that particular item was located and restored.

Flying Heritage Collection

Billy Mitchell B-25

The very rare Messerschmitt ME 163 Fighter Jet
has a short eight minute burn time on the rocket engine.

The Infamous V-1 "Buzzbomb"

Sherman Tank

P-51 Mustang

Huey Bell Helicopter

BOEING FACTORY TOUR

After lunch we visited the Boeing Future of Flight Aviation Center.

Future of Flight Aviation Center
All plant tours begin here.

This Boeing Assembly plant is the largest square
foot building on the planet.

We saw the assembly line for the 747, 777 and 787.
This plant operates 24 hours a day, five days a week.

GULF OF GEORGIA CANNERY

The RV resort we are staying at is just 12 miles south of the Washington/Canadian border. We spent a day at Richmond, British Columbia and toured an interesting museum highlighting the fishing/canning industry in the Vancouver area. The 1894 salmon cannery on the waterfront of a historic fishing village has been restored to serve as an interpretive center highlighting salmon canning and herring reduction. During its heyday, this cannery earned the title of the Monster Cannery, a reference to its size in comparison to the other 15 canneries on Steveston's Cannery Row.

Iron Chink, mechanized fish-butchering machine,
used to gut and clean salmon at
a rate of one per second.

The fish go in...the cans come out.

Stilt houses were built close to the canneries for the workers.

W.T. PRESTON - ANACORTES MUSEUM

The Army Corp of Engineers is responsible for keeping the shipping lanes open and free of snags and silt. The W.T. Preston is one of only two sternwheel snagboats remaining in the US.

W. T. Preston Operated from 1930 to 1980.

Steam-winch Used to Pick Up Snags and Debris

Wheel House

For comparison, we took this picture of a modern day
US Army Corp Snagboat in July at the locks in Seattle.

SAN JUAN ISLANDS

On Thursday we decided to take a poor man's cruise to the San Juan Islands. We boarded the Washington State Ferry at Anacortes, Washington and took an hour cruise to Friday Harbor on the island of San Juan. We departed at 9:00 and returned at 4:00.

Virginia is watching for whales, otters and seals.

Approaching Friday Harbor on Thursday.

Overlook of the harbor and our "cruise" ship.

Our ferry made a stop at Lopez Island before returning
to Anacortes.

North Cascades And Mount Baker

Ferndale, Washington

On Monday, August 1st, we moved to The Cedars RV Resort in Ferndale, WA, about 12 miles south of the Canadian border. The Cedars is owned by Holiday Trails RV Resorts, which is a membership camping club headquartered in British Columbia. It is Canada's largest RV resort system. We have a very nice FHU site, surrounded by six foot tall cedar bushes making each site very private. We plan to be here the whole month of August.

Chuckanut Drive

Is a scenic drive along State Highway 11. This 21 mile drive between Bellingham and Burlington hugs the coastal cliffs. It was originally built as part of the Pacific Coast Highway.

Towering views of Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands.

North Cascades National Park

On a beautiful sunny day, we drove scenic State Highway 20 into North Cascades NP. This remote 684,000 acre national park is largely inaccessible, in fact, much of Highway 20 is closed in the winter.

Stopping at a country farm store at 10 am
for a cup of coffee and homemade ice cream.

Visitor Center

View from the Visitor Center

Dam on Lake Diablo
One of Three Dams in the Park
Managed by Seattle City Light to supply 25%
of Seattle's electric power.

Lake Diablo

Overlook at Washington Pass
Highest Point along the Highway

This part of the trail reminded us of crossing the
rock face on a trail at Zion National Park.

View From Washington Pass Trail Looking East
There's our road down there!

Mount Baker Highway

Friday was another gorgeous day, so we decided to drive back into the Cascades Mountains along the Mt. Baker Scenic Road (State Highway 542). This 59 mile road dead ends at Artist Point, a scenic area between Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan.

First stop is Nooksack Falls.
The falls occur at the confluence of two rivers.
At first glance it appears the water is flowing in
both directions.

Picture Lake high in the Heather Meadows

Heather Meadows Visitor Center
built by the CCC in 1940

Artist Point
Mount Shuksan in the background

View of Mount Baker as it creates its own weather.

Although we can see this mountain
 from our trailer in Ferndale, we waited an
hour for the clouds to clear so we could
see the top of this 10,781 foot peak up close.

More Tacoma Attractions

The Museum of Flight

Sponsored by Boeing, the Museum of Flight holds one of the largest collections of vintage aircraft in the United States. We spent a day touring the many exhibit halls and outdoor exhibits. Boeing was gearing up for a three day celebration of their 100th Anniversary. Their main parking lot was closed; however, bus service was provided from a remote lot. It was a spectacular air museum, with galleries and films dedicated to WWI, WWII, Space Travel, The Great Gallery and extensive displays on the history of aviation and Boeing Corporation.

The relocated Red Barn (left) is the original
Boeing manufacturing plant.

The Great Gallery displayed planes from all
aviation history, starting with the Wright 1903 Flyer
through the first century of human flight.

There were more than 60 aircraft in this gallery.

The beloved Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress was
displayed in the outdoor Aviation Pavilion.

A reproduction of the Red Baron's WWI Plane

Republic P-47D Thunderbolt from WWII

Point Defiance Park

We took a five mile scenic drive around the 765 acre Point Defiance Park. The Park is home to hundreds of miles of walking trails, public beaches, gardens, zoo, aquarium and a marina. We spent most of the day exploring this point and park which offers many views of Puget Sound.

A very nice medium sized zoo.

Late lunch after the zoo.

The weather was perfect for sitting outside.
The Washington State Ferry runs between
Point Defiance and Vashon Island each hour.

Chihuly Glass

Dale Chihuly, a Tacoma native and glass artist, is a world renowned glass blower and sculptor. His works of art are in many public buildings in downtown Tacoma and Seattle. We viewed them in Tacoma Union Station as well as the Museum of Glass.

Tacoma Union Station is across the Bridge of Glass from
The Museum of Glass.
Though no longer a train station, this federal building
is home to a number of large Chihuly glass works.

Hanging from the center of the dome, this sculpture
represents a mass of withering, multicolored snakes.

Union Station Monarch Window

Museum of Glass

Inside of the 90 foot tall cone is a state of the
art Hot Shop.The cone acts as a ventilator
for the heat generated by all the glass ovens.

We observed glass blowing in the
Hot Shop for about an hour.

We were fortunate to watch Lino Tagliapietra, now 80,
a Glass Master from Italy create.

Blue Footed Boobies

Oversized Blown Fruit

Bridge of Glass

Sitka, Alaska

The cruise ended in Sitka, where we spent 2 days before flying back to Seattle. This small, walkable town of 9,000 people is the 4th largest town in Alaska. We stayed at the Westmark, one of the three hotels in town. The town is still heavily influenced by its Russian heritage. This is where the 1804 battle between the Russians and the native Tlingit people took place.

Westmark Hotel

Alaska Raptor Center

The mission of the Center is to rehabilitate and
release injured bald eagles and other birds of prey.

Built in 1842 by the Russian American Company
as a residence for the Russian Orthodox Bishop.

Now a National Historic Landmark Park, it is
the oldest intact Russian building in Sitka.

St. Michael's Cathedral, a Russian Orthodox cathedral.

Although Sitka is on the outside edge of the
barrier island, there are many small picturesque
islands just beyond Sitka Harbor.

Totem Square
Pioneer Home in the background is a state home
for elderly Alaskans, built in 1934.

This National Historical Park is the site of the
1804 battle of the Tlingit and Russians.
There are 13 totem poles lining a forested path
and several others preserved within the visitor center.