Margo and Quinn Visit!

After having been apart for over a month, Margo and Quinn joined me in Seattle this past weekend. The firm organized a retreat for its summer associates at the Semiahmoo Resort, near Blaine, Washington. On the way to the retreat, the firm had arranged a tour at Boeing's Future of Flight Center, adjacent to Boeing's Everett assembly plant. That facility boasts the world's largest building by volume - the facility where they build 777s and the new 787. Following the tour, we headed north to Semiahmoo, nearly at the Canadian border. There we had a very nice time - relaxing and exploring the tidal flats. Margo got to meet many of the people of whom I have spoken these many weeks.

After the retreat was over on Sunday, Margo, Quinn, and I went whale-watching on a boat out of Anacortes. We passed on the east side of the San Juan Islands on our way ultimately into Canadian waters. We had been underway for almost 2 1/2 hours before we saw anything as the pod the boat was tracking kept changing directions. We finally caught up to them and the wait was proven to be worth it.

A pod of about 20 or so orcas passed came from a distance to pass in front of the boat. We waited there until they passed, then we paralleled them for another 30 minutes then had to head back. The trip back was just as exciting as the whales. This time we passed through the interior of the San Juans which are themselves pretty spectacular.

The next couple of days were spent sightseeing. We got to take a little cruise in Elliot Bay to get a view of the Seattle skyline from the water. We also got to get a pretty close look at a couple of container ships being offloaded at Harbor Island. The scale of the operation is incredible. These inter-modal containers, which act as semi-trailers when on land, look like toys from a distance. Prior to containerization, ships of this size would take a couple of weeks to unload. Now they can turn them around in 48 hours. I bet this put the hurt on the stevedore industry.

We did a little sight-seeing around Ballard, as well. We went to the Ballard Locks - the passage between the fresh water of Lake Washington and the salt water of Puget Sound. These are some of the busiest locks in the world. What is also interesting is that they have one of the few fish ladders in the world that goes from salt to fresh water. This enables salmon to get back to the streams in which they spawned. The locks have a viewing window where you can see the salmon, some of which are huge, fighting their way against the current. That evening we had dinner, courtesy of Jeff and Sheila, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, at Ray's Boathouse, a Seattle institution. Other than boasting a spectacular view of the Sound, there claim to fame is that they provide blankets for you to wrap up in if you are out on the deck which can get quite chilly.

Quinn and Margo flew back on Wednesday morning, but not without incident. Their plane had mechanical trouble and the flight was canceled. We then had to stand in an hour-long line to try and get re-booked. After a lot of difficulty, Margo got an American flight to Dallas then to D.C., Arriving several hours after the time she was originally supposed to get there. Of course her luggage didn't make (and neither did her mom's, who arrived earlier in the day).

Well, that's it for now. I am starting my last week and am eager to get home.