Seattle's Container Port

I have wanted to see how close I could get to the Port of Seattle, not where the cruise ships berth, but where the "real" longshoremen work. Since we have been in Seattle, there has been a slowdown by the longshoremen because of contract dispute...unfortunately the disagreement has cost a lot of businesses large sums of money because goods aren't shipped or perishable items are ruined, sitting on the docks. (of the bay) :-)

While Donna was getting a pint of blood, which takes about two hours, I slipped out of the clinic and tried to find a place where I could see and photograph the port industry. As usual it was an overcast day, but I thought the fog bank between the ships and downtown buildings was interesting. I never did figure out if the ships were loading or unloading.

This channel held six container ships that I could see, and nearly 50 container cranes. The Duwamish Waterway is fed by the Duwamish River, so the port is a mixture of fresh and salt water between 45 and 50 feet of depth. 

Because the port is a mix of fresh and salt water, these Barrow's Goldeneye are equally comfortable in either type of water. Recently the ports of Seattle and Tacoma formed an alliance to reduce competition, I imagine some job reductions will also take place.

This piling in the middle of the river looked like it had cilantro or parsley growing out of it. Most likely seeds deposited by a bird.

Trucks that are delivering containers and trucks such as this one, picking up a container, must first pass a manned booth before enter thru this little building. I'm going to make an assumption that it's either a bomb or radioactive sniffing machine in the green garage. I didn't get a photo of the manned booth but there was a cop in it who waved me over to him. He said "who are you with"? My answer was...no one, just a tourist. He then takes out a camera and photographs me...I'm thinking like "WTF", do I fit the current profile of a terrorist? Not wanting to get hassled I just waved while he took my picture and moved along to the next photo opportunity. 

Hundreds of trucks are staged to unload their containers while I imagine they would then picking up a container that is just off a foreign ship.

I have no idea whether these containers are full or empty, but there are 1000's of them. Also in the forefront are the 100's of trailer extensions that allow the trucks the extra weight.

Little boys fascinate about cranes and that doesn't end when girls enter the picture. From the age of 2/4 little boys start building elaborate Lincoln Log cranes, now I guess they use lego's but no matter, us kids never lose the love of cranes.

Some like "lonely" cranes, don't ask why it's all by itself...might be a type of crane that lifts boats or barges for repair.

Different and older container cranes.

My favorite...very old rusty cranes, just like the author. I really don't know if they are still in use, but if not...why would they leave them up?

The Duwamish River splits at the port to encircle an island, called Harbor Island, (makes sense to me) with both channels of the split harboring container berths. Also on the island is a large oil tank farm that either feeds these trains or the trains feed the tanks, whichever...there are a lot of tracks and tanker cars.

I was surprised, and a little cautious, after reading this sign. I've heard about flying drones but not track drones.

I may of been a little cautious, that is until I saw this cute little "auto-engine". This one was stationary at the time with ten or twelve cars attached. I wish I could of seen it move, hard to believe this toy would have the traction to pull more than one or two cars. I think maybe the rubber tires drop down to help with traction, but that's just a guess on my part.

This large granary (and it's huge) on the island has a sign for a company called Puratos and Pendleton Flour Mills LLC. We have been to Pendleton in Oregon on the Washington border, and I remember seeing thousands and thousands of acres of wheat growing.

Along the Duwamish River were many marine repair businesses. This barge, flanked by two tugs, seems to be sitting lower in the water at its aft... might be the reason they are working on it.

This train drawbridge is the only one I found that connected Harbor Island to the mainline. 
This concludes my short tour of the port, if I had more time I would of made a better attempt at sneaking into area where I wasn't welcome. 

Time for lunch.

Last night I cruised the net looking for a highly rated asian restaurant that served "garlic noodles" which I love. 

Chef Liao was nearby and rated very high so I got its "signature" Chicken Garlic Noodles to go and took them back to the hospital to savor.

If this kitchen doesn't look like it's straight off a Shanghai street corner, than I'm not the politically sensitive American I think I am!
While the noodles were good, but could of used a lot more garlic, I'm hoping I won't wake up in the morning with dysentery.   They don't come close to Thanh Long's or Crustacean's in San Francisco...they are to die for!