Spruce Goose & The Oregon Coast

Thursday, July 19th, 2012     Spruce Goose and The Oregon Coast

This morning we drove to McMinnville, OR. to see the famous Spruce Goose at the Evergreen Air and Space Museum.  We had been told it was pretty impressive but we did not realize HOW impressive it would be.  It was fairly expensive to get us all into the museum but as we got there we realized that we could just wander around all the planes on the grounds and be completely thrilled.

The boys had so much fun taking pictures of tanks, airplanes, helicopters....they have everything here.  We spent a great deal of time outside before we even went inside.  They had incredible kids exhibits that kept us thoroughly entertained for a long time.

The Spruce Goose is an INCREDIBLE plane.  It is the largest plane ever built by wing span (it is MASSIVE), was flown by Howard Hughes and flew only one time.  We thought it got its name as it might have been made out of spruce but found out it was actually made of birch - aluminum and steel were too precious to the war effort.  The exhibits for the kids were amazing. They had a hover craft that was computerized so you could practice flying it which was a lot of fun. They also had a computerized model airplane that the kids had fun trying their hand at. If you were able to land the airplane, the volunteer would give you a free candy bar.  We got a couple candy bars that way....FUN!  There were airplanes to scoot around on and many other exhibits that did a wonderful job of showing kids different aspects of flying.

Upstairs they had more amazing exhibits that showed weaponry and other aspects of the airline/military during different eras.  Very interesting.  There were many other buildings to visit, along with a Theater.  We did go to another building and here we saw a SR71 Blackbird (Josh's favorite).  Chris's favorites were the B17, the Scorpion,and the selection of tanks.  Jonathan liked the amphibious assault vehicles and the Spruce Goose.

We decided to eat a late lunch here before heading to the coast.  They had a wonderful cafe with very helpful staff.  We ordered grilled cheeses, soups and hamburgers to share.  When they arrived, they also brought a panini which we had not ordered but let us keep anyway.  It was a very yummy lunch, and we all went away very satisfied.  On our way out to the car, we played at their playground which included a huge rocket, helicopter and Spruce Goose replica.  So cool and a lot of fun to play in.  And for those who may be traveling this way ( and you like airplanes) make sure you stop here.  BUT....you also need to plan a day to play at their own WATER PARK.  They have a huge 747 airplane on the roof of the building with water slides that go out of the airplane, down through the building and into pools below (see the slides coming down from the ceiling in the photo below).  I have never seen something so cool.  If we had more time to stay here, we would have loved playing here but....onto the BEACH!!!!!

We drove a couple more hours before hitting Rockabye Beach.  We love seeing the ocean, and we stopped as soon as we came to our first beach.  We all ran down to the water, and the kids immediately jumped in the water and started digging in the sand.  First note on the beach....the water is MUCH colder than the East Coast but we LOVE all the huge rocks that jut out of the water.  It is just beautiful.  This was probably my second top spot of our trip that I could not wait to see and AHHHHH.....here we are!!!!  It was wonderful playing on the beach and we all could have stayed there all evening (which later, knowing what we did about the weather, we SHOULD have :)  but we pressed on to Cannon Beach and to find a place to camp before dark.



We love the BEACH!!!!



We drove past Cannon Beach (oh I LOVE this place) and could see all the tidal pools around Haystack Rock.  We will be back tomorrow.  We found a campsite in Seaside at the Circle Grove Campground.  We had a very nice grassy spot, got our tent sent up, the fire going, played some football, enjoyed a gorgeous sunset and had our first meal of hot dogs and smores.  What a wonderful evening!!!  We rolled into bed around 11pm  ( we are SO going to be hurting when we get home and back on East Coast time) but for now we are all being night owls and letting other early birds get the worms in the morning.