June 24, 2017 - History Flies

Four WWII airplanes fly over Paine Field in Snohomish County north of Seattle.  The planes, from top to bottom - a North American B25J Mitchell, a Grumman F6F-5  Hellcat, a North American P51D Mustang and a Goodyear FG-1D Corsair - all belong to the  Flying Heritage Collection & Combat Armor Museum.  Just out of the frame is a Japanese A6M3.  The museum is a 501(c)3 dedicated to acquiring and preserving the combat aircraft from the 1930s and 1940s.

The sight of these 1940s era technological marvels flying is an impressive one.  The sound of a single Pratt & Whitney Double Wasp 18 cylinder radial engine, what powers the Hellcat, is a wonderful one.  To hear the roar of 90 cylinders all at once is a unique and special sound.

The Japanese A6M3 above was built in 1942 and recovered from New Guinea in the 1990s and rebuilt in Russia.

June 18, 2017 - Around (and Above) Seattle

A 20 minute circuit around Seattle in a float plane beginning and ending from Lake Union provides a perspective most don't typically see.  Being able to look down on the buildings of downtown, the University of Washington campus, Husky Stadium, the new 520 floating bridge, Safeco and Century Link Fields and the waterfront is a great way to see Seattle! 

June 14, 2017 - Small Town Story

Bricks tend to have a story to tell.  At least they hint at stories to be told.  East of Seattle, in rural King County, near the confluence of the Tolt and Snoqualmie rivers, lies the small town of Carnation (population 1,786).  

The north wall of Miller's Mercantile in Carnation hints at a story.  It has character and a little history.  If you've seen Macklemore's "White Walls" video, you've seen this brick wall.  The building currently houses Miller's Mercantile.  Howard Miller passed away in 2013 at the age of 97.  He founded Miller's Dry-Goods in 1938 and ran the business for decades.  His obituary states that one could "set a clock by his 8:45am walk to work".  

Mr. Miller was a town legend known at "the Stamp Man" and "Mr. Carnation".  The local athletic field is named after him.  He collected stamps his whole life.  In 1996 he began volunteering in schools and would give each student a stamp, tell them the history behind the stamp and let them keep them.  Mr. Miller was born on Leap Day.  In Carnation, every four years they celebrate Howard Miller Day.  Certainly a small town story.

June 5, 2017 - Historic Theatres

In the era of multiplexes, the historic Eltrym Theatre in Baker City, Oregon (population 9,828) stands out.  It is an operating example of the stylish, often unique movie houses that were built in the first half of the 20th century.  The Eltrym opened in June of 1940 as a single screen, 400 seat theater.  It currently has three screens.

Fifty miles north, in La Grande (population 13,026) the Granada Theatre, built in 1927, is still operation.  The owners also operate the La Grande Drive-in, one of the last three drive in theatres operating in Oregon.

June 5, 2017 - Abandoned Cement Factory

On the very eastern edge of Oregon, alongside a portion of I-84 that follows the route of the Oregon Trail, sits an abandoned cement factory.  The ruins are at a spot on the map labeled 'Lime', an unincorporated spot on the map whose post office closed in 1964.  The factory was opened in 1916 by the Acme Cement Plaster Company and closed in 1980.  The concrete ruins, tagged by spray can artists, starkly stands out; an industrial ghost town in the middle of the desert.