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The mini van is all packed up
and ready to go. Gregg packs well... he had everything organized
in boxes. We had sleeping bags, thick foam padding, pillows, cooking
gear, too much clothing, toys and electronics, laptop, skate boards,
tarps, chairs, collapsible couch, table, stove, grill, ice chest,
snacks....
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| We left the house around 2:00
PM on Wednesday 6/29/2005. We pretty much zoomed through Washington
on Interstate 5. We crossed the Columbia River and went west from
Portland toward Tillamook. |
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| About 2 traffic jammed hours
west of Portland we stopped to look closely at the map, hoping to
find some decent camp grounds. This was just a nice rest area
near Gales Creek. |
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| This scenic spot had some camping
available just past this gorge, but it wasn't "min-van friendly".
It required us to park in area and set up camp in another.
Nice place, but not our style on this trip. |
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| If we had known about this Oregon
State
web site before they trip, maybe we would have found a place
in the Tillamook State Forest. But then again, this trip wasn't
about planning, and reservations. We knew we had to be at
the square dance convention on time, everything else was at our
own pace. |
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| This during our early morning
walk on the beach at the
Cape Lookout Oregon State Park. By dumb luck we
found this great park, with showers and mini-van friendly camping. |
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| I don't really understand the
why people stack rocks like this. I first was aware of this
when I visited Kona, Hawaii in 1998. Then I was told it was
part of some native custom; now I think it is just bored people. |
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| I mean, if you are bored at the
ocean, why play with rocks, sand and water? Why not bring
bocci
balls imported from Italy? |
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| Our silly goal for the trip was
to play bocci every place we stayed. Guess what? This
was the only place we did it. Nice location though. |
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| We didn't arrive quite at 8:00
AM, but we were still some of the first visitors that day. |
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| This was Gregg's 4th visit to
the
Tillamook plant. He says he prefers their products because
they seem more real. Me, I just like dairy products, cows
and "moo juice". |
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| Just outside of Tillamook is
this air
museum. I was here in 2000. It isn't that
the museum is so wonderful, but these hangars are amazing.
It is the largest wooden structure in the world -- originally built
as a blimp hangar during World War II. |
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| We didn't even go into the museum.
We were headed to another one to see the Spruce Goose in about an
hour. |
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| The wooden blimp hangar.
Click here for
"official pictures" of it. There were two hangars at one time.
But one burned down while it was being used to store bales of hay.
(Idiots!)
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Inside the
Evergreen
Aviation Museum -- home of the Spruce Goose.
Also, lots of other stuff, including this old USCG helicopter. |
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| Inside the Spruce Goose. |
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| Neither Gregg nor I are what
you would call "airplane freaks". But we did find ourselves
really enjoying our visit to this museum. I was just hoping
to stand next the the giant Spruce Goose -- I didn't even know there
were a dozen other planes on exhibit. |
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| If you are sick of looking that
these pictures now, I'm sorry. But when I saw these two planes
side by side, it just seemed kind of poetic. |
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| The juxtaposition of the big,
slow, lumbering, publicly ridiculed next the small, fast and top-secret. |
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| I don't how big this is compared
to a 747, but it is freaking big. |
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| The museum had lots of other
stuff too, including some examples of
"nose art". |
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| Yes, it is way up there. |
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| Out side the air museum is a
small collection of tanks and stuff. Gregg was in the Army
(but he worked in a secret building under a pineapple field; not
a tank). |
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| This tiny little sign is hidden
where no one can see it. |
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| We are just discovering how the
timer and remote control on the camera work! It was fun. |
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This museum opened in 2001.
It is a funny story how I first leaned it was here.
Back in the summer of 2001,
Jack, Barry and I were driving to California. We were
driving through this part of Oregon very late at night. We
are way out the "middle of nowhere" on this dark 2-lane road going
at fast as we can to get to the coast before midnight. When
suddenly, off to right we see huge lighted building with a giant
bulbous plane inside. We both screamed out "Spruce Goose!",
but didn't have the time to wait for the next morning to see how
the plane was moved up to this inland location from the harbor in
Long Beach, California. |
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| After we left the Spruce Goose,
we took a meandering route through some Oregon farm land until we
hit Interstate 5. From there we went southward heading to
our goal of Santa Clara, California and the Square Dance Convention.
As many times I have done the I-5 southbound trip, coming into California
and seeing this spectacular scene is always a thrill.
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| We drove about another hour or
so... past Weed and Dunsmuir and camped at another state park...
once again arriving and setting up camp in the dark.
(Link to "Castle Crags" State Park) |
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