We left Seattle early this morning with Everett, WA as our first stop of the day.
Everett is a small town 30 minutes north of Seattle, famous for one thing, they know how to make aircrafts. It is in fact the world headquarter for Boeing, where they have their main lines of production for the 747, 767, 777, and now, the new 787 “DreamLiner” (for which we saw the first one ever built that they’re still using for several different tests).
They strongly advise visitors to call ahead and make a reservation for their public tour of the plant, but unless it’s a holiday or a weekend, I would certainly avoid calling them for ticket reservation, as you will be charged an extra $2.50 advanced reservation fee on top of the nominal price for the ticket.
With that being said, this has been one of the greatest tours I’ve ever taken, for several different reasons.
The tour starts with an introductory video where they show you (at a superfast speed) how a 747 is assembled in their plant, plus other facts about their premises. After that, the group is subdivided into two smaller groups that the tour guides load on two separate buses to go visit the assembly line.
For those of you who like numbers like I do, the Everett Boeing plant is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records the largest building in the world by volume, and trust me, it is really impressive. The building is huge, but because of the misperception visitors might have inside caused by the height at which they are (the tour is mainly conducted from balconies at the third or fourth floor), the tour guide had to give us other ways to compare the building to other things we might be more accustomed with, in our daily lives.
Well, for those of you who know math, the plant sits on 98 acres/40 hectares of land under one roof, for a total of 4.3 million square feet/400,000 square meters, big enough to fit (and here we all started “Wowing”) something like 900 basketball fields, or 300 football fields, all together under the same roof. Just think about 300 NFL games played at the same time under the same roof, wouldn’t that be amazing? Well, of course if the Patriots lose again after an almost perfect season against the Giants, well, that wouldn’t be nice at all!
Out tour guide also told us that the building is so large that it once created in the past its own weather, with clouds forming over the ceiling because of the warm air and moisture accumulated in the inside. The solved that problem installing an air circulation system that forces the air back down to the ground keeping the temperature inside the plant at a steady 68F.
The building also have a system of tunnels running underneath the plants floor, with wires, cables and pipes running through the length of each tunnel. We’ve been explained that the main function of these tunnels is to be able to fix any problem underground without needing to stop the production above ground; now, that’s another smart move!
The plant is also so big that they have their own Fire Department (the biggest in the State of Washington), their own Medical Clinic, four telephone prefixes, and a 24 hours children daycare.
The employees at Boeing also believe that giving back to the community is a huge part of the deal, and that’s why they all volunteer for community service, without stopping there; they in fact have been giving away so far, something like 500 million dollars in donations, now, that’s goodwill and support for the community!
The tour proven to be as good as I expected, seeing the main production lines for the 747, 777, and 787, with an expert guide telling us how the whole process works, revealed to be very educational and entertaining at the same time, and I would definitely recommend it to anybody visiting the State of Washington.
We then left the plant and the permanent exhibition that they have in a separate building, to start what I’ve longed for ages, drive to and through US Highway 101, the Pacific Coast Highway.
After roughly 100 miles on I-5S, we found ourselves at the beginning of the road of my dreams. The temperature dropped considerably from up north in Seattle and Everett, but nonetheless, stubborn as I am, I continued to drive through the hills of Washington State first, and the Oregon, with the top down and the heat on! After all, this has been one of those beautiful clear days, full of sunshine, with sparkling fresh air tingling our bodies, what could I ask for; it would have been blasphemy not to put the top down!
I felt like a kid in a candy store again when we arrived at Cannon Beach, OR, where possibly one of the most iconic natural landmark of the states are located a 50 feet away from the Oregon Seashore in the Pacific Ocean. I’m talking about the Haystack Rock, a must see if you’re traveling in the area.
But to be totally honest with you, how could you miss such a wonderful giant?!?!
At Haystack Rock we made sure we stopped, get off the car and walked on the beach (although it was really starting to get chilly out (high 50s with a strong wind), to snap some pictures of us in front of the rock. One thing I really noticed was the sand, golden fine powder, that perfectly matched the surrounding, as if mother nature was trying to send us a message through that same send of how precious that place is, and how every human being should try to respect the environment so that other people in the future could be surprised by the same beauty we witnessed this evening.
Other rock formations kept us company rolling south through miles of panoramic views of the cliffs and the Pacific Ocean down below, alternated by marvelous mountainous vegetations and hills just about half a mile inland.
It is really amazing to see how different it could be just a short distance away from the ocean, for someone like me who lived closed to the water all his life and that was used to basically the same uniform pattern of seaside flora and fauna next to the Mediterranean Sea.
The next thing that struck my attention after Haystack Rock, was a small and cozy fishing village by the name of Garibaldi. I was so intrigued by the name, and how far the popularity of this prominent Italian historical public figure has traveled, that I had to stop and take a picture, as if only to pay a tribute to such a hero that died in Caprera, a small island in the Sardinian Archipelago, not too far from where I grew up.
We decided to stop for the night in Tillamook, OR, and I’m sure you’re all too familiar with what they’re famous for, aren’t you? Sure, it’s cheese, famous, good, Tillamook cheese!
Tomorrow is going to be another interesting day as I planned a visit to the main cheese factory, where you can visit the plant, see how they make their famous cheese, and sample some of their products (including “To Die for” ice cream!).
After that we get back in the car, top down (weather permitting) to continue our driving on US101, through the “Three Capes Scenic Byway” (1 hour driving), and then another scenic byway through the Central Oregon Coast, where the highlights of our visit will be Cape Perpetua, Heceta Head Lighthouse, the Sea Lion Caves, and last but not least, the Oregon Dunes National Park at “Umpqua Dunes”, near Coos Bay, OR, featuring the tallest dunes in the National Park system, with their 400 feet above ground.
I know, I wrote another book this evening, but what can I do, there are so many things to say about this adventure, and so little time to tell you about it.
Welcome again to the journey of a lifetime.
Goodnight my fellow readers,
Nico
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