Howard Hughes' Spruce Goose

This iconic plane was the main draw for us to go and visit the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon. As soon as you enter the museum the Spruce Goose dominates the space. It's the largest flying boat ever constructed, and to this day has the largest wingspan of any aircraft ever built. While all of the planes were incredible, it's not every day that you get to see such a memorable piece of aviation history up close.

Howard Hughes' H-4 Hercules was built between 1943-1947, and was dubbed the Spruce Goose because it was made largely out wood. Metal was in short supply during the war, but despite the plane's nickname it's actually made out birch - not spruce. The H-4's only flight took place on November 2, 1947 in the Long Beach harbor, where it flew approximately 70 ft. above the water piloted by Hughes.

Mike and I walked around the plane numerous times and viewed the interior cargo bay, unfortunately you have to schedule a time to view the cockpit for an additional charge. I was interested, but the waiting list was too long so we had to pass it up. Still, it was a lot of fun taking pictures. We both left talking about how we couldn't wait to watch The Aviator again, and I bought myself a miniature Spruce Goose in the gift shop.

Rear compartment of the plane.

Cape Meares Lighthouse on the Oregon Coast

The beauty of the Pacific coastline is something I really can't downplay. We drove out to Cape Meares twice on our road trip. Our first visit was later in the day when fog was covering the coast. It crept between the moss covered trees and created a rather mystical and eerie scene. In addition to this, the winds off the ocean and sound of the water hitting the cliffs only made the scene more dramatic.

The second visit was earlier in the morning when the sun was shining. The contrast between the two trips gave us a completely different perspective. With the coastline clear we finally got a look at the impressive cliffs that surrounded the area. We also timed our visit better the second time around as the Cape Meares Lighthouse was actually open and we were able to go inside (more pictures to come). 

Built in 1890, the Cape Meares Lighthouse is now a fairly popular site along the Oregon coast. It was deactivated in 1963 and sat vacant for several years before the park was established. Recently, the lighthouse has been receiving some renovations after vandals damaged the building by shooting bullets into the lens in 2010. Thankfully, they were captured and the repairs are underway. It's clearly a building worth preserving, and the park was a lot of fun to explore.