Trip to the Evergreen Aviation Museum

I'm pretty sure I've heard of Evergreen before, but I didn't know much. Turns out, they've got a lot more than this great museum. It's a huge corporation that does a lot of cool things with helicopters and jets.


Scattered throughout the museum they have these older 1st class seats where you can watch various videos about nearby aircraft. The guys are excited to get some for home use. Here's we're sitting near the Spruce Goose working on the scavenger hunt.



We arrived at the museum about 40 minutes early (we left around 6:15 AM and it took us a little over 2 hours to get there). This gave us plenty of time to stomp the squishy grounds and see cool planes like this!


They've got a little bit of everything at the Evergreen Aviation Museum. And, in a matter of months, they're planning to open a new space museum, too!

Evergreen Air Museum

Settling in for the IMAX movie "Fighter Pilot" It was loud, and there was lots of flying and explosions. In other words, it was GREAT!


Mr. Dowty (not related to our Doughty) told us a lot of cool things about some of their World War II planes. And yep, we actually did have a little sunshine (a tiny little bit).


.002 seconds later my head comes squirting out the other end . . .


Sean, Scott, and JJ keeping entertained while tour arrangements were made.

Evergreen Air Museum

I'm pretty sure you'd want to strap into this helicopter.


Yes, this is an actual aircraft. It was a kit plane that a guy spent an estimated 11,500 hours assembling. My right shoe got caught on the way in and it was really really stuck. So, perched halfway in the plane, I managed to untie it, get my foot out, and free the shoe. Anyway, even when they got some of the engine issues sorted out, they still didn't recommend you go any further from an airport than where you could glide back safely.


Mitchell, Sterling, and Bronson had fun with the simulator.


The Spruce Goose was OK, but the coin race was REALLY impressive!

Evergreen Air Museum

OK, so this is pretty much the coolest mens bathroom sign ever! (the womens says "Aviatrix")


View of the HK-1 ("Spruce Goose") from the balcony. It's got a longer wingspan than a 747! You can walk in and look at the middle deck of the plane, and for $50 you can go up to the flight deck. Maybe next time . . . :-)


Bishop Houghtaling, I found your shirt! Understanding why will require watching this. (and you should, because it's hilarious)


The museum moved up a couple BIG notches in my book when I looked at the floorplan and saw they have an SR-71 Blackbird. Sweet! Sometimes, missions in this bad boy would involve going Mach 3 (mach 3 = 2 283.62115 mph . . . thanks Google!) for 5 HOURS!

Santa Dress-Up (Part 2)

Matt's got a reeealllly serious beard, Thomas has got an awesome belly, and Emily's very accurate and well-labelled.


She's got the belt AND the cuffs. Nice details, considering there were no scissors allowed.


The final group shot. Nice job, everybody! (Thomas, you crack me up!)

Santa Dress-Up Joint Activity

OK, so it's not really December anymore. These pictures are a lot of fun, though, so I'm posting them here now! Each group had the same bag of supplies and the assignment to dress one of their team members as Santa.

"I can't lower my arms!"


Kimberly, Kelsie, and Jessica hard at work dressing Emily for the season.


Scott: "For my next trick, I will cause this hat to levitate off your head!" Thomas: "I don't feel so good . . ."


"Yarrrrrgh, Matey." JJ (and his group of Sean and Jacob) seem a little confused about who this "Santa" person is.

Camp Meriwether Weekend (Stormy and Sunny!)

This weekend I pitched in with Troop 628, which explains why this is on the Venturing blog. Thomas, Hunter, Frank, and I made the rainy drive down south of Tillamook to Camp Meriwether. We're scheduled to go to camp there for a week this summer, so it was good to let the boys check it out. They have made some MAJOR improvements in the 17 years since I was there last, most notably a huge new lodge for dining and stuff. Our adirondacks had very waterproof aluminum roofs, which kept us dry but also relayed the noise of the huge storm very loudly all night. A cool site about Camp Meriwether is here.


Well, there weren't enough of us for capture the flag or anything, so I played with my camera. I set it up on a timer on a small tripod and exposed for about 5 seconds.


Then I figured out I could even do letters. My 5-year-old son would be very pleased.


Frank was the first up, and he had water ready for hot chocolate when the rest of us rolled out. This is how you cook when your car is just up the trail. The crab cooker and the cast iron are very effective and quick (and heavy)! Mmmmmm . . . bacon!