Where I left off in my last post from this series, Geoffrey, Vinny and I had run out of water on our hike up Mount Dickerman. Fortunately, as you can see in the photo below, we made it down safely and survived to live another day!

 

 

The drive back was an absolute foil for the hike down. Our spirits were up and our nerves were calm.

 

 

Not only were we utterly exhausted, our shoes and clothing were coated in mud and soil. Nothing escaped without some visible sign of our journey.

 

 

Even my iPhone and my backup battery were on their last legs.

 

 

The rest of the drive, we kept our eyes open for a place to stop for drinks. Unfortunately, the Mount Dickerman trail starts at a remote location; most of the drive is through the woods.

As soon as we saw a kid on the side of the road selling lemonade, we stopped and bought a few cups. It put a grin on the kid’s face and quenched our thirst. Normally I don’t like lemonade stands (I don’t think teaching kids to sell commodities of little value is a good way of teaching business skills), but I couldn’t have been more thankful.

Thanks kid. That lemonade was the most delicious drink I have ever had.

 

 

 

 

Boeing Everett Factory
Everett, WA

Since Geoffrey is an engineer at Boeing and I’m an airplane nerd, we stopped by Boeing’s plant in Everett for a quick tour around.

 

 

I first visited as a child. Since then, Boeing started producing the 787 and is using more composites in the construction of its other airplanes.

 

 

The Dreamlifter below is an aircraft based on the 747-400 that was produced exclusively to ship 787 parts for assembly around the world and final assembly at the Everett factory. The tail of the plane is hinged and can open fully, allowing 787 fuselage sections, wings and horizontal stabilizers to be placed inside.

The Dreamliner follows in a long line of funny looking aircraft made for moving large cargo over long distances like the Pregnant Guppy, Super Guppy and Beluga.

 

 

The image below is a panorama that can be scrolled or swiped horizontally. Click through for access to larger versions. Most of the planes in the center are 787s. You can recognize them by the curved serrations on the rear of the engine cover that are designed to reduce noise.

 

 

 

 

Musashi’s
University District, Seattle

After freshening up a bit at Geof’s place we stopped at Musashi’s near University of Washington for some chirashi with Vinny’s high school friend, Mike.

 

 

 

 

 

The fish was good, the portions were appropriate, the service was quick and the price was pretty low. I wish we had something like this nearby when I was at Columbia. UW students, I’m jealous.

 

 

 

 

Molly Moon’s Homemade Ice Cream
University District, Seattle

We topped off our meal with dessert at Molly Moon’s. Given that I felt like huckleberries saved my life earlier in the day, I had no choice but a large waffle cone with huckleberry ice cream. Simply delicious.

 

 

 

 

Linda’s Tavern
Capitol Hill, Seattle

As the night was still very young when we finished dinner, the next stop on our itinerary was drinks with Geof’s friends at Linda’s Tavern in Capitol Hill.

 

 

I have an interesting connection with Capitol Hill. Back mid 2011, I was extremely close to taking an offer at Amazon and living in Capitol Hill. The guys at Brohaus convinced me to move to Palo Alto instead. I can’t even imagine how different my life would be now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Red Bull Soapbox Derby
Seattle, WA

The next day, went met downtown for the Red Bull Soapbox Derby.

The derby wasn’t the primary reason for our visit, but it was our reason for choosing the weekend that we did. In the race, teams tried to post the quickest time using homemade soapbox cars that are powered by nothing but gravity. When it’s a team’s turn, they are given a few minutes to perform a skit related to their theme and then must launch their car down the street. Watch Red Bull’s video below to see how it went.

 

 

Before the start of the race, all teams exhibited their cars at the top of the hill just like a paddock tour in F1 or Le Mans. The teams had a chance to show off their workmanship and creativity while trying to win the crowd’s favorite vote.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some teams even handed out cards autographed by the drivers.

 

 

While at the race, we grabbed lunch at Napkin Friends, a food truck that sells sandwiches that are half latke, half panini.

 

 

 

 

 

There were plenty of thrilling and humorous moments.

 

 

And there were about as many spills and crashes.

 

 

If the Red Bull Soapbox derby comes to your town, go see it. It’s a great way to connect with the community and watch people do stupidly hilarious things. I had an amazing time and I’m sure you will too.

 

 

Stay tuned folks. I’ll be publishing the last post of this series next week with some photos of the streets and architecture around Seattle.