Our first "adventure" occurred along the Smith River, just south of the Oregon Border...

"Mud-The Movie"

First night - Monmouth, Oregon, where we enjoyed "fine" cuisine in our motel room.

April 9, McMinnville, Oregon, at the Evergreen Aviation Museum, where we saw Howard Hughes' famous "Spruce Goose" (actually made of birch) and many other fine aircraft. One could spend a lot of time here. We never even made it to the equally impressive "Space" museum building.

Inside the "Goose":

Common, store-bought beach balls were used as flotation devices.

Becky was charmed by this boat, made from the same lightweight birch as the Goose, and marketed by the Hughes Corporation. Becky would like to have one of these.

Becky using a hover-craft simulator.

Students in this school group made paper airplanes, then launched them one at a time to see whose could fly the farthest.

"Paper Airplane Flying-The Movie"

The model below shows the newest addition to the Museum, scheduled to open later in 2010. The multi-story building features an actual Boeing 747 on its roof; the plane will serve as the entrance to a giant water slide. They are also building an on-site hotel, to make this a family-friendly "destination."

What is Becky doing? She is flying a helicopter, of course, carefully aligning something-or-other. She is doing an excellent job.

The amazing Ford Tri-Motor. Imagine flying cross country in this (stopping at innumerable small airports along the way). Note the luggage compartment in the wing!

The Lockheed Lightning "P-38."

Hillsboro, Oregon. We stop for lunch at the Blue Moon Diner.

We visit the Mt St Helens Visitor Center, near Silverlake, Washington. It's been 30 years since the massive volcanic eruption.

There were a series of statues representing different sorts of people who have lived and worked in the area around Mt St Helens (Indians, pioneers, rangers, backpackers, etc) . They reminded us of the body casts made from victims of the Mt Vesuvius volcanic eruption in Pompeii, Italy, 79 A.D. Eerie.

The roadside rests offered free coffee for weary travellers. Washington State is very civilized.

We stop for the night at a Motel 6 in Fife, Washington, simply because it's near the Seattle Tacoma Airport (SeaTac), where we'll pick up Daniel the next day. Not an exciting motel, except for the SCARY CLOWN!) we saw scurrying furtively across the parking lot next morning....or the too-cheery bedspread. We walked across the freeway to eat a bowl of soup at The Poodle Dog, just because of the cool sign.

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