Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Penultimate Space Shuttle Flight

The Endeavour lifted off for the last time yesterday, and the Atlantis mission in July will bring the Space Shuttle era to a close. Regardless of one's thoughts about the space program and its future, pictures like this are pretty awesome:


This photo was taken by Stefanie Gordon as her plane came in for landing.

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Introducing Washington to Brianna (and Vice Versa)

I made it back home during the first week of May, and I took Brianna with me. We did quite a bit, including a family dinner at the revolving restaurant at the top of the Space Needle, touring Boeing, and driving around Washington State.

Honestly, I've missed seeing clouds in the sky.

The first Saturday, Brianna and I toured around Everett, including a visit to the opening of the Shack Art Center. Sunday we attended the church I grew up in, and all the relatives and family friends wanted to meet Brianna. Later, Dad took Brianna up for a flight in his airplane, so she got to see the mountains, ocean and islands from the air. During the week we visited Boeing and went on the tour. I really enjoyed seeing the "assembly lines" for the massive planes. We also drove up north to Whidbey Island via the Deception Pass bridge on a beautiful day.


On Thursday, we took the train down to Seattle and visited Pike Place Market and the International District. We even got to see some fish being thrown at the fish market!


Friday we went on a drive to Leavenworth, crossing Steven's Pass to Eastern Washington and stopping twice for walks along the river, both of which were new to me.


Saturday was one of my favorites: We met up with my good friends Max and Jess and went to a Star Wars exhibit at the Pacific Science Center. We were all nerds enough to really enjoy it, and I particularly geeked out. In the evening we had a family dinner with Grandma, followed by a dessert where several of my aunts and uncles came over to visit.


On Sunday, we visited a new church my parents have been attending recently before having Mother's Day brunch and leaving for the airport. The entire visit was a lot of fun, and Brianna had a really good introduction to Washington State. I'm looking forward to my next visit!


There are a lot more photos with comments on my Picasa page. And, for a better idea of all the touring we did, you can check out the photos laid out on a map.