Day 71: Mt Ranier, Seattle, Boeing, Whidbey Island,Puget sound.

Oh, what a beautiful morning!

Come with us as we ride from Paradise, Mt. Ranier to Sandy Hook, Whidbey Island.

The sun is up, the mountain is glistening.
Mark knows all the special places to stop on this ride.
Thanks, Mark.
 

View to the west.

Reflection Lake.
Wonderful winding roads.
We stop at a chasm and Odin appears from the bush.
Odin...
...and Kyle are hiking 100miles around Mt Ranier in 10 days.

They have another few days to go.

They have solar panels to charge their batteries.

We stop at Perk Cafe for a good cup of coffee. This is just what we get from Connie whose cafe has been voted best coffee in Seattle.
In front of the counter is a barrel for people to donate schools supplies for the start of the school year at local schools.
What a good idea.
We are soon on the freeway in the midst of traffic heading to Seattle.

Our route takes us past the Boeing Factory in Everitt.
Let's go and try our luck for a seat on the Boeing factory tour this afternoon.

There are two seats available at 2.30pm.

Perfect, let's go to the port and have lunch at Ivars.


Clam chowder.

We head back up the hill and go on the Boeing tour.
The factory is the largest building by volume in the world. the Boeing 747, 777 and 787 are being built here.
It was a well conducted tour and it was very interesting. The scale is mind boggling. 40,000 employees on site. Workers looked like midgets building gargantuan model planes - from the visitor viewing platform.
Air New Zealand took delivery of the first Dreamliner 787-9 a month ago. The chap at the ticketing desk said that there was a huge party for over a thousand people at the Future of Flight centre that day.

No Cameras are allowed but I do get to choose whether I want a Rolls Royce or a Pratt and Witney engine on my 747.
Back to the harbour. People are fishing for crab.
Chicken bait in a trap attached to a rod and line.
The fish and game inspector is checking this catch.
It is time to board the ferry for the short 13 minute ride to Whidbey Island.
While the men talk bikes...
I meet Jennifer...

Who has Celtic tattoes on her arms.

Pedestrians disembark first, then the bikes.
Sunset to the west of Sandy Hook.

Mt Ranier to the South.
Oh, what a wonderful day.
 
 

 

 

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