By Sea Or By Air

I decided to head west yesterday.  And the limit to going west on land from my home is around sixty miles as the crow flies.

Camp Winema Overlook

Since the past few days have been days of record heat I could dress light and head down to the beach in Pacific City.

This very large and open beach area allows for cars to use a ramp down to the hard and wet sand and kayakers to practice their ocean going skills.

Notice The Kayaker In The Lower Left

The Pelican Pub and Brewery is also located right on the beach and is a favorite of many that make the trip.

And when I'm at a location such as this I like to capture an panorama of the expanse.

Click The Image For A Larger View

To the north about fifty miles is Tillamook, Oregon.  Famous for their cheese factory and air museum.

Cape Meares Lighthouse is also nearby.

Since Sue and I had just been to the lighthouse a year ago I decided to revisit the air museum.  I had been there about sixteen years ago and I was wondering what if anything had changed over those years.

The first very obvious aircraft is the Areo Spacelines Mini-Guppy

They now provide a staircase so you can get inside its huge interior.  It's so big you could have a small football game and even make some passes.

But the Guppy will never fly again.  It has been outside and nothing has been done to prevent the moss from growing on it everywhere or from the aluminum from corroding and the mechanical seals from failing.

And much is the same for many of the other aircraft stored in the very large blimp hangar.

The hangar is over fifteen stories high and covers an area of seven acres.  Enough room for six football games played at the same time.

There are many relics to see and most are not maintained in spite of a sign that says some are still flown.  There is a covered space within the hangar that looks like it is designed to protect the few aircraft that are kept there and those may be the ones that are still flown from time to time.

And as I wrote, there are many other aircraft to be seen and one interesting blimp with aliens painted on it.

The museum also has a retail shop and lunch counter and is quite clean all around and there is a place for young kids to play out of harms way.  It's a great weekend day destination for families.

And no wonder the roof leaks a bit.