Today we were off to visit a massive flying boat- after our recent stops you might be thinking that a flying boat would be a Homer Simpson idea, or a napkin sketch from the Salem Insane Asylum, but it was a U.S. government sanctioned project that was led by the notorious Howard Hughes. The ship convoy losses resulting from German U-Boat attacks motivated a number of off-the-wall ideas but this might have been the biggest one. The original idea for the flying boat actually came from Henry Kaiser (head of one of the largest shipbuilding firms of the time)- Kaiser thought a ship that could fly over the danger might be the answer.

Howard Hughes was known as an innovator in aircraft construction and design. These two men would launch the venture to build the huge craft. (originally three were to be built). The new plane's official name bore the initials of the principals in the project HK-1 but after Kaiser dropped out, it was more commonly called the "Spruce Goose" (although it was made almost entirely of birch). The huge plane would be made primarily of wood, saving materials critical to the war effort.

Hughes' attention to detail and insisting that everything on the new plane be nearly perfect, was largely responsible for both the beauty of the finished product and it's not being ready to fly until after the war had ended. There was only ever one series of test runs and, with Howard Hughes in the cockpit, the Hercules lifted off, remaining airborne at 70 ft off the water at a speed of 217 km/h for around a mile. The brief flight proved to detractors that Hughes' (now unneeded) masterpiece was flight-worthy and he was paid.

Unfortunately Howard is remembered more for his eccentricity than for any of his many successes including the Spruce Goose (caused in part by a worsening obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD)). In later life Hughes spent a lot of time alone and naked in hotel penthouses, and he became an extreme germophobe. Once one of the most visible men in America, Hughes ultimately vanished from public view although tabloids continued to follow rumors of his behavior and whereabouts.

After this relatively serious walk through American history it was time to follow up on a Don & Jill recommendation and visit the world famous Tillamook cheese factory. For Don & Jill, the factory was a studied attempt to find the most appropriate accompaniment to their vast wine cellar, but for us it was the lure of a highly rated grilled cheese sandwich. We did spend time inside the factory itself watching assembly line types maneuver bigger-than-a-breadbox bricks of bright orange cheese, trying to imagine the health effects of consuming that much cheese- Americans tend to include significant cheese quantities in just about every restaurant entrée (and in some cases, cheese is added to cheese; three cheese omelets, burgers, and sandwiches are easy to find). Unfortunately I suspect that we may have consumed at least one of those bricks each since we started the trip. We were saved from a potential cheese overdoes when we were told that the grilled cheese sandwiches we were craving weren’t available- running out of cheese at the cheese factory??? Never hit a restaurant after a bus tour has just swarmed through.

Cheeseless, we made our way back to the coast.