Yes, another “field trip” for the kids. Ok, and us too. I was definitely excited to see the “largest building in the world” (by volume, as they are quick to add)…

Our tour guide had some crazy stats that he rattled off about the building. Since we weren’t allowed to bring any personal items, I couldn’t jot them down. But, here’s what we remember, by the numbers:

12 Empire State Buildings would fit in the Boeing factory
5.1 Egyptian pyramids
6 Pentagon buildings
ALL of Disneyland plus plenty of room for parking
40,000 employees work there
9 Tully’s Coffee shops on-site (sadly, no Starbucks)
11 Restaurants

The largest building in the world (by volume)

There was also a cool indoor museum-like area that had some interesting things to see before we went on the assembly plant tour. They had a bunch of artistic renderings of students’ designs for re-purposing airplanes. Way to recycle!

Rachel couldn’t wait to catch a flight…

Still in Seattle, we checked out the Experience Music Project museum, or the EMP for short. It’s another one of those great museums that’s really several museums wrapped up in one.   Music, sci-fi, and pop culture too.

Rachel & Summer were a little freaked out about stuff like this:

although they enjoyed the special effects area

they couldn’t wait to get out of the horror movie exhibit

they loved the exhibit on fantasy, especially seeing some of the costumes and weapons on display. The girls loved seeing the armor & the weapons that the actress who played Annabeth Chase in the Percy Jackson movie wore.

Rachel thought this dragon, Annalinda, was pretty cool. Too bad no flash photography was allowed, it would have been a much better picture. We got the inside scoop on the growling noise that the dragon was making. Apparently, there is a well-known music producer in the area who recorded his pet pug sleeping. Yes, the dragon’s scary sounds are of a little dog snoring.

Sign from Fantasy gallery

Rachel with her pet dragon, Annalinda

Another sign at the Fantasy gallery

The music gallery was huge. They have an extensive collection on Seattle-based Nirvana, Jimi Hendrix, and lots more good stuff too.

My favorite part of the museum was “Sky Church” – an enormous screen inside the building where they show music videos, short films, and even have live performances. They were playing Michael Jackson’s Thriller while we were there. Since we don’t have a tv, the girls had never seen it. Summer didn’t like it, Rachel thought it was predictable. Maybe they just need to watch it again.

The EMP… way cool on the outside too

So, we bought the Seattle CityPass which is “One ticket booklet that saves 44% on admission to the best 6 attractions in Seattle” (St. Pete, you should really consider doing this  – Boston, Atlanta, NY, etc. all offer their own version!)  We are busy working our way through all of the fun offerings.

Rachel and Summer got a bit more home-schooling with our “field trip” to the Museum of Flight.  It’s a great museum with lots of NASA stuff, history of aviation, WWI & WWII stuff, and we even got to go inside the Concorde.  That was pretty cool, the windows were tiny!  As were the bathrooms.

We also enjoyed seeing a human-powered aircraft –  the Gossamer Albatross, which made a flight across the English Channel. (sorry, I forgot to get a picture & stealing one off the internet would be photo plagiarism, but you can Google it)  Summer & Rachel were curious as to what would happen when/if the person who was pedaling this aircraft (yes, it’s like a bicycle!) got tired…  we did notice that the pedaling mannequin in the Gossamer Albatross on display was wearing a lifejacket.

The girls also got to try their hands at flying.  No, not really.  Just a simulator, but they enjoyed it…

The flight simulator room had its own control tower

Mayday! Mayday!

As tourists, we just had to go on a harbor cruise (ok, it was included in our CityPass). My friend Dyan who lives in Tacoma with her husband Bob & cute kids Marc & Sara joined us on the cruise.  She’s lived here for 13 years and has never been on one.  See,  you have to be a tourist to do these touristy things. I don’t know why Peter was hiding in the picture.

That’s us with Dyan (yes, that’s Peter hiding in the back)

Pretty view from the water

The ferris wheel really is scarier than it looks

We like it here.  Although really, what’s not to like?  The weather has been pretty mild, the fall foliage is beautiful, there are lots of things to see and do, and there’s coffee.  Lots & lots of coffee.  Also, there are tons of cool hipsters here.  Although, we are having a hard time differentiating between the cool hipsters and the homeless.  It seems that there is a very fine line between the two.  We suspect they may not actually be mutually exclusive.

As I may have mentioned, I like coffee.  A lot.  And there happens to be a lot of great coffee here.  Specifically, Starbucks.  Yes, the original Starbucks is right here in Seattle, along with way too many other Starbucks to count.  Check out this map:

Every one of those green pins represents another little slice of heaven known as Starbucks

Naturally, we had to visit the original Starbucks & see what all the fuss was about.  The line really wasn’t all that long, and I swear, my latte just tasted better there.  All the cool merchandise that you can only purchase at that store was neat to see too.  One of the ceramic travel mugs followed me home.  As did his little friend, the iced coffee cup.  And a t-shirt for Peter.  Let’s see if he wears it.

The mothership

That’s my latte!

So, we’ve re-renamed Seattle from “Starbucksland” to “Land of Crazy Hat Wearers”.  We saw an unbelievable number of people wearing the most unbelievable of hats.  I was too scared to take pictures.  Except for one… of Rachel, just trying to fit in.  (Yes, that is a plastic bag on her head).

Rachel, a crazy hat wearer.

We happen to have a few shoppers in the family – the girls really enjoyed Pike Place Market and seeing all the cool vendors.  Very reminiscent of Faneuil Hall in Boston.  There were a ton of street performers and some other interesting sights too.  Check out the Gum Wall that Summer & Rachel are standing in front of…

This guy played harmonica, guitar, balanced a guitar on his head, and hula hooped.

The Gin Jars. Peter bought their CD.

The Gum Wall!

Of course we also had to go up in the Space Needle.  I don’t like heights, but it wasn’t nearly as scary as I thought it would be.  I won’t go anywhere near that ferris wheel though.

Beautiful at night

Girls at the Space Needle

Space Needle

View from the Space Needle

You can see the ferris wheel from the Space Needle

Lots of things to check out in this great city.  Especially the mothership.  Yes, that’s right.  The original Starbucks is here.  I can smell it.

It’s easy to see why Montana is called Big Sky Country.

Montana Mountains

Check out the orange snow plow guide pole in the right corner

More Montana mountains

No shortage of rock in Montana

Every campground within 100 miles of Cody, Wy was closed, so we camped out in the local Walmart parking lot. Surprisingly, it wasn’t so bad.

Pretty nice view for a Walmart parking lot