August 2002

August started with fast jets and a scenic trip in a small airplane. As it progressed, it saw visits from relatives from both sides of the family. On the work side, it marked the beginning of my journey with the CPR team.

August 2

The first weekend of August is my favorite weekend for Sea-Fair in Seattle. That is the weekend that the US Navy Blue Angels demonstration team performs over Lake Washington. They usually arrive in midweek and practice Thursday and Friday for the weekend show. This year my friend, Suman, and I took a long lunch and drove to Boeing Field to watch the Blue Angels take off and land.

The Museum of Flight is the epicenter of all Blue Angels non-flight activity. This is where the planes are parked when they are not performing, so it is the best spot to witness the pre- and post-show performance of the pilots and the crew. We drove past the museum and the large crowd that had already assembled. At the south end of the airport, we pulled into a potential viewing area, but were not satisfied with the view. We jumped back into the Honda and drove north past the museum to a small parking lot a quarter mile further up the highway. We gathered our cameras and binoculars and quickly walked back to the museum. We squeezed our way as close to the fence as possible and Suman started snapping shots at a blazingly fast pace. The pilots marched out along the tarmac and each saluted his crew chief and boarded his plane. On a signal from the leader, each pilot started his engines.

The preflight continued until all planes and pilots were ready to go. One by one, each pilot taxied his plane past the admiring crowd to the end of the runway. The first four planes arranged themselves in the classic diamond formation. As one, they all increased throttle, turned on the smoke, and started rolling down the runway. Shortly after the formation took off, the soloists (planes 5 and 6) taxied into position and departed.

As the show progressed, the team occasionally flew directly over us as they rejoined for the next maneuver. Since Suman was busy taking snapshots, I decided to shoot videos with my camera. In one shot, the diamond formation flew directly overhead with the soloist chasing from behind. As I tracked them they flew through the sun, making an excellent picture. The sound of the screaming jets going by thrills me to the bone. Unfortunately, the videos are much too large, so I did not upload them. You'll just have to come visit me if you want to see them ;)

After 45 minutes of flying the team returned to Boeing Field in formation. One by one the planes peeled out of their formation and turned 180° to the left to enter a downwind pattern to land. If you think this sounds interesting, go catch a Blue Angels performance in person. It is certainly worth it. If you're like me, you will be filled with pride as you watch how gracefully F-18 fighter jets can be controlled by the skilled hands of United States Navy and Marine pilots.

August 3

After several years of longing, I finally planned and scheduled a trip to McMinnville, Oregon, to see the Spruce Goose museum - formally known as The Evergreen Aviation Museum. For this trip, I scheduled the Cessna 182 that I was recently qualified to fly (see July 19, 2002). Todd & Danielle were touring the Tillamook, Oregon area and we planned to meet at the Tillamook airport and fly to McMinnville together. Before we left for the airport, I downloaded the latest weather reports for the route and was disappointed to see that the coastal mountains of Oregon were in the clouds and the coastline was under a thick layer of fog. The forecast called for improving conditions, so we decided to check one more time before taking off.

At the airport, I finished preparing for the flight. The weather was no better on the Oregon coast, so we called Todd and told him that we'd see how it looked from the air and call him again from McMinnville. We left Boeing Field and climbed to the southwest along a flight path that crossed Olympia, Chehalis, and Longview, Washington, then Hillsboro, Oregon before reaching McMinnville. The 182 climbed like a rocket - compared to the 172 I normally fly - into the clear morning air. Around Olympia puffy cumulous clouds began to build and congregate in a scattered fashion along our flight path, so we continued to climb to 8,500 feet - as high as I've ever been in a small airplane. As we passed Hillsboro it was apparent that flying to Tillamook was out of the question. The coastal mountains reach up to 3,500 feet and the clouds were less than 1,000 feet higher. I tend to avoid situations that require me to flirt with mountaintops.

As I neared McMinnville, I started to descend to the pattern altitude of 1,200 feet. The problem with descending is that your range of sight is diminished. Having never been to McMinnville - by land or air - it was difficult to find the airport. The GPS said that it was 3 miles in front of us, but we couldn't see it. I turned the plane to enter the traffic pattern at 45° angle to where I believed the runway to be when I finally saw the numbers. I flew the pattern, landed, and taxied to an open parking spot near an old hangar.

I shut down the plane and climbed out into the cool morning air. As usual I was wound up and hyper from the exhilaration of flying. We locked the doors and tied the plane down, then walked to the Fixed Base Operation (FBO). On the way we called Todd and let him know that we were not flying to Tillamook today. The FBO was a cute little building - more like a resort cottage than an FBO. Inside we met the owner and asked about getting the 182 topped off with fuel and transportation to the museum. She sent her lineman out to the plane and called the museum to rouse the courtesy van driver. Within minutes our ride arrived and we were on our way.

Riding along toward the main entrance, the museum continued to grow in stature. It is a large building, no doubt, but it just kept getting bigger and bigger as we approached. The entire front of the building is glass, but the reflected sky and clouds obscured our view inside. We could see a giant gray mass with tiny objects moving about around it. The gray mass turned out to be the Spruce Goose and the objects were people. At that moment I knew the years of longing were not in vane. This was going to be an amazing day and I was not going to be disappointed.

I was hungry, so I ordered a taco salad from the little deli inside the museum. Susan didn't eat because she needed to wait a certain amount of time after taking her medication. I ate outside on the patio and we enjoyed the fine weather. After eating, Susan decided that she had waited long enough, so she went inside and ordered a taco salad for herself. She came back outside to eat and I enjoyed the fine weather even more.

To get the most educational bang for the buck, we signed up for a guided tour. As we waited, I talked airplanes with a museum volunteer. Our guide showed up and we began the tour with the Wright Flyer replica, naturally. It was hard to concentrate on the small planes with the hulk of the Spruce Goose looming near and above us. Our tour guide did a wonderful job explaining the history of the plane; including the original design goals, the construction process, the testing, and the eventual failure of the concept. The Spruce Goose was only "flown" one time, and that was during a high speed taxi test. I highly recommend visiting the official web site. The most memorable thing our guide told us is paraphrased below.

The Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. has the original Wright Flyer; we have a replica. They have the original Spirit of St. Louis and just about every other aircraft of historical importance. But we have the original Spruce Goose. If they want one, they'll have to build a replica.

excerpt from The Evergreen Aviation Museum web site

First designated HK-1 (Hughes/Kaiser), later changed to H-4 when Henry Kaiser withdrew from the project, The Hughes Flying Boat is commonly called the "Spruce Goose". The aircraft is a cargo-type flying boat designed to transport men and materials over long distances. Originally conceived by Henry Kaiser (famous for the production of liberty ships) the aircraft was designed and constructed by Howard Hughes and his staff. The Hughes Flying Boat is of a single hull, eight-engine design, with a single vertical tail, fixed wing-tip floats, and full cantilever wing and tail surfaces. The entire airframe and surface structures are composed of laminated wood (primarily birch). All primary control surfaces except the flaps are fabric covered. The "Spruce Goose" hull is divided into two areas: a flight deck for the operating crew and a large cargo deck. Access between the two decks is provided by a circular stairway. Below the cargo deck are fuel bays divided by watertight bulkheads.

Time passed and before we knew it, it was time to fly back to Seattle. We arranged for a ride back to the airport with the courtesy van driver. Back at the FBO, we asked to use a phone to call the Flight Service station. The owner pointed across the drive and told us we could just walk over and talk to a briefer in person if we wanted. That was a nice change from the ordinary process. We walked over, were buzzed in, and met with a real live breathing briefer and we talked about the weather along our route. After a few minutes, our flight plan was entered into the system and we were on our way. We paid the owner for our gas and she commented about how lucky we were to be flying a new Cessna 182 - and she is right; I certainly feel that flying, let alone flying new aircraft, is something far too few people get to enjoy.

We left McMinnville and pointed the nose towards Seattle. As we entered Boeing Field airspace, I was told to do the standard Vashon approach over West Seattle, then turn right downwind to land to the north. While I was turning right and flying downwind, I noticed two jets flying parallel to me on the opposite side of the airport. When I reached my turning point, one had already landed and I informed the controller that I had an F-18 turning base and flying straight towards me. How cool is that?! He said, "Cessna 965 Charlie Whiskey, extend your downwind and follow the aircraft on short approach. You're cleared to land, number two, following the F-18 on final." You never know what to expect when you fly into Boeing Field. What an excellent treat to conclude a great day of flight-seeing and museum touring!

August 5

All companies that write and sell software have support teams in place and on call to handle customer emergencies. At Cisco, we have a frontline team called the Technical Assistance Center (TAC). Customers call TAC with large and small problems every day, 24 hours a day. When TAC cannot solve the problem themselves, they call our Critical Problem Resolution (CPR) team here in Seattle. I started my four month rotation on CPR on this day.

Due to the around the clock support that TAC provides, CPR must also be available around the clock. This is handled by rotating pager. Each engineer on the team gets the pager for a few days every couple weeks. It's not all bad, though. The engineer gets paid to carry it, even if it doesn't go off. If it does go off, that is extra pay. So, I don't look forward to the pager, but I don't mind the thought of a little extra in my paycheck.

August 8

For the first time in a few years, both of my parents came to Washington to visit for more than just a long weekend. My mom wanted to stay for two weeks, whereas my step-dad wanted to stay for one week. They compromised and come for eleven days. With my brother living about 100 miles away in Chehalis, my parents have to split their time between us. This time, the plan was to start in Seattle, then visit my brother's family for about 6 days, then return to Seattle for the remainder of their time.

August 9

For the first day of the visit, I mapped out a nice Seattle area park tour. All the parks were within five or six miles of each other, making for short trips in the car from one to the next.

We started the tour in Edmonds, along the waterfront next to the ferry dock. The tide was low and there were several scuba divers making their way into and out of the water.

The next stop was Richmond Beach. This park is also on the water, thus the word "beach" in the name ;) We continued on past Golden Gardens Park and Shilshoe Marina to the Chittenden Locks in Ballard. Before entering the locks, we stopped for lunch at the local fish stand.

The locks are one of my favorite spots to visit and enjoy the weather. The locks connect Lake Washington and Lake Union to the Puget Sound, thus separating the fresh water from the salt water. In the summer, they are always busy, with boats ranging from 12 foot fishing boats all the way up to commercial fishing vessels hundreds of feet long. The coolest part of the locks, though, in my opinion, is the fish ladder. Over the years I've seen the ladder both completely void of fish and overflowing with fish. On this day, there was a good number of returning salmon in sizes up to four feet long passing through.

The next stop was Volunteer Park, which is located on a hill above Seattle. According to its description, it has a tower that offers the best free view of Seattle. The view from the Space Needle is without-a-doubt the best, but it's certainly not free. We arrived at the park and found the tower. We hiked up the hill to the entrance, only to find that the tower was closed indefinitely for repairs. What a bummer.

We continued our tour by meandering through the Arboretum, the across SR 520's floating bridge to Kirkland. We picked up Lake Washington Boulevard and followed it along the lake to Bothell. In Bothell, we stopped at the Yakima Fruit Market and picked up some fresh corn for dinner.

For some reason, it was decided to wrap the corn in aluminum foil and cook it on the grill. After what seemed like the proper amount of time, the corn was removed form the grill and passed around. Well, it wasn't quite done yet, so we decided to throw it in the oven for a while. Before long, we started to smell something burning. Sure enough, our corn that was undercooked was now burning in the oven!

August 10

The day dawned cool and cloudy; not what we had in mind for the Logger's Jubilee in Morton, Washington. The plan was to go to the jubilee, then to Tom & Lanna's house, then back home, leaving my parents at Tom & Lanna's for the week. We loaded the Honda with everything my parents needed for a week visit down south and drove to Morton.

When we arrived, the weather had not improved much. We met my brother outside the local drug store where Lanna's mother, Nadine, works. We all went inside and Susan bought a sweatshirt in hopes of keeping warm. We set up shop on the edge of the street in anticipation of the big parade.

The parade is always a big hit with the kids. Last year, Tom drove his log truck in the parade with a load of long poles. Susan, Mom, Kendra, and I sat on the back of the load throwing candy while some other friends of Tom's sat on the front. It was a lot of fun, but it sure felt odd watching the parade as a participant instead of as a spectator. This year's parade was full of the usual displays: fire trucks and emergency vehicles, and logging industry equipment. There was plenty of candy for the kids, too.

After the parade we wondered through the fairgrounds and ate the usual fair food. By now the weather had improved immensely and it was starting to get hot. We finally decided it was time to head over to Howard & Nadine's house. Howard let the kids ride his horse for awhile, then we all climbed into the back of Howard's truck and he drove us up a logging road to a landing overlooking the valley. After returning, we continued our trip to Tom's house and spent the night. The next day, Susan and I returned home, leaving my parents to entertain the kids.

August 16

My parents time down south was up and it was time for them to come back to Seattle. Rather than have us drive down to pick them up, they decided to ride the train. They gave us the details and we agreed to meet them at the King Street Station. An hour before they were scheduled to arrive, we left for Seattle. We thought it would be fun to wait for the train along the tracks near Boeing Field, then race the train back to Seattle. I found a nice observation point with a clear view of the tracks and the airport. After a while, an airport security vehicle pulled up on the inside of the fence to see what I was up to. I told him I was waiting for a train. He told me that this wasn't a train stop (No, really?). Rather than argue, I decided to just move further up the road, away from the airport.

The arrival time came and went with no sign of the train. Finally a light began to grow along the tracks. Could it be the Amtrak train? Yes! I started the Honda and the race was on. The train had momentum on its side and it blew past us like we were standing still. I accelerated to decrease their lead as it slowed to enter Seattle. Susan waved frantically to the passengers on the train, but we didn't see my parents. The road climbed to cross the tracks and we lost site of the train as it passed underneath us. We hurried on to the station and tried to find a place to park. We realized with dismay that the late arrival of the train was coinciding with the ending of the Mariners game a few blocks away.

Susan left to find my parents while I tried to maneuver in the massive crowd. Ten minutes later they returned and I hadn't moved an inch. They loaded the Honda, then I fought to get back out of the parking lot as others were still trying to get in. Eventually we escaped and made it home.

August 17

Today's plans involved driving to Seattle to meet Todd & Danielle at the Tall Ships show on Lake Union. Tom & Lanna were planning to come later, so we had plenty of time to tour the ships and still make it home before they arrived. We arrived pretty early - for us - and parked in my office building. The walk to the show was longer than I expected, especially since the temperature was already on the rise. When we arrived, we were dismayed to find throngs of people standing in lines going to and fro with no apparent form. We walked along one of the lines and found Todd & Danielle less than half way from the entrance to three ships. We debated about the decision to join them, then decided to go ahead and jump in line with them.

On board the shipmates stamped our 'Passport' book and we toured the nooks and crannies of the wooden ships. The ships were not only beautifully maintained, they were also being used as educational tools. Each ship had a crew young adults, traveling the world and showing off the ship.

After touring these ships, Todd & Danielle headed home and we toured a ship with a short line. After this tour, we gathered around a picnic bench under a shady tree and discussed our plans for the day. At this time, we realized that it was much later than we thought. We called Tom & Lanna and learned that they were already in Bothell! Oh no!

We hurried back to the car, but on the way, Susan decided to get a souvenir for her dad, Mom decided the get a fresh-squeezed lemonade, and Ray and I decided that we needed ice cream. When we finally reached the Honda, we jumped in and raced home to meet my brother. On the way, we took another little detour to the Yakima Fruit Stand in Bothell to pick up some veggies for dinner and strawberries for dessert. We called Lanna to let her know we were getting close and to ask if she could buy some hot dogs and burgers for dinner. We finally arrived -- several hours late -- and found my brother's family making themselves at home in our back yard. Dinner was cooked on the grill and strawberry shortcake topped off a great day.

August 18

With a house full of people and my brother's truck available for hauling, we decided to spend some time working in the yard. Tom, Mom, and I went to Home Depot to find landscaping blocks. The blocks were for a small retaining wall around my shed that I plan to build someday. While we were away, Ray found the weed eater and began whacking my assorted weed collection. Lanna and Kerissa found the garden hose and started squirting my trees and shrubs. Susan and Kendra went next door to play with the Days.

When we returned, Tom and I unloaded the blocks and loaded the leftover wood from the shed construction. Time wore on and eventually Tom & Lanna went home. We rented a DVD and relaxed the rest of the day.

August 19

In an interesting timing arrangement, my parent's flight was scheduled to depart twelve hours before Susan's parent's flight was to arrive. In order for my parents to catch their early morning flight, they needed to leave the house at 3:00am. Since this was a work day for us, they allowed us to call the Shuttle Express to pick them up. I vaguely remember my Mom saying goodbye, as I fell back to sleep. After work that evening, Susan's parents arrived at 6:30pm.

August 20

Since I'm not a top management VP with gobs of vacation hours to burn, I decided to save some of my remaining vacation hours and go to work. Susan -- although not a top executive, either -- took the day off and took her parents on the Boeing Tour at Paine Field in Everett. The tour takes visitors inside the 747 production building, where they can see several 747's in various stages of completion. Unfortunately, the view is from an elevated room far from the action, but it is still amazing to see all those enormous planes under one roof.

August 23

Susan and I took the day off work and took her parents to see my favorite mountains; Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens. We got up early and headed south. On the way, we stopped for a quick snack at the Taco Time in Auburn. We drove past Mt. Rainier, but didn't spend too much time due to the low clouds. Continuing on towards Mt. St. Helens, we stopped again at Bear Meadows for another snack. Continuing on, we stopped again at the logger's burnt out car.

After many miles of twisting and turning highway, we finally reached Windy Ridge. We all started the long hike up the ~600 steps to the ridge. The combination of elevation gain and thinner air was too much of a challenge for the parents, who called it quits about half way up. Susan and I continued to the top and enjoyed the peace and solitude of being seemingly alone in the vast volcanic blow down zone that was once an endless evergreen forest.

August 24

After yesterday's driving marathon, we decided to stick closer to home today. Our first destination was the Arboretum in Seattle. We packed a nice lunch in the cooler and drove to Seattle. At the Arboretum, we stopped at the Japanese Gardens.

The Japanese Gardens are absolutely spectacular. Every inch of the garden is filled with some type of landscaping. The large pond in the center is crossed in several places by decorative bridges. In the pond, the large Koi (giant goldfish) swim around with turtles and ducks. Tucked away in various locations are small ornamental decorations or monuments. Note: these probably have some important symbolic meaning, but to me, they were just interesting objects to be photographed. In one particular object, a square hole was carved completely through and people left pennies inside.

After walking through the gardens, we found a covered picnic table near the top of the hill and broke out the picnic goodies. From the hill we could see the parks beauty all around us. All fueled up, we packed our cooler and headed for our next destination - the Pacific Science Center.

The Pacific Science Center has several IMAX movie theaters and one was showing Space Station 3D, a three dimensional space documentary. To enter the theater, we followed a descending spiral path inside a huge domed building. At the entrance, the ticket taker gave us each a pair a futuristic goggles. Inside we found seats near the middle and waited for the show to begin. When the show started, we donned our cool goggles and looked at the screen. The images that were fuzzy without the goggles became crystal clear and it felt as if we had entered the action. The objects on the screen appeared to be around us - we could almost touch them. If this show comes to an IMAX theater near you, go see it - you will be amazed!

Even after all that, we were not quite ready to return home. I suggested that we drive up Queen Anne hill and visit Highland Park. This park offers great views of the city, from a northern point of view. On a clear day, Mt. Rainier can be seen in the distance, magically hovering above the horizon. Mr. H and I snapped one photo after another, while Susan and Mrs. H tried to stay warm. Once we determined that the skyline was not going to get an prettier, we loaded ourselves back in the Honda and left Queen Anne.

For some reason, I still wasn't ready to go home, so I drove south to a golf course south of Sea-Tac airport that has a great view of approaching aircraft. After watching planes land for several minutes, they finally convinced me that it was time to call it a day and go home.

August 25

Russian submarine tour.

August 26

Susan's parents leave.