Washington – part II

 

Even before we got to Seattle we decided to have a look at it from above as well as from the ground. So we walked among the tall skyscrapers and drive by them. I'd suggest any visitor of this great city to take a look at it from the Space Needle tower (www.spaceneedle.com), from where you get to see a great view of the city and the surroundings. The price of admission is 10$. The city is full of people originating from all over the globe. There are traffic jams on the eight lane motorway leading toward the centre, and it made us want to leave the city as soon as possible. The busy rushing made us only buy some fruit while going to explore one of the most picturesque markets of the western world - Pike Place Market (www.pikeplacemarket.org) and then we decided to go to the more restful countryside.

 

Who would have thought there are so many volcanos near the city and they are much taller than the surrounding mountains. Among the still active volcanos the most dangerous of them is the Mt. Rainier, which is part of the national park Service (www.nps.gov). Among most notorious is also Mt. St. Helens, that last erupted in 1980 and caused a lot of damage. You can see signs along the road warning of the devastation the volcano made. The mystic landscape with hardened lava and the story of natural might attracts many visitors. 

 

Both grannies, as well as myself, have grown up on farms. That’s why we’re even more interested in the countryside. The farms of Washington are stretched around the huge straights and seem to be endless. Long roads become tiresome and a long ride can become mighty monotonous. To both sides of the road you’ll only get to see long fields, usually of wheat, with only rare red barns indicating ranches every now and again. With the endless roads the road signs didn’t quite help, when they read next gas stop is 300 miles away. It’s a special experience travelling such a landscape, with only a few farms. The people there are very different from the ones we got to know in cities. Mostly they are farmers and all seem to be relaxed, happy and gave us the feeling they are interested in meeting the travellers going by. But I must admit, that due to our strange combination, we were even more interesting to the local people and they loved taking us in.

 

Not far from Seattle you’ll find one of the most special factories in the world that is open to tourists, and also the biggest attraction of the state of Washington. It’s the aircraft manufacturer of Boeing (www.futureofflight.org), the owner of which has his roots (among other places) also in Slovenia. It was my big wish to see the factory and how they make airplanes I so often travel with, that we entered the complex. All visitors are part of guided groups and you need to pay 20$ per person, for about an hour and a half’s tour. The hall where they build airplanes in is considered the largest in the world (with 98,3 hectares of space) and each employee makes an average 3 kilometres by bicycle around the place. The building is namely so big the workers ride bicycles to get from one place to the other. They are selling their products to 150 countries world-wide and have national flags of each of them displayed. So we also found a Slovenian flag. The only limit to visitors is for children, who must be at least 127 cm tall. At the beginning of the tour you get to see two short films and then a bus takes you to the hall where the guided walk begins. It’s really a special experience to visit the factory, unfortunately, while there you won’t be able to pay with credit cards. 

 

 

Washington is a land of contrasts, for it has tall mountains, the coastal area with many islands and a lot of Pacific mist, a mighty rainforest in the park Olympic, endless planes and large cities. But more than that, it is known to be the land of hippies, famous TV series and grunge. The most famous romantic title to come from Washington has got to be Sleepless in Seattle. Seattle is also the home of famous Nirvana and it’s also the birthplace of Jimmy Hendrix. The rest of the history of the state is not so famous and not so promoted to tourists. That’s why Washington is often overseen by tourists, except for the metropolitan Seattle, but it’s still one of the most beautiful US states. The landscape is varied, from tall mountains to coast, from cities to planes and each visitor can find something that tickles his fancy.