The wrong place & the right place - on to Cannon Beach

Wednesday July 14, 2010

I won't talk much about the unfortunate side trip to an outlet mall in Troutdale that I had wanted to revisit for years, but has now been added to our growing list of places we don't need to go back to. I expected heavy traffic around Portland, but through Tigard both ways was excruciating. Thus, this 'little' jaunt used up a major chunk of our day.

We returned through McMinnville where we had checked out of the hotel that morning and, after stopping for a bite to eat, headed to the coast then up toward Cannon Beach.

It was after suppertime that we were driving along still with no place to stay. The worrywart side of me thought, "Are you crazy?! It's July. In Cannon Beach! What are you thinking?" But mostly I was enjoying the drive and was strangely unworried. It just felt like everything would be okay.

As we were talking about how we felt like we didn't need to revisit so many places that we used to like, I said, "With things being so backward, wouldn't it be funny if Cannon Beach wound up being the highlight of the trip?" That may sound odd since so many people love Cannon Beach, but something about it always left me a bit cold. Not the beach itself, which is spectacular, but the rest of it.

Well, this change of opinion was about to happen.

Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum - outside

Wednesday July 14, 2010
McMinnville, Oregon

Third in the list of places we don't feel the need to revisit (along with La Conner and Leavenworth) comes as a surprise - the Evergreen Aviation Museum.

This was at least our 3rd visit to this museum; the first was probably in 2002. There have been a number of changes since the last time we were here. As stunning as the place is, it's becoming a little too theme-park-like for our tastes.

We didn't remember this building across the highway from the museum but it belongs to Evergreen as well.

I like the hedge across from it that spells 'Evergreen'. More attention-grabbing is the 747 (!!) on the roof of a building to the left of the aviation museum.

It is to become the 'Wings & Waves Water Park' where people will be able to slide out of the airplane into a pool. There are plans for a resort hotel and, yes, they have vineyards too.

The 'Spruce Goose' is in this building.

New to us - we like the addition of runway numbering on the driveway up to the aviation museum.

Later additions were the IMAX theatre (above, right) and more recently the Space Museum (left, opposite aviation museum) which is housed in a building identical to the Aviation Museum. We didn't even go in the Space Museum.

On the walkway between museums are inlaid planets and information about each one.

It seems that no expense has been spared... but if you want a cup of coffee in the place before 11:00 am, you're out of luck.

A change of plan

Cascade Loop Scenic Highway

Leavenworth was the second entry on our newly formed list of places we don't need to go back to. Not only did I discover that I missed having a view of Blackbird Island, but we could not get the same room at the inn for two nights in a row and it was blazing hot outside. Returning to the coast sounded like a good plan. Since we seem to have fun around airplanes and it was too soon to go home, we decided to drive south to Oregon to visit a couple of air museums.

There is no easy, direct route from Leavenworth to the Oregon coast. We would have to drive back through the mountains one way or another so we decided to complete most of the Cascade Loop by heading southeast, then north, and west to get back onto the I-5. I was curious to see what was up there. So, on the map we'd be leaving region 3, driving through regions 4 to 8, and skipping region 9. With any luck, we'd be spending the next night back in the Holiday Inn in Marysville.

La Conner, Washington

Saturday July 10, 2010

If there was a theme on this trip it was that there are a few places we don't need to go back to. La Conner was such a place.

It was too hot to spend the entire day at the fly-in. We wanted to see the airshow in the afternoon and the balloons in the evening, so we used the morning to visit an outlet mall and also La Conner. The little town, which is about 55 miles north of Seattle, was named for an early settler's wife, L.A. Conner. When I first visited with Mom many years ago, it was a lively place with interesting stores. We had fun. Now it seems as if it has had its day - some shops sit empty. It has a pretty good book store though.

The town sits on the Swinomish Channel.

Back when my Mom and I visited, the Hotel Planter (bottom left) was just being renovated. I remember watching a fellow paint the name on the side of the building. The antiques store (top left) that was there then, still exists.

A courtyard on the main street.

I hiked up stairs on a cliff to get to a higher area. At the top is the Quilt & Textile Museum (left) and a church (lower right). Upper right: down in the town were some watercolour paintings.

An odd sign. Apparently the town is known for its wild turkeys.

This part of Washington is a big tulip growing area so it would still be nice to see in springtime.