Seattle, USA

Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

We caught the ferry from Sidney on Vancouver Island, to Anacortes in the US state of Washington.  Anacortes is situated in Skagit County and is known for the Washington State Ferries dock and terminal.  Seeing as though we were in Skagit County, we decided to make a quick stop at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.  This annual festival is extremely popular and draws thousands of visitors each year.  Following previous years, the Tulips and Daffodils were spectacular and a definite sign that spring has arrived.   

Dinner with Friends

The main reason for our visit to Seattle was to see our close friends Jenny, Roberto and their daughter Sabrina (our Goddaughter).  Sabrina turned six on the 18th April and although we could not be in Seattle on her actual birthday, we celebrated when we went down.  Our other close friend Veronica drove down from Vancouver to join us.  We had dinner at Cutters Crabhouse, next to Pike Place Market, that has a lovely view of Puget Sound.  It was a wonderful evening where we enjoyed delicious Westcoast food and the company of good friends.  

Boeing Factory

On our drive up from Seattle to Vancouver, we made a stop at the Boeing Factory in Everett.  David was very eager to get a glimpse of the new Boeing 787 Dreamliner.  As it turns out, there were at least 20 Dreamliners at different stages of completion parked on the tarmac.  The Boeing 787 Dreamliner made its international debut in July 2010 and All Nippon Airways (ANA), the first airline to take delivery of the new Dreamliner, celebrated its maiden commercial flight in October 2011 from Tokyo to Hong Kong.
While we were at the factory, we saw one of Boeing's new 747-8's for Lufthansa and one of their Dream Lifters take off (the Dream Lifters are used to transport parts for the Boeing planes).