The Spruce Goose, the first aircraft with a wingspan in excess of 300 feet, the largest flying boat ever built, made its one and only flight on
November 2, 1947, in Long Beach, California. It was designed and constructed by Howard Hughes and his Aircraft Company.

Howard Robard Hughes Jr.(December 24, 1905 – April 5, 1976)

Howard Hughes, one of the richest men to emerge from the American West during the 20th century, died while being flown from Acapulco
to Houston,Texas.

MIKE GRACIA

BLOGGER BOB WAS IN THE HOSPITAL FOR

THIS PAST WEEK OR SO! I WANT TO TAKE

THIS TIME TO THANK ALL WHO HALPED ME

GET BACK ON MY FEET AT THE PORTLAND,

OREGON VETERANS HOSPITAL! YOU FOLKS

WERE GREAT AND WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER

THE FINE CARE I RECEIVED AT YOUR

FACILITY.

 I MISSED BEING HERE!

HOPE TO HAVE MORE POSTS SOON!

(FoxNews) – The 62nd running of the Daytona 500 on Sunday will mark the
start of a new era for NASCAR, following its landmark offseason acquisition
of International Speedway Corp.

NASCAR now owns the Daytona International Speedway, home of the
venerable season-opening race, as well as several other tracks included
in the $2 billion acquisition. While big changes related to the deal aren’t
expected until 2021, the transaction gives NASCAR unprecedented control
over its racing schedule as it reshapes its business to appeal to younger
fans.

“It makes a big difference,” NASCAR Chairman Jim France said of the merger.
“It gives us an opportunity to respond quicker to the changing environment
out here with the economy and all the things that are going on that impact motorsports. It was a major big step that we needed to make probably for
quite a while.”

NASCAR Chairman Jim France.

Postcard photo of the Southern Pacific’s “Sunset Limited” train as it traveled between Los Angeles and San Francisco, c. 1910s.

The Southern Pacific Railroad completed its transcontinental “Sunset Route”
from New Orleans to California, consolidating its dominance over rail traffic
to the Pacific.

One of the most powerful railroad companies of the 19th century, the “Espee”
(as the railroad was often called) originated in an ambitious plan conceived in
1870 by the “Big Four” western railroad barons: Collis P. Huntington, Charles Crocker, Leland Stanford and Mark Hopkins. A year earlier, the Big Four’s
western-based Central Pacific had linked up with the eastern-based Union
Pacific in Utah, creating the first transcontinental American railway. With
that finished, the “Big Four” began to look for ways to increase their control
over West Coast shipping, and decided to focus their efforts on extending
the California-based Southern Pacific southward.

Early 20th-century postcard of the “Sunset Express” train passing
through Yuma, Arizona.