Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum

Over Spring Break we took the boys down to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville OR. The museum is incredible, so many planes and plane related items in the aviation building and then you get to wander over to the space building and look at a ton more. I will say this really quickly though, it is expensive, really expensive. On one hand I understand the need to charge such high prices (upkeep and such) but on the other hand when you have to pay $76 for a family of four it seems like it could be putting it out of the reach of many mid to lower income families. Not researching it much, I don't know if they have programs or options so that the museum can be seen by all but I sure hope they do. We had a great day though, learned a lot, saw a lot and had fun. I could have spent a few days playing with camera angles and lighting too! The big draw and attraction at the museum is the Spruce Goose. I decided to give the GIANT floating plane a post of it's own on another day.

Started out the morning with a quick cuddle.

This doesn't happen much so we HAD to document the moment.

Loved the colors on this plane.

So many beautifully built planes. The craftsmanship is out of this world.

Oooooh, shiny!

Oliver LOVED that this one was hanging upside down from the ceiling.

A little area for the kids to play and learn.

Another shiny beautiful plane.

So many planes there, this barely scratches the surface. There are also volunteers, many of them Veterans, all over the museum. You don't even have to ask a question, a quick glance their way and they are more than willing to share a story or three with you.

Noah loved this plane and I loved how the sunlight was glowing through the wings.

And now over to the Space side of things. My "Star Wars" loving Noah looked at this space pod and said, "Look! It's like the Death Star."

The Titan rocket thing-a-ma-jig...yes, that's a technical term, sheesh!

This was actually really neat, you could take the spiral staircase or elevator down to the bottom and look up, way, way up.

I made a joke that the space program seems to have some VERY feminine looking features. It looks like a prom dress to me, not some fancy rocket engine baffle whatever-ma-bob...yes, more technical terms!

The lighting on the space capsule made me happy.

HUGE windows in both buildings that let in a ton of natural light. This is what it looked like the entire time we were there. Gorgeous!

This is a little cockpit type place that you climbed into and then drive and dock your vehicle into the space station. Well at least that's what I think they were doing. I giggle at the look of concentration on their faces.

Hello Mr. Moonwalker

This is the engine to the SR-71 plane that Joel's Grand-Dad worked on while he was in the military.

Another shot of the SR-71