Spruce Goose and Evergreen Aviation & Space museum

Oct. 2018

Our first stop after leaving Beaver Creek was the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville, OR.  They allow RV’s to stay in their parking for up to 2 nights and they have the Spruce Goose, Howard Hughes’s famous flying boat (see links below)

H-4 Hercules (Spruce Goose)

The Spruce Goose and its journey to McMinnville OR

Spruce Goose VIP Tour

The Evergreen museum does a great job and I highly recommend it if you’re an aviation or space buff.  There’s 3 building. The Aviation building  houses the "Goose" with most of the other aviation exhibits tucked in under it’s massive bulk.  The Space building chronicles the history of manned space exploration along with some aviation overflow. The I-Max theater building where 4 movies are shown at various times during the day (some in 3-D).  The grounds also have some planes on display and some works in progress in the rear parking lot where the RV’s stay. The buildings also house various work shops including a model airplane section.

There’s over 200 volunteers who basically run the museum floor and also work on restoring vintage aircraft. They're constantly adding, removing and moving planes around.  A few planes that were in the parking lot the previous evening were moved into the museum while we were there the next day.

Each plane has a sign explaining the history of the model with some basic specs and the history of that particular airplane on display.

We bought a 2 day pass, saw all the I-Max movies and stayed 3 nights.

Here’s some pictures…

Interesting photo submitted to www.tripadvisor.com by gdc4u2 (Oct 2018). 
 Wish I'd taken this one myself.

Joan and one of the massive 28 cylinder Prat and Whitney engines. 

Di-aroma showing construction of the Goose.

Coming next, The VIP tour.

Random pictures from the Oregon coast 2018

Oct 3, 2018
Our time is up here at Beaver Creek.  They didn't have a host for September so we stayed an extra month to experience the Oregon coast at the beginning of fall. Tomorrow we move on to the next adventure.  Here's some random photos from the last 3 months.

This is a 4 minute video I just discovered about Beaver Creek State Natural Area, Oregon's 2010 Park of the year.

First sign of fall, out our back window.

Moon set over Beaver Creek.

Sea Lions hauled out on Yaquina Bay.

Visit to Depoe Bay (Whale Watching capital on the Oregon coast) on a foggy morning.

Whale watching tour leaving the "Worlds Smallest Harbor"

Sun rise on a foggy morning.

View of Beaver Creek on a calm day.

Moss grows on everyting.

Early morning walk.

Misty morning at Beaver Creek.

Just another Sun Rise.

Barred owl.

Foggy morning Kayak tour.

Hummer standing guard!

US 101 bridge to Newport OR.

Panoramic view from the Welcome Center deck

2018, year of the Cherries.

Walking the Marsh Trail on a sunny morning.

Joan channeling her inner Swede. 

Beaver lodge on South Beaver Creek.

June, fresh Beaver Scent Mounds, marking their territory.

You can almost see a foot print 

in the fresh mud.

Yequina Bay, Newport OR.

Smile for the camera...

US 101 bridge to Walport  OR.

Riding the Whale Tail.

Start of new board walk on the Marsh Trail at Beaver Creek

One last Sun Rise.

Beaver Creek Kayak Tours.

Well the 2018 Kayak Tour season here at Beaver Creek is history, it's been a good 2 months. No one went swimming (fell out of their kayak) and the weather was very cooperative with lighter than normal winds and only one day starting in a drizzle.

Here's  an aerial view showing the mouth of Beaver Creek.  The next two shots were taken from the position indicated by the red arrow, looking west or to the left in this view.

Paddling in clouds.

 View from the mouth of Beaver Creek on a foggy morning...

... and on a sunny day.

Launching the boats.

Rafting-up at a quiet spot on the creek to listen to the sounds of nature.

Raft-up with Joan holding a Beaver skull and talking about beavers.

Beaver's teeth grow their whole life.  Joan showing a tooth from beaver skull.

Another raft-up with Joan talking about Brian Booth State Park,
birds and plants seen on the creek.

Paddling in the fog...

... and on a sunny day

Rick telling a story about the Spruce Goose and
the Sitka Spruce.

At the take out.

Rick helping customers get out of their boats at the end of tour.

Final presentation showing beaver pelt, trivia about Oregon state flag and 
handing out buttons.

This years button shows J. R. Beaver on a kayak tour. 
Steve, our other kayak host is in the suit.
Mr. Safety that he is, wouldn't get in boat unless he could zip up the life jacket.