Ross and Beverley: July 2019

Seattle, Washington State

Seattle is a city on the Puget Sound, in the Pacific Northwest of Ameirca. It is surrounded by water, mountains and evergreen forests. It has many acres of parkland. This is a view of Seattle.

Its most iconic land mark is the Space Needle which was built in 1962 for the World Fair. The antenna spire is 604 ft and the top floor is 158ft. It has an observation deck which rotates. From here the skyline of downtown Seattle can be seen as well as the Olynpic and Casade Mountains, Mount Rainier, Mount Baker, Elliott Bay and surrounding islands.

There is a monorail which was built for the Worldfair is now consisdered the moto rail to nowhere as it travels 3 minutes from the end of the inner city back and forth to the Space Needle.

Some of the items for purchase in the gift shop.

It is located near the Museum of Pop Culture. Its mission is to make creative expression a life- changing force by offering experiences that inspire and connect to their community. It is built like a music note hence the curves to th building.

As we contiune to travel up the west coast of the USA we have seen more and more homlessness. This fountain is turned off in the evenings as the homlessness were using it to wash in.

Seattle has a large Tech industry in the city with both Microsoft and Amazon being headquatered in the metroplotian area. There is a big need for many condiminiums to house the workers. Amazon employs 45,000 people downtown. The workers are easily identified as they all wear the tag around their necks. Amazon also has a shop which sells to the public, puchases made here are via an app which you can download before entering the store. On completion of shopping the app bills your Amazon account. No cashiers, no waiting in line at a checkout.

This bubble building is the city library. The money was donated by the Gates Foundation and has the most books for a library in the USA.

There are many very high buildings in the city.

Mirosoft is located in Seattle and this is the main headquaters belonging to the Gates family.

Many people live by the water and these homes which are referred to as floating homes. They are very expensive and costs arond a 1 million.

There are some grand buildings.

Many huge and expensive homes.

More to follow.

Cheers,

Ross and Beverley

Seattle

Seattle is a very liberal city. It was the first city to legalize pot. Many other liberal States now offer the sale of this. In some places the shops are called Farmacies. While the USA is more dog friendly than many other countries Seattle offers a range of services to the dog and its owners. Apparently Amazon employees are encouraged to bring their dogs to work where a play area etc is provided for them.

After the tour we decided on dinner. It was a pub.

This was a cob salad. We shared this.

Had to take this photo as the clouds looked great.

Each Restaraunt is graded from needs to improve to excellent.

Cheers,
Ross and Beverley

The Musuem Of Flight , Seatte

The Museum of Flight is a private non-profit air and space museum in the north west in the USA. It is located at the southern end of King Country International Airport, in the city of Tulwila, just south of Seattle. It was established in 1962 and is fully accredited by the American Alliance of Muesums. It covers many acres with planes from the beginning of flight of the Wright Brothers to the jts of today.

A B52

The Concord. Forward.

Side of Concord.

WW11 planes.

Some 4 years ago Captain Phillips's ship was overrun by 3 Somalian pirates who took him hostage. Following the ship was a small drone which is the first drone seen in this photo was able to identify the 3. The Americans sent in 3 snippers to rescue the Captain and the 3 were taken out. A good outcome all round.

There are many acres of land which house these many planes.

Some WW11 planes.

There is also an Airforce one plane. This one was President Nixon's.

The following photos are from the inside of the President's Airforce One Plane.

The hat belonged to President Johnson.

Its a great place to visit . The planes are in good condition and the Decent ( volunteers ) provide free tours. The Chap we had was a Holacaust survivor and only he and his mother survived.

Cheers,
Ross and Beverley

Astoria - Pt 3

Astoria has a number of great restaurants to dine at. The Bridgewater Bistro and Bar is one of them It is build in a revamped warehouse, with a waterfront view, delicious food and wine and very pleasant staff.

In the evening there is live music.

Ross enjoyed his prawns.

And oyster shooters.

Beverley had the grilled salmon.

Another restaurant was the Baked Alaska Restaurant also located at Pier 12 on the waterfront. Ross enjoyed scallops.

Beverley opted for flank steak.

The wine was very good and the glass says "the only thing we overlook is is the Columbia River."

As can be seen it is truly a grand river.

Cheers,
Ross and Beverley

Astoria - Pt 2

This day we visted the Maritime Museum where the boats of old have been preserved.

It still has a floating lighthouse.

In real time this is the cloud movement across the clobe.

We then travelled to the very highest point above the city to the see the Astoria Column . You can wak up to the top of the column if you are energetic as it has 200 plus stairs to the top.

The column tells the story of the settlement of the country. It is very well done.

From this height there one can enjoy a wounderful panoramic view of the waterways and the city below.

We also visited the Bee Cannery Museum which in its day was a hive of activity canning mostly salmon, however, they canned lots of different seafood. It was very intersting to see the machinery used and the read the stories of those who worked there.