We are members of a service called Harvest Host. For a very reasonable fee we can enjoy ‘free’ nights at hundreds of vineyards, farms, museums and even golf coursed. The stay is free, typically with not services like electric or water, but free is good. However we always buy a bottle of wine or something to help support the hose. We reached Hood River Oregon and made plans to stay at WAAAM, the Western Antique Aeroplane & Automobile Museum. We didn’t arrive until well after closing and found a good place in the parking lot that was nice and level and with a great view of Mount Adams a few mile away in Washington State. The town of Hood River sits right on the banks of the Columbia River at the eastern end of the Columbia River Gorge. This is truly a beautiful little town.
The drive getting here, however, was the most nerve wracking bit of driving we have done to date. The wind was relentless and straight into our teeth, buffeting us all over the road as it twisted along the river. It was a white knuckle ride all the way, beautiful but tense! Anyway, back to the WAAAM. Ben and I explored all of the old trucks parked along the edge of a field and an old sailplane and some fully restored old 1920ish Ford trucks parked nearby. The interesting thing about the museum is that all of the automobiles and aircraft are in working condition and every other Saturday they take several planes and automobiles out of the building and drive people around anf fly the planes..they all are in working condition. Well we could hardly wait for the museum to open at 9 AM the next morning.
Ben and I went to explore. It was likely the best aircraft museum I have ever seen and the largest collection of cars ever, and they all run! They had planes from a Wright Glider to WWII fighters and mail planes and an old Curtis from 1910, literally hundreds of planes and even more cars and trucks and tractors and, and, and. . . .
We spent about two hours or so wandering through all of the exhibits and chatting with those who worked there. Ben was most impresses with the vastness of the whole thing ‘It seemed liked it never ended’ and I doubt that we saw everything. After we left Hood River we found a great place along the Columbia River to have lunch, under the Bridge of the Gods, and we all had the largest sandwiches we ever ate. Ben won the largest sandwich contest with a HUGE chili dog. From lunch we drove straight into Portland and found our campsite at the Columbia River RV Park. Our home for our visit with our son Jason. So below are a few more images from the WAAM and the ride here. Here are some more images.
