Day 50: Off The Boat and Into Seattle

50 Days In, and We Return to the Lower 48

From our Ferry Cabin; Docking in Bellingham, WA

We began our morning still on the Ferry,which departed from Haines, AK on Monday evening and was due to arrive in Bellingham Washington early in the morning.  The Ferry runs on Alaska time, regardless of where it actually is, but our phones were picking up the Pacific Time Zone for British Columbia and Washington State starting yesterday.  Thus we were constantly trying to reconcile the two-- car deck call was 8PM boat time, but 9PM phone time; and docking in Bellingham was 7AM boat time, but 8AM local time-- either way we had to get up far too early to get ready to leave the boat when it docked.

However, we did get to see this lovely sunrise from our cabin window at 5:30AM (boat time; 6:30AM local time).

Sunrise over Bellingham, WA (as seen from our ferry cabin window - photo by Bob!)

Though we were ready bright and early, we waited in our cabin until the call that the car deck was open to load and depart.  However, that was a mistake.  There was a line to get to the car, and we were parked right at the door, and were thus one of the first to leave.  It was just about our turn when we found M again-- so we stuffed everything in the back seat, jumped in the car, and drove right off that boat, back onto dry land, and back in the lower 48.

And, Bob started the day off on the right foot-- because right on the dock (and clearly visible from our cabin window) was this smaller and older crawler crane.  It was tough to tell, but it may have been an American 9310.

Crawler Crane on Bellingham Dock

Bellingham was actually a nice little town.  We hadn't eaten, so we headed to the town center to find some breakfast.  Unfortunately the Creperie (Magdalena's Creperie) we wanted to try for breakfast wasn't yet open.  So, we walked around a bit and then sat down to a really great breakfast of Polish inspired crepes (Bob) and a wonderful freshly baked vegetarian frittata (Lisa).

We also checked out the local bookstore (used/new), as I was totally out of books after the long ferry ride with little connectivity and nothing else to do. (Yes, the views were fantastic, but you can only look out the window for so long, particularly when it gets dark.)  I actually finished two of my own books, and one of the ships take-one-leave-one selections-- and left them all.  So, now I have a couple of new reads to tackle on the rest of the trip.

After that, we hit the road for the Boeing Factory Tour and associated Museum of Flight.  The tour itself was very much a large PR pitch for the company (that they got visitors to pay for-- so cudos to their marketing team), but it also enabled us to see the massive manufacturing facility and a number of planes in various stages of completion.

Pictures on the tour were strictly prohibited (we were not even permitted to take in phones or bags), so we don't have any pictures of that part.  However, the plant is located on Paine Field, where the company tests the aircraft before delivering them to customers.  We could watch this process from the museum parking lot.  Here is a new FedEx plane awaiting its test flight.

FedEx Plane, Fresh Off the Line, Awaiting Testing

And, here is the test flight itself:

We could also take pictures in the museum itself-- which contained many pieces of Boeing history.  Here I am in the cockpit of a plane:

Lisa Takes a Turn in the Pilot's Seat

After the Boeing tour/museum, we headed to the nearby Flying Heritage & Combat Armor Museum. This museum had Bob written all over it, as you can see from this sign at the entrance:

Special for Bob: The Big Heavy Stuff Museum

The museum had fighter aircraft of all types, missiles, missile launchers, space ships,

Missile Launcher on Tracks

and Bob's favorite: Tanks.  Here he is looking into one:

Bob Stares Down a Tank Barrel

We also had the treat of watching this big tank be re-positioned in the yard:

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By the time we were done with both museums, it was late enough that we could check into our Seattle rental condo downtown near Pikes Place Market. Unfortunately, it was also late enough that people in Seattle were leaving work and driving home-- so we sat in traffic for about an hour.

However, we finally reached our condo, toted all of our stuff up, and put M to bed in a nearby garage. (Yes, she is happy to be out of the elements for awhile.)  It is a great location-- right in the center of everything market-- including the Seattle Great Wheel.

Here is a view of it, and the water, from our condo window:




We will definitely be taking a ride.

We had a great dinner tonight at Wild Ginger-- a restaurant I have wanted to try for awhile.  While the Asian-inspired food was a bit more me than Bob, I think he enjoyed the super fresh fish too.

Tomorrow, we'll head out on foot and begin exploring the Market.

--Lisa