POST 1518; BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON; 01-22-16

BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON ....... ONE OF THE FINEST SMALL CITIES IN AMERICA.

Population growth from 35,000 in 1987 (when I first arrived - to 80,000 + in 2016.

A depressed neighborhood is not to be found.

A trail IS found to lead wherever one may wish to go.

Tranquil lakes are fed by tranquil streams of crystal waters in all directions.

Want to meet Indigenous residents ....?   We share a common town boundary.

Desire SCUBA DIVING ... SAILING ... SKIING ... KAYAKING ... MOUNTAIN CLIMBING ...

EXCELLENT CUISINE ... TRAVEL BY CRUISE SHIP (10 minutes from downtown)  ... BY AIR (10

minutes from downtown) ... BY CAR ( 30 minutes to CANADA)

 ... GLACIERS ???   Ten Glaciers grace the tops of our nearby OLYMPIC MOUNTAINS

 ... EXPLORE INLAND SEASHORES ( Begin downtown and keep going for hundreds of miles ...

picking CLAMS, OYSTERS, and how 'bout a few varieties of CACTUS for good measure on theway

TO SAY NOTHING OF BIG GAME HUNTING and EXTREME FISHING in SALT WATER and

FRESH a short WALK from your FRONT DOOR !   and in our DESERT a 2 - hour DRIVE distant.

OH YES,  TWO Active VOLCANOES are VISIBLE from our modest in-town hills .

How to find such a bountiful place ???

From ANYPLACE in the LOWER 48 STATES of America ...

      - Drive - or walk North to the CANADIAN BORDER ...

      - Hang a Left Turn

      - Follow the Setting SUN until reaching Salt Water

      - YOU HAVE ARRIVED IN BELLINGHAM !

BELLINGHAM is a SEAPORT.  We are, in fact, the last undeveloped DEEP WATER SEAPORT on the West Coast of America.

YACHTS - Motor and Sail crowd our constantly improving and expanding Pleasure and Commercial MARINAS ... Yes we have many in various locations.

Not to worry about BOATING SEASON.  Boating is a YEAR-ROUND pursuit, with hundreds of miles of uninterrupted waterways and 172 of our own idyllic ISLANDS chock full of Marine Life  ...

Marine Life of the kind to EAT and to ADMIIRE up close and personal.

One of our city POLICE Boats.  WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON STATE, USCOAST GUARD, and US NAVY are plentiful with latest technological equipment to keep us all protected and tranquil at night.

These Folks call BELLINGHAM "HOME" Too.

Above image is a tiny piece of just one of our local high-tech Marinas.
The shaded distant mountain is our local VOLCANO, Mount BAKER.

Mount RAINIER is 150 miles South and a bit to the right.  Three more Washington State Volcanoes, including the recently EXPLODED Mount St. HELENS, lie some 200 miles South of us.

We have some rather classy Hotels gracing our Town, Sea Shore and International Airport.

If you wanna, you can WALK all day in town and our waterfront without covering the same ground more than once.

"ISLE A'HOY "

LUMMIE ISLAND, one of the largest , but by no means the closest to BELLINGHAM.  This small Island lying in front of LUMMIE Island sports it's own airport and is a treasure Store for DUNGENESS CRABS (in SEASON, of course)

BELLINGHAM BAY looking WEST and a bit South ... or as we mariners say ..."a heading of South West...";   which just happens to be the direction from which the "Prevailing Wind" blows ... called by locals "...The PINEAPPLE EXPRESS."

Another view of BELLINGHAM BAY.  the City extends to include that distant Peninsula of land.

RIP RAP Rock forming the SEA WALL protecting our yacht Marina.

Winds in excess of 100 miles per hour are not uncommon on BELLINGHAM BAY.

MONUMENT Dedicated to BELLINGHAM Commercial Fishermen. 

BELLINGHAM Commercial Fishing Fleet.

These "BOATS" are "GILL NETTERS" which spread floating nets around migrating SALMON as they cross BELLINGHAM Bay on their way to local rivers in which they spawn after spending 3 to 5 years in the deep Ocean Waters ... often traveling to waters off the East Coast of RUSSIA's SIBERIA before returning to the river in which they were hatched ... often, to the exact spot they began life.

BELLINGHAM's New FIRE BOAT.

Pile of GILL NETS ready to load aboard the boats.

A Marina Waterfront Restaurant...one of many from which to choose in BELLINGHAM Marina District.

Private yacht fleet in "SLIPS" in front of the two Yacht Club Houses.

SQUALICUM YACHT CLUB HOUSE.  BELLINGHAM YACHT CLUB HOUSE is next door.

WELCOME to the FAIRHAVEN District of BELLINGHAM...

FAIRHAVEN is a true HISTORIC villige joining BELLINGHAM over 100 years ago.

FAIRHAVEN is today the WATER and LAND transportation HUB of the City.

The Airport is some 5 miles North of the more "Commercial" district of BELLINGHAM.

Following images are of FAIRHAVEN, which is growing like a young teenager ... retaining the historic image and culture everyone finds so desireable.

Took a few moments to visit one of BELLINGHAM' many Breweries...a good "Old German DARK Beer".

A HAWK Nest along the 3 - mile Marine ( over- the- water)"WALKWAY" connecting FAIRHAVEN with downtown and Marina District of the larger part of BELLINGHAM.

A MASS of BLACKBERRY VINES.

In JULY, one can pick a gallon of delicious Blackberries in as little as 10 minutes OR LESS !

Blackberry Vines grow profusely on EVERY SINGLE AVAILABLE SUN DRENCHED BIT OF HILLSIDE ... literally trillions of berries for any who wish to pick them.

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POST 1517; TACOMA, WASHINGTON; 01-18-2016

A very pleasant visit has been shared with my SON RON, GRANDSON BRADEN, AND SHARON, MY # 2, ( MOM and GRANDMA) who treated us Boys to one of her delicious Sunday Dinners.

BRADEN is employed by WAL-MART, SHARON is a Nurse for the past 42 years (I treated her to  LPN Nurse's Schooling ... seems like two lifetimes ago ..., and RON is battling back injuries and DIABETES the past many years;  all in all, we are OK.

As the City of TACOMA is only 5 miles from RON's home in FEDERAL WAY, Washingto, I have used free hours to visit the Port of TACOMA.  From 1964 'til 1970, I was employed as Contracts Manager at STAR IRON and STEEL in TACOMA, a major World Class CRANE Manufacturing Company, .

Major equipment SIS designed and manufactured were CRANES, especially CONTAINER CRANES serving various Sea Ports Loading and Unloading Container SHIPS in the early days of Containerization and the LAND BRIDGE across America.

The PORT of TACOMA has evolved into a SUPER CONTAINER PORT since my absence.

Following Blog update depicts TACOMA's PORT, at this moment, in the throes of modernization and expansion. 

Among other achievements at the Port of TACOMA is development of technology of design and manufacture of massive CONCRETE Structural Beams, Girders and Vessels ... also introduced in this Blog Update.

Above is a massive "Gantry Crane working the manufacturing Plant of  ...

CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY CORPORATION ...

Concrete Beam Nameplate

Acceptance - APPROVED FOR SHIPMENT - by Washington State Department of Transportation - of a huge CONCRETE BEAM manufactured by CONCRETE TECHNOLOGY CORP.

In manufacturing of massive structural concrete beams, steel rods protruding from the Concrete Beam are known as "RE BARS"

RE BARS = Reinforcing Bars, an integral part of virtually all Structural Concrete creations.

Such construction methods are found in Sky Scraper Buildings, River and Freeway Bridges (SEATTLE's FLOATING BRIDGES are manufactured from CONCRETE), and ... 

...during World War Two, many ships and barges were manufactured from CONCRETE !

...example of large structural Concrete Shapes laced with RE BAR Steel Rods.

Gantry Cranes of a design and manufacture by my old employer, Star Iron and Steel.

Overhead Traveling BRIDGE CRANE at work in the Concrete Manufacturing Plant of Concrete Technology Corp.

As an aside ...

Employed by LOCKHEED AIRCRAFT CORPORATION, Crane Division, SEATTLE, Washington - during my years before employment by SIS, we designed, built, and supervised installation of the TRAVELING BRIDGE CRANE for the MISSILE ASSEMBLY BUILDING at CAPE CANAVERAL (KENNEDY SPACE CENTER), Florida.

This CRANE was developed to assemble and load the SATURN ROCKET on the CRAWLER for the many MOON MISSIONS.  This Crane Statistics are:

300 TON LIFT CAPACITY - 150 Tonnes on each of two TROLLEYS.
300 FOOT CLEAR SPAN between the two main TRAVEL ASSEMBLIES
300 FOOT HIGH installation in the massive MAB - MISSILE ASSEMBLY BUILDING

... all before and without computer assistance ...

  ....with an accuracy of 1 / 64 inch at maximum load and reach ; i.e., 300 ton at 3oo feet elevation !

Another view of the CONCRETE Technology Factory Bridge Crane.

The above image is a good rendering of a CONTAINER PORT Activity.

Center distant sits an ocean going CONTAINER SHIP ... Containers being OFF - LOADED from the Ship by Traveling Horizontal Boom CONTAINER CRANE in the act of carrying a container to the waiting dock transporter parked between the legs of Container Crane.

The Shore side transporter can be a simple Highway Flatbed Trailer, a Mobile Container Transporter _ which is DRIVEN to any spot in the Container Yard, or on a railroad car equipped to receive containers.

Containers loaded on specially designed flatbed railroad cars.  Such cars join up to 100 similar flatbed railroad cars for transport from TACOMA, Washington to an East Coast Container port (called the LAND BRIDGE), where the containers are re-loaded on a Container Ship destined for a Container Port across another Ocean.

The LAND BRIDGE Concept saves time (Months) and $$  moving Containers from around the World across the USA by RAIL instead of through the Panama Canal or around Cape Horn.

Mobile Traveling Gantry Crane.

This steerable heavy lift vehicle has found employment in Container Terminals, in Marinas - to lift and transport BOATS - , and even in the CONCRETE BEAM Storage yard (see 6th image from the top above).

Mobile Container Transporter / Stacker.

This vehicle has an over-the-shoulder BOOM mounted "SPREADER".  The SPREADER latches on to the top of the CONTAINER which is carried cantilevered in front of the driver.

In addition to good driver visibility, this equipment, rated at 99,000 pound capacity, handles 48 - ton loaded containers.

The above vehicle is a "Fork Lift" design Container Transporter / Stacker.

Intended for light load duty, this machine handles ONLY "Empty" or lightly loaded Containers.

Level-Luffing Slewing (Rotating) Traveling Gantry Cranes:

As the LOAD is LUFFED IN or OUT (moved closer or away) from the Crane, it (the load) remains at the same elevation automatically.  A popular concept some 75 years ago.

A Container Trailer.

The CONTAINER Terminal imaged in this Blog Update was "WUT".

TACOMA claims "ownership" of the world -famous Mount RAINIER ... and with good reason.

This photo is taken from the PORT OF TACOMA. 

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Do not have an agenda to continuing our Walk ... at the moment.

Must once again dally ... awaiting next month Social Security $$ to catch up.

Previous difficulties reported threw us a major limitation.

We are recovering, but with caution.