Domestic Plant Trek - Week 1

The Domestic Plant Trek (DPT) is one of the highlights of the LGO program, when we travel around the country with our whole class and visit the sites of our partner companies.  The trip gives us an opportunity to learn more about the partner companies, and to be able to see what we’ve been learning in class applied to real-life situations.  This year visited 7 different cities:

Detroit, Michigan (GM)

Portland, OR (Nike)

Seattle, WA (Boeing)

Los Angeles, CA (Amazon)

Tucson, AZ (Raytheon)

Austin, TX (Dell)

San Juan, PR (Amgen)

The itinerary for a very busy 12-day trip!

The trek got off to an interesting start when we woke up last Sunday to find out that our flight to Detroit was cancelled.  It turned out that they were having a major snowstorm and record low temperatures (later we found out it was called the Polar Vortex).  After scrambling most of the day to figure out how to move 50 people over 700 miles through winter conditions, we settled on a solution: minivans!  So on Sunday night, we all gathered at Logan Airport and hit the road in a fleet of 7 minivans, headed west.  Our summer team Five Alive re-united for the epic journey.  Our van drove until about 1:30am and then decided to rest for the night in central Pennsylvania.  Waking up the next day, we learned that two of the vans had pushed through the night and arrived in Detroit in time to make the GM tours.  Now that’s some hard-core trekking!  

As for us, we drove through the day on Monday, hitting snow in Toledo and crawling up to Detroit through a sea of semi-truck carnage.  By the time we made it to Detroit the sun was setting and road conditions were quickly getting worse, so we decided to head straight to the hotel and hunker down.  The temperature when we got there was -10F and the wind-chill was -34.  It was so cold that the windows in the hotel were frozen on the inside!  Unfortunately, we missed all of the GM events so I’ll have a wait a while longer before I see the inside of an auto plant (we’re talking about returning to Detroit over the summer for a make-up session).  Luckily our hotel was at the same site as GM’s headquarters, so we did manage to see a few cars.  Since going outside may have led to frostbite, we turned in pretty early to get some sleep.

We got used to this view after 14 hours of driving

The air was so cold that it turned some pretty amazing colors.  This was the view from the hotel.

We didn't leave Detroit empty-handed;

You know it's cold when the windows freeze from the inside!

On Tuesday we woke up early to drive the vans to the airport and head out for our next destination: Portland.  The flight connected through Denver, and we had some excitement when a delayed flight left us only 10 minutes to get to the next plane.  We made it to Portland by about mid-day and then headed straight to the Nike Store in Beaverton.  That worked out really well because afterwards my aunt picked Cynthia and me up from the store and headed to dinner with my Dad.  This was my first time back in Portland since May and it was wonderful to see everyone.

The carpet at PDX: A sure sign that I'm home!

Doing some shopping at the Nike Store in Beaverton

Tuesday was our day with Nike out in Beaverton.  We headed out to their corporate campus and heard about the company from several operations executives, got a tour of their campus, and visited their In-House Manufacturing (IHM) plant.  Even though I had grown up just a few miles away, this was my first time actually going on the campus.  The grounds were spectacular and it was amazing to see how everyone was in great shape (it helps that there are 2 gyms on site!).  Everywhere we went, there were mementos or tributes to famous athletes.  The original pairs of Air Jordon’s, the Amateur Cup that Tiger Woods won before turning pro, and the original waffle iron that was used on the prototype shoes in the 70’s were all there.

In the afternoon, we headed over to the IHM factory, where Nike builds all the air-bags for their shoe suppliers.  This was our first plant of the trek (for those of us who didn’t make it to GM), and it was definitely interesting to see how the bags were made. 

The entrance to Nike World Headquarters

Some original shoe prototypes...and the waffle iron that made it all possible!

Where it all started: selling shoes out of the back of a VW bus

Walking around the beautiful Nike campus

Thursday morning we headed up to Seattle for our next company: Boeing!  This was my first time back in Seattle since I left in May and it was great to get back and be able to show the company off to the whole LGO class.  We had some free time on Thursday afternoon to get some great Pho and run some errands around town.

Cynthia enjoying the "Seattle Sunshine" along the waterfront.

Friday was our day with Boeing and we had a full schedule all over Puget Sound.  We started in Renton and walked through the 737 production line.  I’ve been there several times before, but it is always impressive to see how efficiently they can make the planes (now up to 38 per month and soon headed to 42!).  From Renton we drove up to Everett and had lunch with several execs and LGO alums at the Future of Flight Museum.  Before lunch, we had a chance to wander around the museum and get some photo-ops in front of the 777 and 787 engines.

Checking out engines at the Future of Flight Museum in Everett

After lunch, we headed over to the Dreamliner Gallery and had a chance to see how airline customers get to configure their 787s, with options including galleys, seats, and lighting.  Boeing made a big push for standardization of the interior on the 787, and created a catalog of options that can be included in the purchase price.  This allows the airlines to get a great product, while limiting the costs of customization to Boeing.  Win-win.  

 

In the lobby of the Dreamliner Gallery

What seat do you want on your Dreamliner?  Come here and take your pick.

After the Gallery, we headed over to the Everett factory, which until a few months ago was the largest building in the world by volume.  We got a tour of the 787 and 777 manufacturing lines and then heard about all the Boeing internships that are being offered.  No matter how many times I go to that factory, it’s still impressive to stand next to the GE90 engines of a 777 and realize the scale of the products we build!  It was great to be able to share the factory with all of my classmates.

After a full day of touring, we had a pretty quiet evening catching up with some friends.  Then on Saturday we had the whole day off and spent it getting together with friends and going climbing.  I’m not sure when I’ll be in Seattle next, so I was really glad to be able to catch up with everyone while I was there.

On Sunday we headed down to Los Angeles for some warmer weather and the start of Week 2 of the Plant Trek!

On our way to sunny California, with a great view of Lake Tahoe (no, we weren't on a Boeing airplane *sigh*)

 

Christmas Break Fun

After finals ended a few weeks ago, we wasted no time getting out of snowy Boston and heading South.  The first stop was Rockville, MD where both my brother and Cynthia's parents live (what a coincidence!).  We spent about four days relaxing in MD, seeing some of Cynthia's friends, spending time at National Harbor, and slack-lining for the first time (for me at least!).

Slack-Lining Like a Pro

If you take a picture fast enough (before I fall), then it almost looks like i know what I'm doing!

Dumpling Party!

In front of the tree at National Harbor

From Maryland, I flew down to Mexico City to spend a week with with my family and my sister-in-law's parents, one of which happens to be the US Ambassador to Mexico.  We had an absolutely amazing week down there, getting spoiled by delicious food prepared by professional chefs and having private tours of all the popular sites around the city.  It seemed like everywhere we went, doors would open and we would gain access to incredible opportunities!  Here are the highlights:

Incredible Accommodations
It turns out being the US Ambassador has some fantastic perks, such as getting to live in a beautiful home with a full compliment of chefs, butlers, maids, and security folks.  The whole time we were there it felt like we were staying at a 5-star resort, but even better because everything had a personal touch.
 

Starting the day right with a great breakfast!

Looking over the grounds of the house

Many an afternoon was spent in this pool!

Chapultepec Castle
During my first afternoon there, we headed to the Chapultepec Castle, which is situated on a hill in the middle of downtown.  The castle has a long and storied past, including being a military academy, imperial residence, presidential home, and observatory.  Now it houses the Museo Nacional de Historia, or the National History Museum.  We were fortunate to be driven to the top of the hill, right up to the entrance of the castle.  From there, we wandered through the museum and took in the great views of the surrounding city.

Entering the grounds of the Chapultepec Castle

Beautifully manicured garden on the roof of the castle.

View from the castle

Museo Nacional de Antropologia (National Anthropology Museum)
On Christmas day, after opening presents and relaxing at the house, we headed downtown to visit the Museo Nacional de Anthropologia, which is the most visited museum in Mexico.  It contains many large artifacts from throughout the history of Mexico, dating back to the time of the Aztecs and Mayans.

Outside the museum, we watched a performance of the Danza de los Voladores, or the Dance of the Flyers.  According to one myth, the ritual was created to ask the gods to end a severe drought many years ago.

Watching the Voladores

Inside the museum.  Note the large roof supported by a single pillar!

And ancient Aztec "sacrifice stone".

The Pyramids at Teotihuacan
The next day we drove out to the pyramids and ancient city of Teotihuacan.  The city was built between 100 BC and 250 AD and at it's peak was the largest city in the pre-Columbian Americas.  The site has two large pyramids, the Pyramid of the Sun and the Pyramid of the Moon.  We climbed both and got some great views of the surrounding landscape.

The Pyramid of the Sun

Climbing the Pyramid of the Sun

On top of the Pyramid of the Sun

The Pyramid of the Moon

Mexico City Cathedral
Our trip to the Cathedral was one of the highlights of the trip.  After arriving through a side alley, we were whisked into a back entrance and met by the head priest who gave us a private tour of the whole interior.  He led us around many of the side chapels and told some amazing stories from throughout the church's history in Mexico.  From there, he handed us off to the man in charge of the bells for the cathedral and he led us up to the bell tower and across the roof where we had some incredible views of the downtown plaza.

The front facade of the Cathedral

One of the alters inside the cathedral

Looking out over the roof from one of the bell towers

On the roof, in front of one of the bell towers

Looking out from the face of the clock, at the main plaza of Mexico City

National Palace
After the cathedral, we headed to the National Palace, which houses many of the murals painted by Diego Rivera depicting scenes from throughout Mexican history.

Mexican history as painted by Diego Rivera

Inside the National Palace

Templo Mayor
Our final stop that day was a quick visit to the Templo Mayor, which used to be the central temple of ancient Mexico City.  It was expanded seven different times over the course of about 200 years, and each time they just built on top of the old construction.  Archeologists used to think that it was buried directly underneath the present-day cathedral, but in 1978 two utility workers dug into it as they were constructing a new drainage system for the city.  Since then, a large portion has been excavated and you can now walk through all seven layers of construction, all the way to the central temple.

Central temple at the Templo Mayor

Chapultepec Zoo
One of our last excursions of the trip was to the Chapultepec Zoo, home of the only panda bears in Mexico.  It turns out that it has one of the most successful panda breeding programs in the world.  We managed to get a private tour of the panda exhibit, thanks to the director of the zoo who came and found us as we were wondering the exhibits.  We watched as one of the trainers worked with one of the pandas, getting it to stand, lay down, and open it's mouth on command.  By training the bears like this, they can avoid putting them under during routine vet check-ups.

Getting a panda to stand on command!

Checking his teeth!

Shopping
Our last stop of the trip was at a huge market to pick up some souveners.  We drove out to an expansive open-air market and wandered through rows and rows of vendor booths.  There were lots of gems in there, but I settled on a Mexican blanket and a coupe T-shirts.

After stopping in Maryland for a few days and celebrating New Years with Cynthia, it was back to Boston just in time for Winter Storm Hercules, which dumped about a foot of snow on the city and sent temperatures plunging below zero.  As I write this, we're getting ready to head up skiing tomorrow.  Then on Sunday we leave for the LGO Plant Trek!!!

Landing in Boston yesterday, and missing Mexico!