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Everett, Washington
And the northern sky looked like the end of days, the end of days
The world's largest building in volume at 4,300,000 square feet (and the world's 18th largest in terms of floor space alone (I looked it up on Wikipedia) is in Everett, Washington. There at the edge of the sound and within sight of the Olympic Mountains is where Boeing builds its wide body jumbo jet fleet, specifically 747s, 767s, 777s and 787s (they build 757s in Renton, Washington). Luckily (for me at least) if you pay admission (and leave you cameras and cell phone in a locker) they allow visitors to tour the building to see the amazing assembly lines and watch planes being built right before their eyes. The day that I was there felt especially momentous as I witnessed the last ever 747-400 (and the first ever 747-800) being built as well as plenty of 777s and interestingly enough the first ever (yet to be flight tested) 787 Dreamliners. Boeing's next big hope, the plane is made of a composite material (instead of the traditional aluminum) that is so flexible that the plane's wings could literally be bent so far as to touch each other over the plane without breaking. I'm not sure if that is comforting or not.
And while pictures, cell phones, cameras and any and all electronic devices are prohibited from the tour, you can still get a glimpse of the airfield and the building and the 787 Dreamlifter, a modified (I believe) 777 cargo plane used to transport sections of the 787 Dreamliner from various national and international factories to Everett for assembly.
While it normally takes a horrific plane crash to realize it, commercial aircraft sections are incredibly thin. This first picture shows a section view of an aluminum piece of a plane's fuselage, on display at the "Future of Flight" exhibit that acts as a gateway for the far, far more interesting Everett Factory Tours. And while some of the exhibits were interesting, the "Future of Flight" is probably more than 75 percent devoted to the future of Boeing, specifically the 787 Dreamliner. Designed to solve all of the world's problems, the 787 Dreamliner offers better fuel efficiency, better climate controls (including humidity, now available thanks to the lack of aluminum), bigger windows and an innovative LED lighting system designed to mimic the exterior daylight conditions to minimize jet lag. Exhibits promoting the 787 include everything from models to engine technology (see second picture) to a full throttle mockup of the interior cabin. All quite impressive, and I will admit that I am looking forward to finally flying one in 2011 or whenever they actually start to surface in Continental's fleet.
This (work) trip took me north of Seattle and just magically happened to coincide (both geographically and time wise) with what makes the Skagit Valley (at least locally) famous. The valley's annual Tulip Festival was in full bloom, affording visitors with cameras the rare chance to drive through scenic rural communities, park their cars recklessly on the side of the road and wander freely between fields of flowers. An impressive sight in person and one that I feel especially fortunate to have seen.
In reality there's not really all that much to say about these photos, the tulips (and daffodils) pretty much speak for themselves.
Not my very first trip to Florida (by any means) but my very first trip to Miami took place on an especially short trip this past April. Despite such a short trip, I still found the time to take a quick detour to Miami's world famous Art Deco District at South Beach, a collection of small, distinctly designed hotels that work very well together in creating an especially nice sense of place. More than anything I think it is the scale and the fact that as you walk up and down Ocean Drive (and Collins Avenue) no building is especially different or distinctive, although each has a detail or color or accent that seems to separate it from all of the others.
And while this trip was surprisingly short, there is hope for more Miami pictures in the future. Generally I try to attend the AIA (American Institute of Architects) annual convention every year, primarily because each city will consistently offer special access tours (to various degrees of success) to buildings and spaces as part of the convention. Next year's convention is scheduled for Miami, meaning that (hopefully) sometime in 2010 I'll have a real chance to explore the city and its buildings, its neighborhoods, its character in a much more complete manner. And while I can barely plan my life or travel more than a week (or so) in advance, I already foolishly have Miami penciled in for June 2010, not to mention far off dreams of New Orleans in 2011, Washington DC in 2012, Denver in 2013 and Chicago in 2014. Not sure about 2015 (or the week after next) yet.
Before I had to rush off to the airport and another upgraded flight home (not that I'm complaining about all of the first class upgrades mind you), I had just enough time to step foot in downtown Miami, to walk around the tropical rains on waterfront near Bayside Marketplace and ride the MetroMover, a little elevated train that circled downtown, afforded views of buildings and parking lots and (thankfully) got me out of the tropical rains for a few minutes.
