Baja and Danzante!

Danzante from the beachAfter too long I’ve finally found the time to post some of the pictures from our trip to Danzante! in Baja. We were there just before Thanksgiving – a few days stolen from the working year. We had a great time, lapped up the sun, did very little, ate great food, and enjoyed excellent company. What more can you ask for?

The resort is small enough that everyone gets to know everyone else. We sat around a single large table, and enjoyed an extended happy hour every afternoon, which ensured we were relaxed and ready for dinner.

The picture of the resort is not mine, but you can see my gallery here – a lot of pictures of people jumping / falling into the water, but a few that give you an idea of the landscape. You can download the originals at full resolution from the gallery if you’d like to.

Home again

We’re back from our whirlwind trip to Seattle. Today we went to the Boeing museum close to the Sea-Tac airport, which has an old Air Force One (707), and a BA Concorde. Also a great exhibition of first world war planes, the Blackbird, and a simulator that the boys enjoyed (twice!).

Yesterday I met a friend at Amazon and had the chance to see one of their buildings – beautiful art deco exterior, with amazing views of the mountains all around. We were pretty lucky with the weather – one rainy day and three fine, with two blue and clear. At one point I could see Mt. Rainier, the Cascades, and the Olympic mountains, all clear and cloud-free.

We did go to the Experience Music Project yesterday – the building is famously by Frank Gehry and the project funded by Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen. Lots of great interactive displays (recording studio, instruments etc.), and we all had a good time. I was disappointed by the building – it seemed a bit arbitrary on the outside, and frankly dingy and rough on the inside. I think the passion and intensity of the music it houses and describes could have been more effectively expressed. But still, it was the first Gehry building I’ve seen close up, and it was interesting to see how he used the power of CAD to create shapes and textures that would have been too difficult previously.

I didn’t take any pictures of the EMP – there are enough out there already and I had a camera-free day, just enjoying the sights.

Enjoying Seattle

We’re just enjoying a few days in Seattle – visiting the Public Market, the first Starbucks store, and today trips to Bainbridge Island for lunch, and the Boeing factory north of Seattle. Typical Seattle weather, I gather – lots of cloud, some rain, but today a bit of sun. The trip to Bainbridge Island was especially beautiful – I’ll post some pictures in a while.

At the Boeing factory we saw the production lines for the 747, the 777, and the new 787 Dreamliner, which will fly later this year. Despite being 50% lighter than a 777, the 787 is only 20% more fuel-efficient, which was a surprise to me. Still a big step forward, based mainly on much greater use of composites (carbon fiber etc.).Our plan for tomorrow is to see the Seattle Center – the Experience Music Project and the Pacific Science Center, and of course the Space Needle.