Sun. Apr. 14 Day 94 Rain & showers off & on all day but clear, sunny & warm in Burlington

We pulled out of Kelso @ 10:45 @ 159481km.   Into a gas stop @ 12 noon @ 159577km, & out @ 12:15 PM.  Then we did a non-stop run to Camping World in Burlington arriving @ 2:40 PM @ 159788. Coming through Seattle on I 5 around noon on Sunday there was a traffic jam all the way through.  Why the hwy through downtown should be busy in the middle of a Sunday is a mystery.  At Camping World they have instituted some rules for staying here, 1 night if you are a Good Sam member, (unlimited if you are having work done).  As usual, some people spoiled it by staying several days & using it like a Wal-Mart free-parking lot, except it has power, plus water & a dump station are available on site.  Suits me fine! I used to worry that there won’t be space with people just pulling in or overstaying.  We went down to the Four Seasons Buffet for a lunch/dinner, it was great as usual.  Then we checked out Costco & Fred Meyer for some last minute groceries.  I discovered that the Costco here has the 2 year old Tillamook cheese and it is cheaper than at the factory in Tillamook!  There is a Costco in Bellingham that’s closer to the border, wonder if it has Tillamook cheese?  I filled the Focus with gas at Fred Meyer, and then we headed home to the RV for the night.  I looked at how much gas I put in since Hemet and it is just under $750.00 and right now I have about ¾ of a tank still.  Back at the RV, I tightened the screw on one of the bedroom blinds, (it was beginning to come down) and checked to see if I can replace the bulb in the microwave, (I can’t), so we’ll have to get C. World to do it.  Sheila went for a walk, phoned Judy Shaffer, and then organized the various items she’s bought for the girls.  It was a quiet, (no TV here) but productive evening for both of us.

Distance covered – 454km – 282mi

Sat 13 Apr Day 93

Out "Old Stone Village" RV Park at 11AM @ 159183 and off down hwy 18 and a very winding hwy 22 through the forest to join hwy 101.  We pulled into the Blue Heron Cheese factory @ 12:45 PM @ 159295.  We had lunch there and bought a bunch of stuff. They had two guys playing guitar & singing who set up just behind our table, so it was a great lunch time.  Then, off to Tillamook Cheese Factory for cheese and finally back on the road at 2:05 @ 159297.  We came to a closed weigh scale which, in Oregon, is left on.  So we weighed the RV.  The front wheels showed 4550 lbs, and the back, 9550 lbs, so the total weight was 13,100 lbs.  We had ¾ tank of gas and the Grey/Black tanks would be about ½ full. Our GVW is 14,050 lbs. Of course we had excess cargo of 3 cases Cactus Cooler, several pounds of cheese and several bottles of alcohol. We pulled into the Kelso Elks at 5 PM @ 159481.  We reheated the leftover Casserole Italiano for supper and then I packed up the laptop and headed into the bar area to get WiFi which I couldn’t pick up in the RV.  Sheila followed a bit later after she’d done the dishes & spruced up a bit.  We spent the evening editing & blogging while Sheila finished a very potent drink, (called a “Watermelon”).  It is a mix of S. Comfort, Vodka, pineapple juice & grenadine.  (They were very generous with the booze!), and listened to the band in the next room that was playing for a Cancer Survivor Dinner.

 Distance covered – 298km – 185mi

Fri. Apr. 12 Day 92

After breakfast we walked over to the Air Museum because there is a path right from the RV Park to it.  It’s about a 10 min walk from the RV right to their door.  We got there at 10, and left at 5 PM.  I saw the Spruce Goose, (Howard Hughes giant 8 engine flying boat, built entirely of birch and canvas) which is amazingly huge seen  up close.  I took pictures of everything. They have a lot of very neat WW II planes – the P51 Mustang, the Corsair, a Messerschmitt ME 109, the jet Messerschmitt developed in 1945, a Spitfire, a P38 Lightning, a B17 Flying Fortress that you could go into, and many more, it was fascinating! When talking with the Docent at the B17 I learned some neat things,  - the wings of the B17 were partly covered in canvas to save weight and to repair them, DUCT tape was invented;  the expression “the whole nine yards” comes from the fact that the 50 calibre machine guns could only have limited ammunition, again for weight reasons, and the gunners had to use short bursts, therefore, the ammo belt that fed the machine guns was 9 yards long so if they ran out of ammo, they had shot, “the whole 9 yards”. They also said the 8^th Air Force daylight bombing raids almost came to an end because of huge losses, (a third of the aircraft on each mission).  At that time, they had no fighter escort that could go the distance, then, they finally got the P38 and especially the P51 Mustang which could out fly the Messerschmitt. The B17 was a very sturdy aircraft and made it home with its crew after being very badly shot up.  There were some paintings in the museum that depicted the real incidents.   Besides the museum displays and aircraft we saw 2 Imax movies each—all to do with flying.  I will post pictures of some of the aircraft we saw.  After we got back to the RV, Sheila made her Casserole Italiano--delicious as usual.

 The Spruce Goose flight deck photos that I forgot to  add to the other shots below

The Wheatland ferry we couldn't get on.

 The B17 side view

A painting of a shot up B17 with the actual picture above after it landed.  Landing was a problem because the damage blocked the pilots vision but fortunatly the navigator who was up front but survived remembered the coordinates for the landing field.

 The B17

 The Messurshmitt

 The P38 Lightning

 The P51 Mustang

About the P51

This is a painting of an actual incident.  A badly shot up & defencless B17 trying to make it home to England.  A Messurschmitt escorted it for a long time and never attempted to shot it down.  The two pilots met many many many years later and the families became good freinds.  The German pilot said shooting it down would be like shooting a man in a parachute.