Up, Up & Away

CUTRATE COPTER: Months and months ago, there was a Groupon special offering a helicopter tour of Seattle for three for around $80. Not cheap, but a more than half off price, and a rare educational opportunity, I thought. And what I found especially intriguing about the deal was the helicopter pictured - it was the bright yellow copter we see flying over our house on a daily basis (sometimes multiple times a day). So, I bought it.

We sat on it and sat on it all summer long. And then all fall. And then winter came. And then I got the email that it was going to expire at the end of January. Yikes! Time to book a copter flight. Christian booked it for Saturday, the 8th.

We were sooo lucky. It ended up being mostly sunny on Saturday afternoon!

The liftoff point was right by Boeing Field. Christian and the kids walked toward the copter at about 3:10 and their liftoff was at 3:15. Here's a view of the cockpit ...

And here's a view of me filming them taking off ...
It didn't take long for them to disappear from my sight. ...


The flight plan was downtown, the stadiums, the Space Needle, Lake Union, University of Washington, Lake Washington, Ballard Locks and Ship Canal, Fisherman’s Terminal, Elliott Bay Marina. Here, they're heading over Lake Washington. The 520 Bridge is in the frame.
They flew over Sodo, including both stadiums. They could see the 68,000 fans in Qwest Field rooting the Seahawks on (to a victory)!
They passed downtown and the Space Needle.They flew over Gasworks Park ...
and Green Lake. They flew over Husky Stadium ...
and then westward, toward Ballard. Here's the Ballard Bridge ...
and the Ballard Locks. And here's the railroad bridge just west of the Locks.
They flew over Magnolia - including our neighborhood! The yellow arrow points to our house (the one with the copper toned roof). And here's "hilltop playpark," or Ella Bailey Park as it's more formally known.Puget Sound, Lake Union, Lake Washington, the ship canal - there sure is a lot of water around Seattle.

Needless to say, I was quite happy when I saw the yellow copter returning to the airport, my family on board.

Afterward, we headed over to the Columbia City Full Tilt to score some very limited edition Memphis King ice cream (peanut butter, banana, and chocolate covered bacon), in honor of Elvis' birthday. While there, the kids, of course, played all their classic arcade and pinball games.

A good day, indeed.