Harvest Hosts hopping

As part of our whirlwind first couple of weeks back on the road, we needed to get from Oregon to Montana within several days, including a detour past Seattle thrown in for good measure.  We'd signed up with Harvest Hosts for the first time and this seemed like a good time to try it out.  The "hosts" include wineries, farms, golf courses, and other places that let you stay overnight for free, with the expectation that you'll probably purchase something in return.  Like a Walmart parking lot, but better in so many ways.

Our first Harvest Hosts location set a high bar - the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville, Oregon.  We were psyched to learn about this place and would have wanted to spend time here anyway.  The overnight spot (in a quiet corner of the huge parking lot) was a nice bonus.

Rosie the Riveter greeted us at the front door:

The main attraction - the Flying Boat!  Otherwise known as the Spruce Goose, dreamed up and flown once by Howard Hughes.  Huge by any standard and now filling most of the space in the aviation building of the museum.

The theme of the next few photos is "how the heck to capture a giant boat/plane in images?"

Spread out around the large centerpiece were smaller flying things, starting from a model of Da Vinci's flying machine (referenced in an episode of Star Trek: Voyager, funnily enough):

Another model, the Wright Brothers' Flyer:

And a replica of the Spirit of St. Louis - having seen originals of these earlier planes, these were mostly interesting by just how much they were dwarfed by the Spruce Goose looming overhead:

You can step into the cargo hold of the Spruce Goose and see just how much it would have been able to carry if it had ever been put into use.  It's a boat - that zooms across the water to take off as an airplane.  The beach balls were for floatation, as a precaution I believe.  Not something you normally see at an aviation museum.

Most amazingly, much of the plane is made out of wood (to save the metal supply for the war effort at the time).  An example cutaway shows all the layers that went into it, apparently resulting in quite-strong construction.  And the requirement for a good fire suppression system on board.

The Flying Boat has a nice view out the front windows:

Looking up at the giant engines and the pontoon at the end of the long wing:

Spotted while walking around the back of the Flying Boat - another small reference to Star Trek  :)

There were many, many small aircraft around the floor, most of them originals with interesting histories.  Even without being aviation buffs, we spent a lot of time checking it all out.

More planes tucked under the other enormous wing:

One of the original beach balls - apparently they bought up every available beach ball in Southern California in November 1947 to fill the hull of the plane:

Two points: The cleat and rope for tying the plane to a dock (it is a Flying Boat, after all), and the word "Experimental" above the door:

John pointed out that "Experimental" usually applies to something much smaller, like say this cute little plane which also happens to be a type of Goose:

I think the best thing I can do is to recommend that you come see this for yourself.  The Spruce Goose is awesome.

The other building, which we didn't leave nearly enough time for, was focused mostly on space.  Starting with a model of the Mars Spirit Rover, I just love these (maybe I identify with the "rover" idea):

Recreated command center for a rocket launch, with a simulation you can run to get a sense of what it was like during the actual launch (historically cool but SpaceX has taken this to a new level these days with their online broadcasts):

Part of a rocket, possibly a Titan if I remember right:

A training module for Skylab:

A helicopter that retrieved lunar capsules after they splashed down in the ocean - I think the helicopter is the real deal and the capsule is a replica:

All kinds of Apollo and moon exploring displays that we wished we had time to look at in more detail:

An SR-71 Blackbird, always amazing to see one of these:

Sitting in a cockpit of a plane that is decidedly not a Stealth jet, but still cool to get this experience:

View of the museum from inside Howie, our trailer:

We took a walk around the grounds that evening, and were tickled to see an airplane on top of the waterpark - complete with water slides coming out the emergency exit!

The Spruce Goose inside the building isn't so easy to see, but the jet fighter is pretty neat too:

It's not every day you can just walk around under an airplane:

Enjoying the exploration:

Well hello there:

You just never know what you'll find around the next corner:

For example, a Mojave Army helicopter:

Or some rocket pieces in the parking lot:

Tug and Howie facing off against a NASA plane:

Leaving early the next morning, we got the best look at the Spruce Goose from the outside - quite a sight!

Our detour was to Kirkland, WA (very close to a Google campus we visited with Kip last year, oddly enough).  We wanted to see the Homegrown Trailer factory, and were happy to get a comprehensive tour.

Homegrown is making trailers that are all-electric and built with a lot of wood and sustainable materials.  This demo trailer isn't quite finished but it gave us a good idea of the layout and space.  I like the large windows and roomy kitchen:

It's very pretty too.  We're not sure how we'd fit all our stuff into it, but it's an option for our next living configuration.  They seem really great for weekend camping, and I hope their partnership with Roam Beyond rentals goes well.

We also got to see several builds in progress and had a bunch of our questions answered.  Thank you Morgan from Homegrown!  It was a good visit, glad we made the detour.

Our next Harvest Hosts was at a winery, seems like a requirement for testing out the system.  I overlooked the fact that this particular tasting room at Ginkgo Forest wasn't open the day we arrived, whoops.  Mike the owner went out of his way to get us situated anyway, and even poured some wine samples for me so I could choose a bottle to buy.  Thank you for the help, fun conversation, and the private wine tasting, Mike!  I'll try to do better with watching opening days next time.

Our quiet and easily accessible parking spot at Ginkgo Forest near Mattawa and the Columbia River:

Spectacular sunset that evening after the rain:

And a view from the top of Howie the next morning:

It was a beautiful day and lovely location:

Both John and I separately wondered if we could make it to Palouse Falls on this trip - it has been on my list, and John determined that we could park the trailer in the overflow lot (since it was a weekday and hopefully wouldn't be too busy).  We took it slow on the road down to the park, there was plenty of space for us, and it was totally worth it.

Spectacular!  And impossible to show the scale - the waterfall is almost 200 feet high and drops a crazy amount of water over the edge:

Loving the view from the overlook:

So many volcanic layers:

So much basalt:

We walked around the rim trail to see the river above the falls, what a gorgeous place.

View from another angle:

And a closer look at the fin above the falls:

One last Harvest Hosts stop for this leg of the journey - at Walter's Fruit Ranch near Spokane (after one last visit to a Trader Joe's for at least a month).  Another great location, this time at the top of a green hill.  We would have loved to pick strawberries the next morning but had to be on the road too early.  So we gathered a few things from the little store and had a lovely evening watching goats grazing in the nearby field.  Very nice.  Should have tried to get a picture of the goats though.

Until next time...