Tag Archives: washington

Drive Through Vaccination

I have had both of my vaccination shots at this point.  The vaccination center I went to was in the fairgrounds in Monroe WA.  They had a well-organized process where you booked online, showed up, had your details checked, drove into a covered area to have the shot and then parked up in rows to allow them to see whether you had any side effects.

The first time I went, it was a lovely sunny day, but I was very focused on the process at hand and never thought about taking any pictures.  Once it was done, I was quite annoyed with myself for having failed to do so.  When I went back for the second shot, I was more prepared.  Sadly, the conditions were a bit more gloomy so no sunny day to record.  However, it all still went smoothly.

Everyone I dealt with was incredibly friendly and helpful.  Standing around all day in a field doing this sort of thing can’t be fun and their efforts are certainly appreciated.  The cars get split into lines to allow more to be processed in parallel.  I found myself wondering whether my line was slow but why this should matter I don’t know since we all got taken care of very quickly.  They write your arrival time on the windshield so they can se when to let you go again.  It’s over before you know it and I was driving back home.  Great effort by all involved.

What Are You Planning With All Of These Robbies?

Robinson operations at Boeing Field are very common.  There are quite a few airworthy Robinsons – R22s and R44s – on the field.  Apparently, someone has plans for a bunch more airframes though.  This selection of airframes are stored awaiting something new.  Not sure whether they are going to be overhauled or just turned in to parts supply for other airframes.  They clearly aren’t flying any time soon.

Lambs

Our visit to Maltby Farm gave us a chance to look at some of the wildlife that the farm has.  They have a few sheep and there were some lambs in the enclosure too.  Lambs can be a riot to watch when they are young since they have incredible energy and bound around the place.  Clearly these were a few weeks older than that and they were taking a more lethargic approach to the day.  Aside from munching on the available food, they were lying down and resting in the sun.

As sheep get mature, they lose a lot of the cuteness that they have when young.  Some breeds are cute when adult but plenty aren’t.  A bunch of lambs, though, are going to be a lot more appealing.  Let’s not focus too much on how tasty they might prove to be…

Commercial Vessels on Lake Union

Lake Union is a real mix of boat types.  We were crossing it on a pontoon rental that my friend Torger had access to.  We got to see a lot of different stuff out there.  There is plenty of cash in Seattle so there were a lot of the large boats that are owned by those with a touch more cash than me.  However, while the leisure market is a big deal these days, Seattle is still a commercial port.  Fishing boats abound in Salmon Bay and out towards Lake Union.  There are dry docks for the work that big vessels need including floating dry docks.

Towing operations are aplenty.  Tugs to pull barges up the coast to Alaska are there as are tugs for more local duties.  Fishing vessels also mean fish processing vessels.  These boats take the catch from the smaller boats and process and freeze it for transport back to the distribution facilities ashore.  These fishing vessels look pretty substantial when you see them alongside in Seattle.  However, I imagine when you are out in the Bearing Straits, they suddenly seem a lot smaller as the big swells of the northern Pacific are heading in their direction.  Not a job for the faint of heart.

R44 With a Camera Boom?

There is no shortage of Robinson R22s and R44s at Boeing Field.  Plenty of flight training takes place there and these types will be on the move on a regular basis.  This R44 was coming in one evening when I was over there waiting for a later arrival.  What caught my eye was that it was fitted with a boom of some sort.  It looked like the sort of thing from which a camera might be mounted.  An extension would be needed to bring to camera forward far enough but maybe this was the base of the mount?  It was certainly not normal.  Anyone know details about this installation?

Meerkerk a Little Early This Time

A couple of years ago we made a visit to Meerkerk Gardens on Whidbey Island to see the rhododendrons in bloom.  We decided a return trip was in order.  We were possibly a week later than our previous trip but were optimistic.  The gardens were open even with the restrictions in place at that time but we did have to pay online because there weren’t any staff at the entrance.

We had a nice time wandering around.  There were some of the plants in bloom and the colors were very nice.  However, it appears that things are blooming a bit later this year.  Presumably the spring didn’t warm up as fast.  Plenty of the trees had yet to bloom.  I suspect a week or two later might have resulted in a lot more color.  Even so, it was still a very pretty place to walk around.

We hadn’t previously explored as much of the garden as is available.  There is a woodland trail that goes around the back and over some of the steeper areas and we went through all of this.  With so few people there – we did get there early – we were not encountering many other visitors.  I wonder whether it would have been a lot busier a couple of weeks later as the flowers really came into their own.

UPS 747-8F Test Flight

This was a bit of a mistake.  I saw a Boeing 747-8 was due for a flight at Paine Field.  The 747-8I that Lufthansa declined to take delivery of has been active recently and I thought this was it.  Instead, it was a freighter that was due for a short test flight.  Not what I had in mind but still not too bad.  It was another UPS jet.  There are some non-UPS 747s still to be built before the line is closed soon and I will want to see some of those.

It was early in the day so the light was best on the east side.  That limits your options but I got it taxiing down for departure and heading out.  It was a 30 minute flight so I got the return too before heading off.  I wish I hadn’t been so eager to get back because a Janet 737 showed up half an hour after I left!  Oh well.

Mossy Lamppost

The park that runs along the river in Renton has some lampposts that are made out of wood.  This is a nice way to provide something more in keeping with a park and it is a nice choice that they made.  It does mean, though, that the surface of the lamppost is a bit more amenable to wildlife getting established.  The damp weather that the Pacific Northwest is known for means that moss and lichens will find a place.  This they did!

Fiji Max Out Over Puget Sound

We ended up taking a walk along the shore at Shoreline one morning as a result of our original plan failing to work out.  I did take the camera with me because you never know what you might see out in the water.  However, water based wildlife didn’t show up (nor did any interesting boats) but we did get some aviation.  There was a Fiji Airlines 737 Max up on test and it flew along the sound before turning over us as it headed back to Boeing Field.  I have seen to Fiji widebodies at various times but their narrow bodies won’t usually show up in the US so this was a new one for me.  Not too close but definitely good to have seen.

Deception Pass Bridge Maintenance

While on our trip to Whidbey, we made a short stop at the North beach in Deception Pass State Park.  This is the beach that is closest to the bridge across the pass.  I was hoping it might be possible to get a nice shot of the bridge but I was disappointed to realize that the maintenance work underway on the bridge has resulted in the structure being covered in a ton of material.  No chance to get anything exciting from that.  If you looked closely, you could make out some of the maintenance team up on the bridge in their hi-viz clothing.  That is not a job for which I would be well suited.