Here Comes The Big One Pt. 3

My parents are pretty much geniuses. Or at least that's the way I see it.

They, along with my brother Caleb, came up with a simply brilliant place to host the rehearsal dinner for Sam and Vanessa's wedding.

They wanted somewhere unique....somewhere authentic....somewhere with roots beyond itself....


When the Evergreen Aviation Museum was first brought up, I couldn't quite picture having dinner beneath the tail of this guy pictured below. I definitely had my doubts.





BUT the more I thought about it, the more I (as they say) dug it.

As I drove my cousin and I to the museum, I was not prepared for what lay beyond the parking lot.

The Shining Ones greeted us at the door



We wound our way through the maze of planes..

Past the DC-3, the Staggerwing, the Lear Jet, Wright Flyer replica, the Curtis Pusher, and a Sopwith Camel, the B-17...

And there we found it. Sprawled amongst the flying heaps of metal, there lay an oasis of food, and friends....

Quite impressive.



You're seeing the Spruce Goose from the back.



All the presents for the people in the wedding!



Desert: pie from Blue Raven



Charlie, Auntie, Caleb, Aaron and Anna did a great job of decorating.





The place started to fill up quick!






The youngin's table.



Katie and I

Here is some audio from when people were starting to sit down. Please listen and notice the splendid affect my bluetooth speaker was adding to the event, classing it up with some classical music.

Cousin Beth and Sam Rhoades



I assume if you're reading this blog, you know who these people are ^^

I started the evening off with some announcements, and then turned it over to Caleb for some history on the Spruce Goose.





"As the largest wooden airplane ever constructed and flown only one time, the Hughs Flying Boat represents one of man's greatest attempts to conquer the skies. It was born out of a need to move troops and material across the Atlantic Ocean, where in 1942, German submarines were sinking hundreds of Allied ships.
Henry Kaiser, steel magnate and ship builder, conceived the idea of the massive flying transport, and turned to Howard Hughs to design and build it. Hugh took on the task, along with the government mandate not to use materials critical to the war effort such as steel and aluminum. Six times bigger than any aircraft of its time, the flying boat is made out of wood.
Completed after the end of WWII, the winged giant made only one flight on November 2, 1947. The unannounced decision to fly was made by Hughs during a taxi test. The flight went only a little more than a mile at an altitude of seventy feet for about one minute. But, the short hop proved to skeptics that the gigantic machine would fly!
Originally designated HK-1 for the first aircraft built by Hughs-Kaiser, the giant was re-designated the H-4 when Henry Kaiser withdrew form the project in 1944. The press insisted on calling the Hughs boat the "Spruce Goose", a name that Hughs despised. Ironically most of the huge plane is actually of birch. The H-4 went into storage after its famous flight and was kept out of the public eye for thirty-three years. All that time, Hughs kept the plane ready to fly.
After his death in 1976, it was purchased by entrepreneur Jack Wrather, who moved it into a domed hanger in Long Beach, California. In 1988, the Wrather corporation was bought by the Walt Disney Company, which did not see the plane in its future plans. Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum Co-Founders, Michael King Smith and Delford M. Smith, submitted the winning proposal in 1992 to provide the aviation icon with a proper home.
Beginning that year, the flying boat was disassembled and transported by barge up the West Coast then down the Columbia and Willamette Rivers, to Portland, Oregon. It remained there for several months, until water levels permitted the huge structures to safely pass under the Willamette's many bridges. Finally, in February of 1993, the aircraft was transported by truck for the last 7.5 miles to McMinnville, Oregon. Temporary hangers were built as housing for the aircraft, while volunteers worked on the aircraft's restoration. In 2001, assembly of the Hughs flying boat was completed in its new home."

End of speech.



We were EATING under that piece of history!!!

A long winded speech calls for some sustenance, a call for the hungry.

First, Pastor prayed for the food and then...





The Chicken Parmigiana was gooooooooood.



Sister of the Bride Joleen, and daughter Chloe



Cousin Andrew and Marissa Lethin

They started passing out gifts and I got just what I wanted!
Seriously. My book was nice. It was a New Testament Greek-English Lexicon.





Charlie got "100 Deadly Skills: The SEAL Operative's Guide to Eluding Pursuers, Evading Capture, and Surviving Any Dangerous Situation".

Right. Like he needed that. Look at the pure joy on his face.

If a police officer tries to pull him over, he's in for a treat.





Bishop and Sis. Davies, Pastor, and Bro. and Sis. White



Sam's boss, Scott, his wife Amy, and Claire 'n Vanessa.



Mom, and Grandma Delores, my other grandma from California.



It was such an amazing opportunity to have Bro. and Sis. White come to the wedding. I'm going to have him sing in MINE just so they'll come. #bookedoutinadvance

AND THENNNNN.

The relatives from California showed up.

I love them.

I love all my family! But there's something about my Spanish relatives I find so entertaining.


Grandma, Miguel and Victoria Flores



This lady Vicky, is my cousin and she is crazy. Hilarious.
(See my book?)

We have a date, next time she's in town, to go to a Spanish restaurant downtown on 3rd Street, Pura Vida.



Anna, Lindsey, Maria, Me and Tre.


It seems that events speed up when you're enjoying them.

"Whaaat?? It's almost 8?? Let's get to the church! Who's riding with me? Cousin Andrew? You want to drive my car over there? No way.

Ok sure, but you can't speed--LET'S GO!"

(For the record, he didn't speed, but he did drive around the church 3 times rather fast, scaring everyone in the car)

(Except for me. Sam cured me of that a long time ago)