Hello again everybody!

I can’t believe my summer is almost up. Only 3 more weeks separate me from being back in Florida! A lot has been happening in the past few weeks…and wait for it…I have pictures at Boeing (ones I was actually allowed to take!)

Let’s start from the beginning (yes this is my shameless plug at delaying the pictures until the end). The weekend before the fourth of July, we decided to take in more of the beautiful Washington State scenery. My roommates, a few friends and I went on a 2-day trip to the Olympic Peninsula (yes for you Twilight fans, Forkes is there). Friday night, right after work, we made our 3.5-hour drive over there. We spent that night in Port Angeles. The next morning, bright and early, we went up to Hurricane Ridge, part of a series of mountains in the area. What a breathtaking place.

Rocks placed by an artist in the Olympic Peninsula

Although it was the middle of summer, there was snow everywhere after a certain elevation. The funny part? It was actually very warm and humid up there!!

Snow bank at Hurricane Ridge

Despite the lack of cellphone signal, we spent most of the day there. Most of the trails were covered in snow, so instead of giving up, we decided to climb over the snow and keep going. When we made it to the top, I must say it was one of the most beautiful scenes I’ve ever seen. You could see out to Victoria, Canada, and on the other side—more mountains covered with snow.

The view from near the top of Hurricane Ridge

That afternoon, before we made our way back to Everett, we made a pit stop by the beach. Again, beautiful. Nothing like the East Coast! The water was freezing!
That following weekend, we took a trip to Vancouver,BC (not Vancouver, WA…because there is one…). I’d never been to Canada before! After a short 2-hour trip, we made through the border. I must say, the officer was quite intimidating, but at last we made it to Canada! Immediately, you could tell it’s a completely different country. Everything from road signs to speed limits to gas prices are in SI Units. Plus having no cell reception (unless you want to pay those ridiculous roaming fees…), it was very hard not to get lost. Eventually, though we made it to our hotel at Vancouver airport. Yes, at the airport. Our room had an amazing view of the runway! I even got to see a Disneyland airplane!!

Disneyland airplane – the view from our hotel room.

Yep, I must admit that was the highlight of my trip!! The next morning, we spent all day walking around Vancouver. It was the Canada Day holiday that following Monday, so the city sure was “popping”! We left right after posing for pictures in front of the Olympic torch (since the 2010 winter Olympics happened there).

Standing in front of the Olympic Torch in Vancouyver

And now the moment everybody has been waiting for…Boeing pictures! As an intern, we get a lot of benefits. Some of which include some pretty gnarly tours. Most of them are of assembly lines, testing facilities, labs or such. This week, however, I got to go to the Dreamliner Gallery. What exactly is it? Think of a furniture showroom. Whenever an airline orders any airplane, they must pick out what exactly goes in the interior (seat, colors, carpets, lavatories, etc…). Instead of months of back and forth coordination, Boeing devised a way to cut on that time and stress of picking out the little things. They brought everything together under one roof: what is called the Dreamliner Gallery. There, the airlines will come in for a few days, and pick out everything, and everything is on display! They even have a full mock-up of a Dreamliner fuselage/flight deck so that the customer can see how their choices will look like on an actual airplane.

In the lobby of the Dreamliner Gallery

Now, technically, this facility isn’t Boeing operated, which is why we were allowed pictures. Now on to the fun stuff!

Stereotypical flight deck photo

We were taken into all the showrooms. There was even one that was dedicated to the crew: flight deck options, and crew rest areas. I never knew there was such a thing!! It’s literally a little room on the “ceiling” of the aircraft, where the crew has little beds or seats to rest on for long-duration flights.

Sitting inside the crew rest area in the “ceiling”

The entrance looks like a closet, pretty cool! Next time your flight attendants disappear, now you know where they went!

Pretty cool LED lighting option available as an option on the ’87

Anyhow, that is all for me this week. Until next time!