One of the more unpleasant tourist attractions in Seattle is the gum wall. That made it on to the blog in this post from a few years ago. We went to check it out when we had visitors staying recently. However, we had chosen poorly (or well depending on your perspective). They were in the process of cleaning the wall. Some poor guy was busy with a jet washer blasting the crap off the walls. Not a nice job I imagine.
When the Korean Air 747 pulled away from the gate, the ground crew all lined up to wave goodbye. I loved the personal touch. Not something you ever see in the US. I did wonder how many people on board were looking out of the windows to appreciate this gesture.
Heading through the Cascades one weekend, we stopped off at a farm stand. They had apple orchards and were showing off one of the machines used for picking the apples. It had multiple tines for sweeping the apples from the branches when they are ready, presumably without bruising the fruit. I imagine this thing can pick a lot more fruit than a person in a given time.
While waiting for my flight at Narita, I saw this guy on the ramp being wanded by a colleague with a metal detector. There didn’t seem to be any problem so I was curious about what they were hoping to find? Had he lost his keys?
On my first visit to Tokyo, a few years ago, I made a brief visit to the park around the Imperial Palace. I decided to take another look during my first visit this year. However, while I knew it was going to be hot (it had been incredibly hot and humid all week) but the exposed area around the palace combined with the beating sun meant it was pretty uncomfortable. There were still plenty of tourists though.
I walked along one side of the palace grounds near the main entrance and then along the moat to some of the more famous viewing locations. I got a few shots as I walked along but it is fair to say I was not totally in to it. After I had got a bit further on, the heat was really getting to me and the desire to be back in the shade overtook any desire to explore further. There was a running club finishing their run which seemed amazing to me as I could hardly handle walking. Time to retreat.
When I first saw images of the A350, I did not think much of its looks. The nose profile seemed odd and I was disappointed. However, something about it has got to me. I have been seeing a lot more of them in service recently and something about the jet in person is appealing. It doesn’t hurt that a few of the airlines I have seen have interesting liveries.
Narita seems to be a popular destination for the type and I got to see examples from Delta, Thai and Vietnam Airlines while I was there. Deliveries have really ramped up now so it will not be long before I am seeing them regularly. Asiana has been using it to SeaTac for a while and China Airlines is bringing them in to Vancouver. Good that I like them since I will be seeing a lot more of them. Now I need to fly in one to see what it is like as a passenger.
Wood on the shoreline is usually pretty interesting from a texture perspective. Spending a bunch of time in the water getting beaten by waves and any other debris in the water tends to smooth out the surfaces and also emphasize the flaws in the structure of the wood. I saw a bunch of wood on the beach at Shoreline when walking along the shore there and one in particular caught my eye.
Everyone seems to have a plan for getting into space these days. Some companies have more than one! Virgin already has their Galactic operation that is based on the Spaceship Two design evolved (a lot) from the original Scaled Composites design. However, they have a second approach that is a small satellite launcher rather than a passenger craft. This one is going to be launched from a Boeing 747-400. They have provided one of the old Virgin Atlantic aircraft for this purpose.
I was down in Long Beach recently and saw the plane sitting on the north side of the field. Sadly, the light from the south side was very nice but it was too far away. A trip around the field did get me closer to it although now backlit. Not far away are the offices of Virgin Orbit. The launcher will be mounted on a pylon under the port wing making use of the hard point that was included to allow the ferrying of a spare engine.
How things develop we shall see in a reasonably short time I imagine. The operation seems to be pretty significant and will need to deliver something before too long. In the mean time, here are a couple of shots of Cosmic Girl when she was in passenger operation.
When you don’t drink coffee, as I don’t, Starbucks is not something you pay much attention to. However, when you have the tourist route to do in Seattle, the first Starbucks shop down at Pike Place is part of the routine. You have to get in line if you want to order something because there are plenty of people also looking to check the place out. Meanwhile, some musicians are set up outside the door to keep you entertained while you wait.
Once you get inside, there is coffee to be ordered. There are also plenty of souvenirs which seemed to be selling well. Since I didn’t have anything to buy, I was able to watch everyone else doing their thing.
Sitting in the lounge at Narita waiting for my flight home, this truck belonging to Delta was parked below us. It may be painted in Delta markings but it isn’t hard to see who originally bought it. I guess it isn’t the newest truck in the fleet and, unlike a lot of the vehicles on the ramp, this looks like it was built in the US.