[Jeff Higgins]

"Experience Music Project" is what it goes by. I always thought the "experience" part of it aluded to the Jimi Hendrix Experience, as that was about all that was there when I went. Or so it seemed. Still very cool.

The Boeing Everett plant tour is very cool. I get to do it every day, along with Drago. If the father in law won't go, do it anyway.

The place in Mukilteo you are looking for is Ivar's; it's right next to the ferry dock. That ferry will take you out to Whidby Island, where you can head on out to Fort Casey. It was built around the end of the 19th century to guard the passage on that side of the island into Puget Sound. Really big guns, old concrete fortifications, dark, mysterious underground passages... the kids would love it.

Speaking of the kids, we have great zoos and aquariums. Right in Seattle is the Woodland Park Zoo, and the Aquarium is on the waterfront. Out further is a place called Northwest Trek, where they have animals indigenous to our area. They are free roaming, and you ride a bus through the area to see them. It's down close to Mount Rainier just outside of Eatonville. Point Defiance in Tacoma has kind of a combination zoo and aquarium, and not far from there is Fort Nisqually, an old Hudson's Bay fur trading outpost with a small museum.

Mt. St Helens is alway a hit, but that makes for a pretty long day. It may be closed due to snow by then, if it isn't already. The Johnson Ridge visitors' center is the place to be; it's accessable from I-5 through Castle Rock. It's about a 400 mile round trip from Everett, so that may be a bit much.

The Seattle Center is always a hit. It's right under the Space Needle, and includes the Pacific Science Center. That place is awsome for kids, with lots of hands-on stuff for them to do.

Check out the Ballard Locks. They are used to raise and lower boat traffic between Lake Union and Puget Sound. Not many places still have locks.

Some one mentioned the ferry ride to Friday Harbor. It's the best one on the Sound, but it will kill a whole day. Closer to home is the Edmonds-Kingston, or the Bremerton ride. Bremerton has a Navy base that is pretty cool. Everett does too, and sometimes has tours of carriers and stuff.