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On Tuesday we took the ferry from Whidbey Island to Port Townsend, drove down the Hood Canal, and dry-camped in a field near North Plains, OR. The field is owned by friends of my niece Nicole.
Not much happened on Wednesday and on Thursday we drove to McMinnville to the Evergreen Aviation Museum.
The next three photos are of the campus at the Evergreen museum. The one to the left is the main building and houses the Spruce Goose. The photo below is the IMax theater to the left and the aerospace museum to the right. The photo with the 747 on the roof is a water park. If you look closely there are tubes coming out of the plane for the water slides.
One of the main attractions of the museum is the "Spruce Goose." The plane was on display in Long Beach, CA. When Disney bought the property they didn't have any plan for the plane and offered it to whomever made the best proposal. Delford Smith, owner of Evergreen Aviation, wrote the best proposal and got the plane. It was disassembled and shipped to McMinnville and a museum was created. The museum opened in 2001.
The Spruce Goose was designed by Howard Hughes and was named the Hughes H-4, Hercules. It only flew once, November 2, 1947. Even though it's called the Spruce Goose it is actually made out of birch. Wood was used because aluminum was hard to get during WWII. The plane is 218' long, the wingspan is 320'11", and the height is 79'4".
The photo to the left was taken inside looking toward the tail of the plane. The photo below is looking toward the nose. The spiral staircase was added to access the cockpit.
Here's a photo of the tail of the plane with a helicopter in the foreground. The top of the tail is 80 feet off the floor. The tail dwarfs the helicopter.
The plane to the right is a torpedo bomber, the Avenger. This is the plane that George H.W. Bush flew in the Pacific during WWII. The plane had a three-man crew; pilot, gunner (three 50 caliber guns), and radio operator. The plane could carry 2,000 lbs. of bombs or torpedoes. The Avengers sank 60 enemy ships. Every Japanese ship that was involved with the attack on Pearl Harbor is at the bottom of the Pacific.
Here is one of the bombers that helped win WWII, the B-17 Flying Fortress. 12,731 were built and few have been saved. B-17s dropped more bombs than any other aircraft in the war, 640,000 tons.
At right is a photo of the tail guns (two 50 caliber guns) of a B-17. Below is Kirk McFarland standing by one of the two "waist" guns that are behind the wings. Kirk is a docent and as we were talking with him we discovered that after he left the Navy he flew for American Airlines. He flew with my brother Don for several years. What a small world.
This photo is taken from behind the bomb bay with the cockpit in the background.
The aerospace museum is very impressive. Here's one of ten Mercury capsules that was used in the early years of the space program. Below is a replica of the Apollo 11 capsule that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin used to land on the Moon.
The last photo I chose to show is of a Russian/Chinese MiG 17. This is an advanced model of the MiG 15 that was first used in the Koren War. This plane was used in the Vietnam War.
That's it for today.
We got back into the USA on Tuesday, August 28th, and drove directly to my brother's home on Whidbey Island. First order of business was to wash the MH and toad; they had a thousand miles of dirt and neglect on both. Thursday we took a drive around Coupeville. The first place was the Ebey House/ Landing that is run by the National Park Service and is designated as a National Historic Reserve.
Not too far from the Ebey House is the lighthouse near Ft. Casey.
Here's a photo of brother Don's home. It's Craftsman Style and the photo below is of his shop. The shop has a small apartment, woodworking area, auto area complete with a car hoist, and a storage area. His '32 Ford Hi Boy rests in the shop. You could say the shop is full of toys.
On Friday night, Don and Vicki had a little party for us. The picture on the left is our niece Nicole (Pickle) and her husband, Brian. They have three sons. Nicole is a beautician and Brian owns his own business, rebuilding hydraulic pumps. His biggest customer is Boeing in Seattle.
Don's ex wife Cheryl and her husband Ed also came to the party. They are retired and live in Oak Harbor, WA.
The photo to the left is of Michelle and Ed. Michelle also lives in Oak Harbor and she has two children. She works for a local road construction company. Her significant other, Jim, was at a wedding in CA this weekend.
On Saturday, we drove to Seattle to visit two of Connie's cousins; Rene and Rickie. First thing after we arrived we drove to Tacoma and went to the LeMay auto museum. What a museum! His car collection numbers over 3,000 cars -the largest car collection in the world. Not all the cars are on display. He has hundreds of his cars and several other collections; Indy cars, Jaguars, British cars, and alternative fuel cars.
This car is a 1923 Lincoln Touring Car. It has never been registered, and it has been owned by the same family since they bought it.
This is a 1931 Duesenberg SJ; what a beautiful car! It was interesting to look at all the different radiator/hood ornaments.
Here we are on the main floor. There are four floors and ramps on each floor on the outside walls. The ramps display the special collections. Go to www.lemaymuseum.org for more info.
This is a 1931 Chevrolet roadster.
Saturday night we went to dinner at Salty's. That was an expensive dinner, but Salty's was written up in the Sunset magazine, so I was impressed. The photo is of Rene and Rickie, Connie's cousins (Mother and Daughter). It was a very nice dinner.
On Sunday Rickie took us downtown and to the waterfront. Here's a photo of the new Ferris wheel on the pier. We also ate at Ivar's, a seafood restaurant on the pier.
Just north of downtown is this great view point of the city and the Space Needle. Below is Rickie and Connie.
This is a photo of the conservatory at Volunteer Park. Great flowers, but you saw great flowers on the last post.
A photo of downtown Seattle as seen from Interstate 5.
We drove back to Coupeville on Monday, Labor Day. Here's a photo of one of the ferries between Whidbey Island and Seattle. The ride is only about 20 minutes. More later.
Today we visited Minter Gardens, 60 miles east of Vancouver, in Chilliwack, BC. This display garden is 32 acres and theme gardens. The Minters discovered the site in 1977, set out on a massive planting program, and opened to the public in 1980. There are two restaurants on the property and it has banquet, wedding, and reception facilities. If you see any plants you like, you can buy them at their garden centre (18 acres). The first photo is of me helping this fellow trim the tree.
Oh, if you don't like flowers, skip this post. I can't help it; I took lots of pictures.
The rose garden was fantastic. I don't think there was a spent bloom anywhere. There were thousands of flowers, and you could see thousands of new blossoms too. To get that level of blooms, you have to do all the right things daily/hourly.
What a beautiful colored rose!
Connie loved the ride on this turtle.
Planning a wedding? What a setting! The grass was just about perfect. In 32 acres I saw a couple small patches of clover. I wish I could say that about our lawn back home.
There were lots of water, ponds, and bridges.
We arrived at 9:30 A.M. and didn't leave until 2:00 P.M.. Did I mention a restaurant? Connie said it was a great wrap and I had the fish and chips.
Every garden has a section on Asian gardening. Here's a sample of some bonsai.
There were thousands of dahlias throughout the garden. The climate here is cold enough that all the dahlias/tubors have to be dug and stored during the winter.
Here's a floral peacock.
This photo shows a drift of hydrangias moving up the hillside. We struggle with hydrangias, and they seem to grow so effortlesslly here.
The photo above is a water wall in one area in the garden. To the right is a photo of the woodland garden.
Connie is standing by this beautiful little cottage with an operating water wheel.
Everything smells great. The roses were the best and this hanging basket had a great scent too.
Tomorrow we are going to cross the border back into the USA. Tomorrow we will have cell phone service again, we hope.
