Oregon/Washington Trip Report

[BANG_OW]

Hey all,
            I just spent one of the most enjoyable afternoons I've had in a long time with Tim (Quickdtoo) and his wife, Kelly. We met early Saturday and drove to the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.
This place is the current home of Howard Hughe's Spruce Goose and many other memorable aircraft. My interests are aircraft and guns, this place had aircraft WITH guns, the best of both worlds. (plus some great nose art) We spent a couple of hours looking at the aircraft and tanks, until anorexia (sp?) reared its ugly head. We retreated to "Calamity Jane's" cafe and indulged in hamburgers about the size of hubcaps. I drove away with homegrown tomatoes, fantastic clip art bookmarks, many memories, a loosened belt, and a full day off of work. We talked Handis, hunting buddies, campfire recipes, and even candybars. If you can ever score an outing with Tim and Kelly, do so, it is time well spent and you will come away with a good realization of what life is all about. To date, I haven't regretted leaving my beloved Missouri (and wife) to work this job in the Northwest.
Don

[quickdtoo]

That it was, Don!! A lot of fun and enjoyable indeed, maybe next time I'll even remember to take my camera!!!  

Thx,

Tim

[EVOC ONE]

Good times.  Good friends.  Good food.  It doesn't get any better than that.   

[cascadedad]

Sounds like a GREAT day.  I haven't been to that museum since they moved it across the hiway.  It used to be on the other side of the hiway and the Spruce Goose was in storage.

You should try to see the aviation museum in Lincoln City also.  It is in an old blimp hanger and very well done.

[cascadedad]

Thanks to OR-E-Gun Bill for straightening me out by PM, don't know what I was thinking.

The other air museum is in TILLAMOOK, not Lincoln City.

http://www.tillamookair.com/

Thanks Bill.

[BANG_OW]

Talkin' to the local guys at work.. rumor has it the new big building is for a space exploration exhibit and that they are in the bidding for one of the space shuttles when they are retired. Who would have guessed?

[tallyho]

Talkin' to the local guys at work.. rumor has it the new big building is for a space exploration exhibit and that they are in the bidding for one of the space shuttles when they are retired. Who would have guessed?

I just heard last weekend (from a guy associated with the Museum of Flight at Boeing Field in Seattle) that there's a bit of a competition between the McMinnville and Seattle museums about who will get a shuttle. Seems like NASA, or whoever, hasn't made up their minds yet, so there's a lot of lobbying and whatever else going on.

I do know there are a bunch of ex-astronauts leaning in the direction of Seattle (if they have any pull in the matter).

In any case, I visited both museums last month with my wife and son (and had dinner with Quick, Mrs Quick, and Bang OW) and they are well worth visiting - and I don't just mean the museums!    I

Great people and great airplanes, it was a fulfilling week for me!