We've been really lucky with the dry weather until now.

We're almost halfway November as, finally, the first rain is starting to fall. According to James, who grew up around Portland, this is pretty much how it is going to stay from now on, grey and drizzling.

It doesn't sound very attractive but I guess I can do it for one winter. I know next year I'm going to be somewhere warm and that helps.

I don't know if it's the weather or something else but all of a sudden Sadie has developed a terrible itch and scratches herself practically non-stop.

My first thought has been hot spots but the spots are not very big or nasty and look more like a bumpy reddish rash that shows up randomly on her body. I google scabies/mites and do the "Pedal-Pinna reflex test but, luckely, come up negative.

All I can think off otherwise is (outside fleas which she definitely does not have) maybe some kind of a food allergy since we had to switch food twice now since leaving California because I can not get the food we used to give her. James brother gave us some special food he bought for his dog that developed allergies that he doesn't want to eat so we give it a try. She likes it but if it'll help?

In the meantime we treat the itch quite successfully with good ol' Gold Bond foot powder, recommended by some people and breeders on the web.

Last Saturday we visited the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum which is located in McMinnville only 5 minutes away from us.

A retired Boeing 747-100 sits atop the roof of one of the beautiful museum buildings.

This is an aviation and space museum which displays a number of military and civilian aircraft and spacecraft, most notably, the Howard Hughes H-4 Hercules "Spruce Goose".

In March 1990, the Disney Corporation, which owned the Spruce Goose, announced that it was closing its exhibit located in Long Beach, California. The Aeroclub of Southern California was notified and they immediately began the search for a new home for the Spruce Goose. In 1992, the Evergreen Museum won the bid with a proposal to build a museum around the aircraft and feature it as a central exhibit.

This entire plane is made of wood! We were  absolutely blown away by its size!

The museum also offers a number of very interesting film presentations on the development and use of the air-and spacecraft, along with hands-on displays demonstrating various principles of avionics.

A smaller building has a seven story IMAX theater. A radio control air flight field is located behind the aviation center, near a group of Russian built armored vehicles, including two T-34/85s, a T-55 and two armored personnel carriers.

The space flight center holds a Titan II missile as its centerpiece, along with the SR-71 Blackbird.

Flight simulators for landing the space shuttle as well as for docking a Gemini capsule and performing a moon landing of the Lunar Excursion Module are visitor interactive.

We both made a serious ‘crash-landing’ in an attempt to set one down!

Although the price is rather steep we enjoyed the beautifully displayed planes. The buildings are immaculate and the grounds very tastefully designed.

Off course we didn’t miss the (free) wine tasting area with wines from the ‘Evergreen Vineyards’ that are surrounding, and are owned by, the museum.