Quack! Quack!

Today, Karrie and I, along with a whole duck full of orange-wearing ING employees, rode the notable Seattle touring "Ducks." For those of you who are unfamiliar with these touring vehicles, let me fill you in on all the "ducky" details:

"She's not very fast but she's better in water than any truck, and she'll beat any boat on a highway!"- Roderic Stephens Jr., a naval architect

History of the DUKW:

The DUKW (or as we like to call them 'Ducks') was an amphibious landing craft developed by the United States Army during World War II. It was designed to deliver cargo from ships at sea directly to the shore. The DUKW (D-built in 1942, U-amphibious 2½ ton truck, K-front wheel drive, W-rear wheel drive) was equipped with a hull pump that could move 260 gallons of water a minute! It also came with a hand pump that could move 50 gallons a minute. It could climb a 60% grade and broach an 18-inch high obstacle. It had a range of 220 miles on land and 50 miles in water. It could carry a cargo load of 5,350 lbs., and hold 25 fully equipped troops.

It was shortly after the German blitzkrieg of Poland, Denmark, Norway, the Low Countries, France and the air attack on Britain that the United States realized it would have to make an amphibious invasion of Europe from England. Realizing America would need thousands of landing crafts and hundreds of cargo and transport ships for such an invasion, the nation turned to Rosie the Riveter.

After their success in WWII, the DUKWs were deactivated, only to be re-activated and sent to Korea as soon as the war there began. In 1956, the DUKW evolved into a more developed version that was bigger and better. However, due to their high cost of production, they were never authorized for production. The DUKWs continued serving the United States Army until the mid-1960s.

Okay, I had to throw a little bit of history in there for you...since I love history so much. But the history does not lend anything to the connotations that surround the phrase, "Ride the Ducks." Ducks are notorious for being slow, making frequent stops, having dancing/singing riders, and having excentric drivers who will make you "quack" up (I had to...i mean...there are so many pun possibilities)

It all began as I put on my contruction-orange t-shirt...it was all quacking from there on. We boarded our road/sea vessel, found our seats, and awaited our break from the office building in the sunny 80 degree weather....we had so much more in store than that! Our tour guide jumped on the vehicle, fake mullet in place. He proceeds through the streets of Pioneer Square in SoDo with music blarring and announcing "ShareBuilder.com" over his intercom to all the innocent people below who were trying to enjoy their lunch hour.

This ride was filled with echoed yells--"I-N-G!" (says the tour guide)..."Direct!" yells us duck riders; lots of duck whistles quacking at the "hippies" we passed; sites such as the Sleepless in Seattle boat house (which is for sale for a modest 2. something ridiculous million dollars)...; Jason's home (from the last season of the Bachelor); the Space Needle; and of course Gas Works park from Lake Union!

For any of you looking for a good time next time you come to Seattle, I would recommend a ride on a Duck...yes...it is embarrassing...but with sunglasses on...you feel an odd sense of freedom and by the end...I was jamming along with the disco music playing as a drove along.

BONUS: When you work three or four blocks down from your dad's office building...and the duck route happens to drive right in front of his office...you can wave to him and embrace the fact that for proceeding 90 minutes, you are a TOURIST and that there is no way around it, so live it up!