Above you see a panorama shot of the Columbia River, with the Rt 101 Bridge in the background, on the left. The weather was weird today, with rain and sun alternating and at times visible on opposite sides of the river.
These ships are docked along side the Columbia Maritime Museum - an outstanding facility and well worth the ten dollar admission fee. Kathleen and I enjoyed it, especially all the video of the raging water at the mouth of the Columbia - and lots of stuff on the Coast Guard and their rescue craft.
Astoria was once the salmon canning capitol of the world. The museum has a nice display of labels once used here. Here is a shot of just a few of them:
The museum also explains the importance of the Pilots, who help guide ships across the treacherous bar and up the Columbia River. Here's a shot of a pilot boat heading out:
If you are a fan of Lewis and Clark, you will find much to satisfy in this area of the country. We visited Fort Clatsop, where Capt. Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and their Corps of Discovery spent the winter in 1805-06. It was named after the local indians, the Clatsop's.
At one of the highest points in the city of Astoria is the Astoria Column. It's 125 feet tall atop Coxcomb Hill and you can climb all the way to the top via internal spiral staircase. There is a great view from the platform at the top.The outside of the column is covered with artwork - a form of artwork known as Sgraffito--fourteen 25-foot long scenes representing the triumphs, conflicts and turning points of the Pacific Northwest. The picture below shows a bit more detail of a section of this artwork:
One other thing Astoria is known for - it was the site of the filming of the 1984 classic, "The Goonies!" We drove up to the house featured in the film. Took a picture to share with you:
At the foot of the gravel drive leading up to the house, you will find this sign:
They actually seem to enjoy having folks come by to see the house, but don't want the car traffic. Once you walk up the steep gravel drive to the unpaved street you will see why. There are actually about four houses up there and there is not a lot of room to turn around.
Finally a few more shots of the river and the Rt101 bridge. There is quite a lot of shipping on the river, including cruise boats. A Norwegian cruise boat was docked close to our hotel. Never did find out where it was bound when it left around 5pm. Here are a couple of shots of the sunset and a freighter going under the bridge. Note the rain in the background. I took this shot from a position just in front of our room:
Well, got to hit the rack now. Have quite a few more pictures to share, but they will have to wait. Tomorrow we drive to Seattle. This should take about 5 hours or so from Astoria.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA!
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