Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum

This past weekend I drove down to Portland to visit my parents for a little birthday celebration. Amazingly enough, four birthday's in our family (Dad, Mom, myself, and Sean) are celebrated within five days of each other. My older brother and his family also made the journey to Portland, along with Grandma. Two days later, my other Grandpa and Grandma made the trip from northeastern Washington and I was able to see them for an evening before traveling back home. I had a blast during my time with Mom and Dad, as I always do. I was fed way too much, but who can resist any of Mom's made from scratch scrumptious recipes?

On Monday, the three of us headed south to McMinnville, OR, visiting the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum. They also have an IMAX theater, and we watched a 3D movie describing the creation and construction of the International Space Station. This museum is particularly famous for having the only Hercules in existence. You may better know this plane as the "Spruce Goose", designed by Howard Hughes. It only flew once, back in 1947, but to this day still holds the record for longest wingspan of any aircraft ever made, at an astonishing 319 feet.

After NASA retires it's fleet of aging Space Shuttles in 2010, one will be joining the museum and taking it's place among the other rockets and space craft within the "Space Hangar". Over the next two years, a water park on the museum grounds will also be constructed. This park will have the added twist of a gutted Boeing 747 used as the launching pad for multiple water slides. Sounds like I need to make a return trip after a few years.