Bill also visited the Living Computer Museum in downtown Seattle, a small museum with a computer collection assembled by Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen.  The collection reflected milestones in the evolution of computers and how people use them.  Paul Allen wanted to preserve the history that put he and Bill Gates on the path to founding Microsoft.

All of the computers are operational and are hands-on for the museum goers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped at an REI in Seattle, their flagship store, for a little shopping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bill was excited to visit the Microsoft Campus and tour their Visitors Center where they have hands-on exhibits starting with their first personal computer to their latest innovations. It was interesting to read about the history of Microsoft.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lastly we visited the Boeing Future of Flight and Aviation Center in Everett, Washington north of Seattle. We explored the museum and then took a tour of the Boeing factory. They bused us from the museum over to the factory which is the largest building in the world by volume. It comprises 472,000,000 cubic feet, which equates to 75 football fields. We were taken to two separate areas of the building. In both areas we entered a underground tunnel and walked a third of a mile before being taken up on a freight elevator to a catwalk where we could look down and see the airplanes being built. We had an excellent, enthusiastic guide who did a great job explaining what we were seeing. We saw their new Boeing Dreamliner 787 which is being unveiled in England at the end of this month. We also saw how they are now building aircraft with the latest technology, including the use of composite materials which make the aircraft lighter and faster. It was an amazing experience!  One note of explanation:  we were not allowed to take cell phones, cameras, purses, etc on the tour, therefore, no pictures inside the factory!  All the pictures you see here were taken in the Boeing Future of Flight Museum in a separate building from the factory.