Here are scenes from my visit to Hood Canal on Kitsap Peninsula with friends. We drove out there on Sunday via Gig Harbor and the Tacoma-Narrows Bridge, and took the Kingston-Edmonds ferry back on Monday morning.
Photos: Tacoma-Narrows Bridge; Hood Canal kayakers; meadow buttercups; Sunday’s sunset over the very north-end of Hood Canal; the Olympic Mountains on the Olympic Peninsula, seen across a low tide level in Hood Canal; brown squirrel; bald eagle taking flight; on the Marine Vessel (ferry) Puyallup after leaving the Kingston ferry terminal; spotting the Kitsap Fast Ferry— with downtown Seattle towers and antennas in the distance, and against the backdrop of Mount Rainier capped with a lenticular cloud.
Here is a PSA* targeted at the drivers that park their cars illegally on the shoulder of the access road to Seattle-Tacoma airport.
(They wait there for arriving passengers that they are going to pick up, deeming it too much of a hassle to use the cell phone parking lot).
Well— you can stretch your legs in the cell phone parking lot, and it is actually a lot closer to the airport than that shoulder on the access road (by up to one whole mile).
Please use the cell phone parking lot.
*Public Service Announcement
I took this picture from the cell phone parking lot at Seattle Tacoma airport on Thursday night. The cell phone parking lot is right across from the North Terminal and exactly two minutes away from the Arrivals pick-up point at the main terminal building.
Twenty minutes out of Bremerton, the lights cut out and they could feel the engines stop running. The lights came on a minute later, they said, and the ship’s alarm sounded twice before an announcer told passengers the ferry had lost propulsion and steering. Brace for impact, the announcer said. There were 596 passengers and 15 crew members on the vessel. Shortly after 8 p.m., passengers were being loaded onto Kitsap Transit fast ferries to be taken to Bremerton. The last passengers were being offloaded shortly after 9 p.m.
– The Seattle Times, reporting that the ferry Walla Walla, headed from Bremerton to Seattle, ran aground around 4:30 p.m. Saturday in Rich Passage.
The ferry Walla Walla ran aground Saturday afternoon in Rich Passage on its way to Seattle from Bremerton. Washington State Ferries said generator failure is possibly the cause. (Mike Reicher / The Seattle Times)
We landed at 12.00 pm— 20 minutes early, so we had to wait for our space at the gate to open up.
Then at baggage claim it took a while for the luggage to come out— but after that it was smooth sailing to clear customs.
I just had to stop at the Global Entry* kiosk for a face picture, and stand for a minute in a short line to show my passport to the customs official.
*A Customs and Border Protection (CBP) program that allows expedited clearance for pre-approved, low-risk travelers upon arrival in the United States.
At Frankfurt Airport, the ‘Queen Of The Skies’ (Boeing 747-8) called ‘Niedersachsen’ is following us, getting into position for her take off to San Francisco.At 39,000 ft, and just entering into Canada’s airspace, with about 4 hours of the 9 hours of flight time left.Over Canada, with about 2 hours of flying time left. Our plane is an Airbus A330-300 (twin jet).At Seattle-Tacoma airport, a United Airlines Boeing 737 jet is getting pushed back for its take-off to Denver. This wide-angle view is from the new skybridge, on the way to the international arrivals baggage claim & arrival hall. (Mount Rainier, visible from on the other side of the skybridge on a clear day, was obscured by clouds).
It’s a soggy morning here at Frankfurt airport.
I made it through the obstacle course of baggage checking, passport checking and security checking, and will soon board my flight.
The departures deck at Frankfurt’s Terminal 1, seen from the skybridge that connect the airport hotels to the terminal building.Cover of a tin of chocolates in the duty free shop. Yes— the golden age of flying is now long gone, but at least everyone (with a little money) can fly nowadays, and we have with jet engines and not turboprops— right?
I made the 4-hour trip on the Intercity Express train back to Frankfurt today.
I’m staying at a hotel here in the Frankfurt airport complex.
So in the morning, I can simply walk down to the departure hall to check my bags, and catch my flight home.
The tracks and platforms for the regional trains and Intercity Express trains are on the lowest level at Berlin Hauptbahnhof: the second basement level. This is the ICE train that departed just before ours.
Karl-Marx-Allee is a monumental socialist boulevard built by East Germany (the ‘Deutsche Demokratische Republik’) between 1952 and 1960 in Berlin’s Friedrichshain and Mitte neighborhoods.
Maybe I should extend my stay in Berlin so that I can photograph every single U-bahn station.
Three new stations were added just in the last year or so to the U5: Unter den Linden, Rotes Rathaus and Museuminsel.
It was still dark when we landed at Frankfurt airport. I had plenty of time to find the platform for my train to Berlin, and spent some time in the airport terminal before walking to the platforms at the train station.
The train to Berlin took four hours, with four stops along the way.
A sign inside the car said the train ran at 200 km/h (124 mph), but it can actually go much faster—with a maximum speed of 330 km/h (205 mph).
Deutsche Bahn’s Intercity Express (ICE) train rolling into the station at Frankfurt Airport. The train stops for only 3 minutes! Get on board if you’re not at the right car — you can always find your car and seat once you’re on the train. I had a reserved seat at the window in first class, and chased a guy with a general ticket out of my seat. (The car was not full, but if I didn’t sit in my reserved seat, I risk getting chased out of my seat as well as more passengers board at stations along the way). The Deutsche Bahn app also lets you ‘Check In’ to your seat. The ticket inspector can see that, and then he does not have to nudge you while you sleep, or bother you, to ask for your ticket.
We passed by this impressive viaduct in the Werra-Meißner-Kreis district in the north of the state of Hessen.Here’s the stop at the main train station in Halle, a city in central Germany. I think this is a stately old hotel.We had just stepped off the train at Berlin Hauptbahnhof.Outside of Berlin Hauptbahnhof. The impressive modern structure— with multiple levels of shops and offices and train platforms— came into operation in 2006.
My hotel is in the Tamboerskloof neighborhood in Cape Town.
Theses pictures from my self-directed architecture walk are all from Long Street or nearby.
That’s Table Mountain in the last picture, of course.
I’m back at Johannesburg’s Oliver Tambo International Airport, and getting ready to travel to Cape Town.
Returning my rental car .... and checking my two bagsMy magnificent flying machine at the gate here at OR Tambo International airport. The Embraer E195 jet is made by the Brazilian-led multinational manufacturer Embraer SA and is the largest member of the Embraer E-Jet family.
Here’s my round trip that I made on Tuesday, with a few stops.
I thought to stop in downtown Pretoria and walk around a little bit around Church Square, but decided against it.
I made my way to the city by using the Old Johannesburg Road, and then came back via the N1 highway.The South African Air Force Memorial is a memorial to South African Air Force members who have died whilst in service of the South African Air Corps and its successor, the South African Air Force from 1915 to the present during times of war and times of peace. It was inaugurated in 1965.Here’s downtown Pretoria, in a street crowded with minibus taxis. Honk honk! all the time. Are they honking at me? you think. No, at prospective passengers on the sidewalk.This is not a tree. It is a cell phone tower.Now making my way to the east side of the city along the M11 route. Many of the streets are lined with jacaranda trees like this one.Inside the enormous Menlyn Park mall off Atterbury Street.Sign outside the Starbucks store. The mall has a Seattle Coffee as well as a Starbucks.A display in a store, offering some nice lighting options to help mitigate the darkness of load shedding (blackouts).
All went well with the flight to Johannesburg, and our Boeing 747-8 pulled up at the gate at Johannesburg’s Oliver Tambo International Airport at 9.20 am this morning.
Johannesburg— also known informally as Joburg, Jozi or Goudstad (Afr. for ‘The City of Gold’)— is South Africa’s biggest city, and the capital of Gauteng province.
Frankfurt-Johannesburg is a 10h 35 m flight across the length of Africa.The obligatory airplane engine picture, from my perch on the upper deck as we approached Oliver Tambo international airport. These are General Electric ‘GEnx’ engines. In the distance, obscured by the haze, is downtown Johannesburg, the city that is the real El Dorado (the city that gold had built). The main Witwatersrand gold reef, Earth’s largest known reserves of gold, was discovered in June 1884 on the farm Vogelstruisfontein by Jan Gerritse Bantjes, son of Jan Bantjes, and this triggered the Witwatersrand Gold Rush and the founding of Johannesburg in 1886.The ‘Queen of the Skies’ at the gate at Johannesburg’s Oliver Tambo International Airport. This one was christened ‘Niedersachsen’ (Lower Saxony, a state in northern Germany).
It’s Tuesday night here in Germany, and it is time to fly south, on the redeye flight to Johannesburg. It leaves at 10 pm and arrives at 9.30 am in the morning.
Our magnificent flying machine is a Boeing 747-8. Lufthansa has 19 of them, and 8 of the older Boeing 747-400.
I am sure I will sleep on the flight, because I had to check out of the hotel before I could take my afternoon nap of the last few days.
The streetcar on the No 17 line at the Festhalle/ Messe stop.The check-in lounge at Frankfurt airport’s No 1 terminal.The view to the outside is somewhat obstructed by the lines on the windows. I will try to to get a picture of our Boeing 747-8 as we board or after we have landed in Johannesburg.
My flight went without incident, and I took a train and a tram to get to my hotel here in Frankfurt.
Just about an hour away from landing, somewhere over the British Isles. The Airbus A340-300 has FOUR main engines. The newer jets such as the A350 and Boeing 787 have only two. More efficient (less fuel) but more risk in the case of an engine failure?
On the tarmac at Frankfurt airport— the view from the bus that will take us to the terminal.Here comes my train. The train station is underneath Frankfurt airport’s Terminal 1, and the S8 or S9 regional train will get one into the city.Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (Main Train Station).Heading outside to catch the tram (streetcar) to the hotel.A little later, after I had settled into the hotel, I went for a walk in a park called Senckenberganlage. It got to 16 °C today (60°F) but will fall back to 10 °C (50°F) tomorrow. The tower is the Messeturm, or Trade Fair Tower, 63 stories and 257 m (843 ft) tall.
It’s a cloudless afternoon here at Seattle-Tacoma airport, and I’m waiting for my flight to board.
I forgot to take a picture of the Lufthansa bird at the gate before coming up to the lounge, so for now an online image will have to suffice.
Lufthansa is the largest operator of the Airbus A340-300, with 17 in its fleet. The airplane was built from 1991–2012 and was replaced by the Airbus A350-900. (Boeing offers the 787-9 as an equivalent airplane).
Flying northeast out of Seattle for some 10 hours and 5,100 miles, will get you to Frankfurt.
I am bound for Frankfurt on Lufthansa tomorrow afternoon— the stop on my way to Johannesburg, South Africa.
I will stay over for two nights in Frankfurt.
I double-checked, for Germany as well as for South Africa: Travel is allowed; Quarantine is not required; Proof of a pre-departure COVID-19 test is not required; Visa is not required for Germany nor for South Africa (US passport holders).
So I am just about ready to dislodge myself from the comforts of my home and go board the flying machine that will take me across Canada and Greenland to Europe.
My phone is all set for international use (how did we ever travel with no phone?), my debit card for those foreign ATMs, and my credit card with its RFID chip. I already have some Euros and South African Rands (paper money).
New for this trip to the set of gadgets & cables in my bag: a portable charger for my phone. Electricity is in short supply in South Africa (rolling blackouts).
The sun sets on an era of aviation manufacturing as the very last Boeing 747 lands at Paine Field after a Jan. 10 test flight. The jet was delivered on Tuesday to Atlas Air, which will operate the plane for freight forwarder Apex Logistics. One side of the aircraft is painted in the colors of Atlas, the other side in the livery of Apex. [Jennifer Buchanan / The Seattle Times]
Somebody told her that there was a place like heaven Across the water on a 747 Yeah we’re living in In a modern world And pretty soon she’s really got the notion Of flying out across the big blue ocean Yeah we’re living in In a modern world
– From the song ‘Calling America’ (1986) by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)
The last assembled Boeing 747 had left the Boeing’s widebody factory in Everett, Washington, on December 6, 2022.
It was delivered to Atlas Air today: a 747-8F (Freighter) with plane number #1,574 and registered as N863GT.
Pan-American Airways was the launch customer for the first 747 passenger jet created, the 747-100. The airline ordered 25 of the exciting new ‘jumbo’ jets, and the first one was delivered in January 1970, and christened by First Lady Pat Nixon.
I set out from Brisbane International Airport this morning at ‘Tuesday’ 10.40 am, and arrived at Seattle airport at Tuesday 10.50 am.
We had crossed the International Dateline in the Pacific Ocean, of course— and since Daylight Saving Time had ended in the USA over the weekend, the time difference is now 18 hours.
Boarding our Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner from United Airlines in Brisbane. I spent 2 hours in the security queue (as Australians call it). All the frequent fliers grumbled that they ‘had never seen anything like this’ at Brisbane airport.The Brisbane River and Moreton Bay, shortly after takeoff. The airport runways (Brisbane Airport has two) are visible at the left.Arriving at a soggy San Francisco International airport 12 ½ hours later. These international-to-domestic connections are a lot of work: I had to clear passport control, catch my checked bags from the baggage claim, clear customs, re-check the bags, change from Terminal G to E (a long walk), wait in the security line one more time, and only then go and find my gate in Terminal E for Seattle. At the gate right next to ours, an announcement said the San Francisco-Austin flight had been cancelled.Arriving at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s Terminal A. At this point my plane is a ‘domestic’ arrival, so I didn’t get to walk across the new skywalk .. and it only looks warm! It was all of 44 °F (6° C) outside.
