Starr Treks: Alaska trip 5/30/15 Saturday Issaquah

STARR TREKS SATURDAY 5/30/15 ISSAQUAH WA

We got up early this morning and drove 45 miles to the Wallace Falls trailhead in a state park. We got there about 8:10 am and easily found a parking spot— the park opened at 8. The hike was lovely thru a forest of fir and cedar trees. Many of the dead trees had Spanish moss draping the branches. It was 1.8 miles to the lower falls and rated as a medium hike. We started at 350 ft and hiked to 870 ft— it was a lot of uphill. We went on .3 mi to the middle falls which was really beautiful — this was 1100 feet elevation. We talked to some other hikers, and they said the upper falls — .6 mi and up to 1570 ft was not worth the strenuous hike— said the middle falls had the best view. So we stopped there at 2.1 miles. On the way down, we met many many hikers — we were very glad we came early, since there was not a whole lot of room at the viewpoints for the falls. There were a lot of Asian tourists— I was surprised they would come to a place like this that is sort of out of the way. Anyhow, near the trailhead, we found a bench to sit on overlooking the rippling stream to eat our picnic lunch — a very nice hike.

Since we were pretty far northeast, we decided to drive on to the Boeing Factory so we could take their tour. Intererestingly, building airplanes is the greatest industry in Seattle. We used our GPS, and once again it failed us. We drove in many circles looking for this very large building. We finally stopped at a gas station to get directions. We got into a tour that was going to start in about 15 minutes. We were not allowed to take anything at all electronic on the tour— no cameras, no cell phones— no photos allowed. Our tour guide Joann, was very good. She said she used to be a buyer for Macy’s, but actually got married to an airline pilot at the Future of Aviation museum here— the person she worked with on the wedding told her she should apply for a job as a guide, so she did. We saw a short video, then got bussed to the huge building where planes are assembled. Joann said it was the size of 17 football fields, and that it was large enough that Disneyland could fit inside it!! We got to see areas where 747’s, 777’s, and 787’s are assembled. Since it was Saturday, there were not too many people working, but she said that they have like 22,000 employees who work 3 shifts. They stagger the hours of the shifts, but still have huge traffic jams. We could see several planes in various stages of assembly — they sell the planes all over the worls. It was surprising to me, how much of an airplane is still assembled by human hands— I guess I thought they would have robotics or something on an assembly line. Each plane they make sells for like $340 million!!! The guide also shared with us that this is the biggest area in WA that there is no Starbucks! Tully got the contract for Boeing! There was a small museum there, but we were pooping out from our hike, so didn’t spend a lot of time.

When we got back to the RV, we got busy making some reservations for next week when we plan to ferry the car from Arrontes WA, thru the San Juan Islands, to Vancouver Island. We are going to spend the night in Victoria and see as much as we can in one day. After that, we’ll be heading to Canada— not sure if we will have internet or GPS. Larry ordered phone service — we each get 100 minutes a month.

Tomorrow, we will find a Methodist church to attend.