The Everett Boeing plant is the largest building in
the world.  At a mind boggling 93 acres, it is large
enough to hold 75 football stadiums.  Or Disneyland,
complete with 12 acres of covered parking thrown
in for good measure.  A self-contained city, it
has its own freeway, railway station, fire station,
bank, childcare center, 6 Tully coffee stands, and
19 cafeterias pumping out 17,000 meals a day.
Widebody jets 747, 767, 777, and the new 787 Dreamliner
 are assembled here by 30,000 workers a day, 24/7.
(Photo courtesty of Boeing, as cameras are a no no.)
You might expect a building this massive to have huge heating
 and A/C bills, but it doesn’t.  The Pacific NW is so
temperate that if it’s hot they just open the doors.
In the winter, enough heat is provided by thousands
 of workers with power tools and millions of overhead
 lights. They did have to install an air circulation system,
to prevent clouds from forming near the ceiling and
 raining on the airplanes.  This building is so large,
it was creating its own WEATHER.
Checking out a mockup of the new 787 Dreamliner
interior.  Cool features include: larger windows,
 60% quieter interior, air filtration to remove
bacteria and odors, higher cabin humidity,
more headroom and more legroom.  Boeing is
highly confident that the spate of electrical
mishaps due to advanced battery design have
been overcome.
Off to Poulsbo, aka “Little Norway”
where Olav and Karen had a taste
of home.
These Vikings look so happy, like they never could
cause any trouble at all…
We did eat breakfast in Poulsbo,
but thankfully skipped the Cream
of Lutefisk soup.  May the Norse
be with you!

           

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