Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum

We both slept well last night and the traffic noise from I-84 didn’t bother us. This morning after breakfast we walked around the campground and took photos. It’s still windy and pleasantly cool.

After lunch we drove west to Hood River to visit the Western Antique Aeroplane and Automobile Museum – WAAAM.

From Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum 1

We were greeted by museum volunteers Perry and Don.

From Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum 1

We paid the $10 each (senior tickets) and were given a diagram of the museum. We walked through a door into the first display area called Hangar M1 which covers pre-WW II and is 37,500 square feet.

From Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum 1

There were antique tractors, automobiles and airplanes. This is a photo of just ONE row of antique autos.

From Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum 1

The best way to describe Hangar M1 is WOW! I’ll just let the photos Mike took speak for themselves.

From Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum 1

We saw these 2 airplanes that had appeared in the movie "The Tarnished Angles" with Rock Hudson, Robert Taylor and Dorothy Malone.

From Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum 2

From Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum 2

There was a small section devoted to women aviators.

From Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum 2

We next went into Hangar M2 which contains vehicles from WW II and later and is 45,000 square feet. Again another WOW!

From Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum 1

There were classic autos, more motorcycles, military vehicles and airplanes and a play area for children with a motorcycle and helicopter for them to get on.

From Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum 1

He took so many photos that I’ve divided them into 2 web albums – one album for autos, motorcycles and other vehicles, and one album for airplanes.

I am so glad that I picked up a brochure for the museum at the campground last night. We wouldn’t have known about it and we would have missed a great museum.

We even had a good view of Mt. Hood from the museum. We learned that there is a huge forest fire near Mt. Hood and that is smoke not haze that we see.

We drove through the downtown are of Hood River and it is very attractive and a LOT of coffee shops.

Along the Columbia River to Memaloose State Park

We set the alarm clock last night for 7 a.m. so we could get an early start today even though we only had about 200 miles to drive. It was cloudy and in the low 60's this morning.

I think I forgot to mention in an earlier post that we had to check out a Comcast Digital Transport Adapter in order to receive all of the cable channels at Ft. Lewis RV Park. We do have a digital converter for the local antenna, but this is different from that. So while Mike was driving the RV to where we could hook up the car, I went to the campground office to turn the adapter in.

This was our first time hitching up the car with our new Roadmaster All Terrain Tow Bar and all went well. We left the campground at 9:16 and headed south on I-5. We made a quick stop at a rest area near Maytown and while I walked Tinker, Mike did his walk-around the RV and car.

From Ft. Lewis to Memaloose State Park

We stopped at 11:30 for an early lunch at a rest area about 12 miles north of Vancouver. Shortly after leaving the rest area, we connected with I-205 south and crossed the Columbia River into Oregon at 12:15.

From Ft. Lewis to Memaloose State Park

Shortly after entering Oregon we exited I-205 to I-84 east along the Columbia River. It had been cloudy and in the low 60's most of today, so we weren't able to see the tops of the mountains.

From Ft. Lewis to Memaloose State Park

A little before 1:00 the sun came out and the haze cleared up. We passed by the Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River and this is all we got to see of it.

From Ft. Lewis to Memaloose State Park

Eventually I-84 was close enough to get some great views of the Columbia River.

From Ft. Lewis to Memaloose State Park

The Memaloose State Park is located on the Columbia River 10 miles west of The Dalles. The only way to get to Memaloose State Park is through the rest area located on the north side of I-84.

From Ft. Lewis to Memaloose State Park

We exited I-84 East at exit 76 and got back on I-84 heading west for 3 miles to the rest area. We drove through the rest area to the entrance to Memaloose State Park.

From Ft. Lewis to Memaloose State Park

We located our campsite and stopped to disconnect the Vue. Mike then backed the motorhome into our campsite. We are in site #A-13 with full hook-ups (30 amp elec).

It is so windy here that Mike set up our portable satellite dish (the one on the rooftop would "flop" in the wind and we would lose our signal). After setting up the RV and watching a little TV, we all ended up taking a nap - Tinker on the sofa with  me and Mike in the recliner.

Our campsite backs up next to I-84 and there is a lot of traffic noise, but it didn't seem to bother our naps and I doubt it'll keep us awake tonight.

We didn't get any photos of our campsite this afternoon, we'll do that in the morning. We're going to be here for