Day 44 - Boeing Tour

The 787 is, according to Boeing, the future of commercial aviation. They call it the Dreamliner. It will be able to fly over 9,000 miles without refilling. It is smaller than the 777 but will be more comfortable for the passenger. It will sell for $145M, instead of $195M for the 777. They have over 900 orders and the 1st plane will not be off the production line until next year. They haven't even tested it yet but will be able to make 3 a week, compared to 7 a month for the 777. This Dream-Lifter is used to bring pieces (not parts) of the plane from all over the world for assembly here.

Day 44 - Boeing Tour

The largest planes in the world are built in the largest building in the world. It may not look like it but this building is over 9 stories high and has 75 acres UNDER ROOF! You could fit all of Disneyland (California) in it and have 17 acres left for parking. They manufacture 747's, 767's, 777's and the all new 787's here.

Day 44 - Boeing Tour - Everett, Washington

If you've never been here and toured Boeing, you're really missing something. To see how they build the large planes we all fly on is really something. Sadly, they do not allow cameras of any kind on the tour so I cannot share any indoor pictures with you. Be assured what you see on the tour is really fantastic!

Day 43 - Samish Bay, Washington

Today we also took a drive to Bellingham, Wa. and south to Samish Bay where we visited the Taylor Shellfish Farms. They specialize in farming oysters and are one of the largest on the west coast.. Did you know that it takes 3 to 5 years to grow an oyster for harvest? Really surprising, considering that you can get them for $.25 each in any bar in the US.

Day 43 - Lynden, Washington

The Lynden area (just south of the border in Washington) is the nations major supplier of rasberrys. Janie and I took a drive through the growing area and had to stop and pick our own. They sell for $1.50 a pound, if you pick them yourself, and (Janie tells me) that's extremely cheap based on the normal supermarket price. What are we going to do with 10 pounds of rasberrys, when I don't care for them at all?

Day 42 - Blaine, Washington

From Blaine we took a cruise on the shortest ferry in America. The Plover crosses the Semiahmoe bay in Blaine in just 11 minutes. It takes 23 minutes to return but only because it takes a detour to view the seals and birds that live in the area. This ferry only holds 17 passengers and used to be used to ferry workers to the cannery on the other side of the bay back in 1946. Now it's just for us tourist but it's still fun.

Day 42 - United States Of America

We've made it through western Canada and are now back in the US. Today we left Canada and entered Washington. We're staying in Blaine (I've never heard of it either but it's right on the border just south of Vancouver).

Day 41 - Side Note - Vancouver, BC

While walking along the water in Vancouver we came on these boats sitting in the marina. The one on the left has to be called a houseboat. What else could you call it? We just thought they were funny looking boats and wanted to share them with you.

Day 41 - Stanley Park - Vancouver, BC

Stanley Park is a 1000 acre park in downtown Vancouver. It's considered one of the finest natural parks on the continent. Janie liked this picture of me with the totems and wanted to share it. As you can see, our weather has been absolutely wonderful for the whole trip so far. I think we had one partial day of rain and that's it.

Day 41 - Vancouver, British Columbia

We spent the day seeing Vancouver. We walked all over the downtown area after riding the SkyTrain to get down there from Surrey (the suburb where we are staying). We visited Stanley Park, Gastown, Chinatown and just walked all over. If you've never been to Vancouver, you're missing a very beautiful city. There are about 1.8 million living here.

Day 39 - Kelowna, British Columbia

Kelowna is a beautiful area. The city of about 75,000 is on a huge lake surrounded by hills. The area is famous for it's many wine vineyards. We had a wonderful lunch at one of the local vineyards called Quails' Gate and then toured the vineyard and the bottling plant. It was fun to actually see how they bottle the wine. Unfortunately, this vineyard and most of the vineyards in the area don't export to the US because they are small and don't have enough production. Their wine is excellent.

Day 38 - Vernon, British Columbia

Today we stopped in a city called Vernon. This area is well known for their apple orchards. We went to the Davidson orchards and went on a tour of the orchard in the pictured train, pulled by a old classic tractor. Only Janie and I were on our particular tour and the driver was the owner of the orchard. Of course, this is not the season for apples but it was very interesting and fun. We also stopped at a store that specialized in honey and had an actual live bee hive on display. Also very interesting.

Day 37 - British Columbia

Nothing special today. We left Cochrane and started our drive to Vancouver. We drove through Banff Provincial Park, Yoho Provincial Park and Glacier National Park (The Canadian one). Some really beautiful scenery. We're now in British Columbia.

Day 36 - Calgary Stampede Rodeo

Today we went to the rodeo. We enjoyed it but, to me, if you've seen one rodeo you've seen them all. I guess we're just not cowboys. Don't misunderstand...the rodeo was excellent. In any case, this was our last day at the Stampede. Tomorrow we head west toward Vancouver, British Columbia. I liked this picture of the Stampede midway with the city skyline in the background. Notice how busy the midway is?

Day 35 - Calgary Stampede

After the chuckwagon races they bring in a huge stage and put on a tremendous stage show with over 350 singers & dancers, acrobats, trick motorcycle riders and more fireworks than we have ever seen in our lives. It's all simply unbelievable and wonderful. The whole evening lasted from 8 until 12:30 and was worth every minute of it.

Day 35 - Calgary Stampede

The evening show starts at 8 with the Chuckwagon races. There are 9 races with 4 chuckwagons in each race around a mile and 1/4 track. Each race is extremely exciting and these guys can win some pretty big money over the 10 day event. It's hard to visualize the race from this starting picture but it's the best I can do. The audience is about 35,000.

Day 35 - Calgary Stampede

First of all, the Stampede is far bigger than we had thought. Imagine your normal State Fair and then double it. It's simply huge! There's everything you would expect from a fair, plus many bars with live music and, of course, the rodeo and stage show. The Budweiser clydesdales are here for the entire show and you can get up close and personal with them. Is it a surprise that Bud is the official beer of the Stampede?. We loved it all!

Day 35 - Calgary Stampede Pancake Breakfasts

The Stampede lasts from July 4th to July 13th, with a kickoff on July 3rd and it seems to be a celebration every single day. There is always a FREE pancake breakfast somewhere and most have entertainment to go along with breakfast. It's all a lot of fun but not very good on the waistline. This one was in the parking lot of a grocery store near where we're staying. We've been to a couple and have already eaten more pancakes this week than we have in the last 10 years.

Day 34 - Calgary Stampede Parade

WOW, what fun and what a show! This is the largest parade we've ever seen and it was great fun. We were there at 6:30am for the 9:00am start. The parade then lasted over 3 hours. There were many marching bands from all over Canada and the US. There were over 1500 horses in the parade, including the Budweiser Clydesdale's (shown). We heard there were over 300,000 people watching the parade and over 2000 volunteers. Some locals go to the parade every year and even sit in the same location. We had front row seats, in our own chairs, and thought the whole thing was fantastic. The Calgary Stampede has now officially started!

Day 33 - Calgary, Alberta

Spent a very leisurely day today, not doing much at all. We did go to the Canadian Olympics Center, which was the location of the 1988 winter Olympics. It was interesting, if you're into that sort of thing. You've got to be crazy to jump off of one of these things without a parachute! The picture doesn't do the jumps justice. The big one is 90 metres (that's almost 300 feet). Scary!