Oregon - Day 4
[First Picture: Coffee Anyone?]
The plan for Monday was to head north again, but this time make it up to Astoria on the Oregon-Washington border. We started out by visiting a small espresso stand a few blocks from the condo. We had seen many such places on the trip so far, almost all of them being little trailers with a drive-up window. Jaime chose the Jazzy Bean Espresso for her morning caffeine fix.
We flew past all of the sites from Saturday and made good time to Astoria. As we were crossing the bridge over Youngs Bay, we both thought we saw a bald eagle on a stump by the water. I was not expecting it, so I immediately ruled it out. But when we got to talking, we came to the conclusion that it likely was a bald eagle. It had the right size, coloring, and posture. Plus, we were less than 20 miles from the eagle sanctuary. There are likely several other places where the birds live and the bay offers excellent fishing opportunities.
We pretty much drove straight through town with only a quick Mickey D's bathroom break. We were headed to, of all things, the Twilight Eagle Sanctuary just east of town. It was about two miles off of US-30 on Old Highway 30. The sanctuary was not a large, formal destination. It consisted of nothing more than a wooden platform and some signs. There was not even a bathroom or a real place to park, only a wide shoulder. Do not get me wrong, we were still glad we stopped. Unfortunately we did not see any eagles, but did see a lot of other waterfowl and wildlife. The small tributary of the massive Columbia River and the intermediary marsh land was quite serene.
Next we drove back into Astoria to go to the Columbia River Maritime Museum. It was not the best museum I have ever been to, but it was nice enough and had some decent displays. Once again we were glad that we were visiting off season because there were at most a handful of visitors in the whole place. Our ticket also got us access to walk through the ship outside at the docks. The ship is essentially a floating lighthouse. They are used out in deep or turbulent waters where you cannot anchor a buoy, such as in the Columbia River Bar where the river meets the ocean.
After the museum we drove over to Pier 6 where a bunch of sea lions are supposed to hang out year round. Unfortunately we did not see any. I would guess that they would go where they could get easy food. During the tourist season, that is probably by the pier. When the people are not around, it is likely near the cannery. I could be wrong.
Our next destination was the Astoria Column. The southeast part of Astoria is rather hilly. After the flat area near the docks, the roads become quite steep. The Column sits almost 600 feet above sea level. The area at the top of the hill offered a very nice, panoramic view of the city, the river, and the nearby hills. Being off season, the Column was closed for renovations so we could not actually go inside and climb to the top. While we were walking around the hilltop taking pictures, we heard very loud barking of some sea lions echoing off the hills. Based on where it seemed the sound was coming from, the sea lions were over by the cannery which was not one of our intended destinations. Oh yeah, you do have to pay for parking, but that turned out to be $1 for a "one year pass".
We headed west out of Astoria and went to the coast. Within Fort Stevens State Park is something of a unique site. Literally on the beach is a shipwreck that you can walk up to. The ship is the Peter Iredale, a steel barque that ran aground in 1906. They thought they could unload it and refloat it when the tide came back in, but that did not work. The result after the wood rotted away is a neat experience. Take a look at the pictures. It was also where we found our first intact sand dollar shell. We had only found broken ones so far.
One thing we were not fond of were the people driving their pickup trucks on the beach. I do not know if it is legal, but they were going pretty fast and there were people walking on the beach. It might have been fun, but not very safe.
It was late afternoon by the time we left Fort Stevens so we headed south towards home. We stopped for dinner in Cannon Beach at the Lumberyard Rotisserie and Grill. Jaime had a chicken pot pie and a really good amber ale. I had an open-faced chili burger and a porter. We ended the evening by driving back to the condo, checking email on the "borrowed" Internet connection, and watching TV.
[ Preface] [ Day 1] [ Day 2] [ Day 3] [ Day 5] [ Day 6] [ Day 7] [ Day 8] [ Day 9]
The plan for Monday was to head north again, but this time make it up to Astoria on the Oregon-Washington border. We started out by visiting a small espresso stand a few blocks from the condo. We had seen many such places on the trip so far, almost all of them being little trailers with a drive-up window. Jaime chose the Jazzy Bean Espresso for her morning caffeine fix.
We flew past all of the sites from Saturday and made good time to Astoria. As we were crossing the bridge over Youngs Bay, we both thought we saw a bald eagle on a stump by the water. I was not expecting it, so I immediately ruled it out. But when we got to talking, we came to the conclusion that it likely was a bald eagle. It had the right size, coloring, and posture. Plus, we were less than 20 miles from the eagle sanctuary. There are likely several other places where the birds live and the bay offers excellent fishing opportunities.
We pretty much drove straight through town with only a quick Mickey D's bathroom break. We were headed to, of all things, the Twilight Eagle Sanctuary just east of town. It was about two miles off of US-30 on Old Highway 30. The sanctuary was not a large, formal destination. It consisted of nothing more than a wooden platform and some signs. There was not even a bathroom or a real place to park, only a wide shoulder. Do not get me wrong, we were still glad we stopped. Unfortunately we did not see any eagles, but did see a lot of other waterfowl and wildlife. The small tributary of the massive Columbia River and the intermediary marsh land was quite serene.
Next we drove back into Astoria to go to the Columbia River Maritime Museum. It was not the best museum I have ever been to, but it was nice enough and had some decent displays. Once again we were glad that we were visiting off season because there were at most a handful of visitors in the whole place. Our ticket also got us access to walk through the ship outside at the docks. The ship is essentially a floating lighthouse. They are used out in deep or turbulent waters where you cannot anchor a buoy, such as in the Columbia River Bar where the river meets the ocean.
After the museum we drove over to Pier 6 where a bunch of sea lions are supposed to hang out year round. Unfortunately we did not see any. I would guess that they would go where they could get easy food. During the tourist season, that is probably by the pier. When the people are not around, it is likely near the cannery. I could be wrong.
Our next destination was the Astoria Column. The southeast part of Astoria is rather hilly. After the flat area near the docks, the roads become quite steep. The Column sits almost 600 feet above sea level. The area at the top of the hill offered a very nice, panoramic view of the city, the river, and the nearby hills. Being off season, the Column was closed for renovations so we could not actually go inside and climb to the top. While we were walking around the hilltop taking pictures, we heard very loud barking of some sea lions echoing off the hills. Based on where it seemed the sound was coming from, the sea lions were over by the cannery which was not one of our intended destinations. Oh yeah, you do have to pay for parking, but that turned out to be $1 for a "one year pass".
We headed west out of Astoria and went to the coast. Within Fort Stevens State Park is something of a unique site. Literally on the beach is a shipwreck that you can walk up to. The ship is the Peter Iredale, a steel barque that ran aground in 1906. They thought they could unload it and refloat it when the tide came back in, but that did not work. The result after the wood rotted away is a neat experience. Take a look at the pictures. It was also where we found our first intact sand dollar shell. We had only found broken ones so far.
One thing we were not fond of were the people driving their pickup trucks on the beach. I do not know if it is legal, but they were going pretty fast and there were people walking on the beach. It might have been fun, but not very safe.
It was late afternoon by the time we left Fort Stevens so we headed south towards home. We stopped for dinner in Cannon Beach at the Lumberyard Rotisserie and Grill. Jaime had a chicken pot pie and a really good amber ale. I had an open-faced chili burger and a porter. We ended the evening by driving back to the condo, checking email on the "borrowed" Internet connection, and watching TV.
[ Preface] [ Day 1] [ Day 2] [ Day 3] [ Day 5] [ Day 6] [ Day 7] [ Day 8] [ Day 9]