Warrenton/Astoria OR July 6-12, 2012

AWK!   No fast foods in Warrenton!   Oh no!  What are we going to do for breakfast?????   Horrors!
We arrived after lunch on the 6th, and got settled in our campsite at Kampers West in Warrenton.  Our GPS suggested that there was salvation across the river in Astoria, a mere 8 miles from camp.   Saturday morning we drove over and discovered a bakery, and then hit the McDonalds to use their wifi and get our drinks.   After breakfast we came back to Warrenton and went to the Lewis and Clark National Historic Park to visit Fort Clatsop, the Corp of Discovery's winter camp.  The fort is a reconstruction on the actual site of the original fort.   Our next goal was to visit Seaside, 15 miles south, to see their salt camp, but traffic was stop and roll on Hwy 101, so headed back to Warrenton.

Sunday found us back in Astoria at St. Mary, Star of the Sea.   To live in Astoria is a constant climb up hill.  It was a steep climb to the church (thankfully we drove it!) and then there were STEPS!   After breakfast we visited the 3-block Sunday Market .  Fruits, veggies, food trucks, and crafts of every kind were available.   I spent $6 on 2 pts. of raspberries and $3 on some beautiful tomatoes.  The flower stalls were tempting, but with no vase or fruit jars to put them in, I had to pass.

Monday dawned cloudy and foggy but we drove over the HUGE Astoria-Megler bridge to Washington to see Cape Disappointment and the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.   The center contained exhibits offering a view of the entire journey from St. Louis to the Pacific of the Corp.   They originally stopped here, and then after taking a vote crossed the Columbia and made camp at Fort Clatsop.   The site also had the remains of Fort Canby, a fort built in 1863 and used until 1947 as protection of the area during WWII.  We saw the Cape Disappointment lighthouse, and then drove to the North Head lighthouse.   Both are automated.  

Tuesday dawned SUNNY!   Back to Astoria for breakfast and then drove the steep and winding road to the Astoria Column, which is 125 ft. high and depicts the history of local Native Americans and the early Development in Astoria on a series of murals winding around the column.   If ambitious, you may climb 164 steps to the observation deck to view the area.   We opted to view the area from the ground.  The Column was paid for by the Great Northern Railroad and Vincent Astor, great-grandson of John Jacob Astor.

Back to Warrenton and into Hammond to Fort Stevens State Park which houses the remains of Fort Stevens which was constructed in 1865 to protect the Columbia River.  The Fort remained active until the end of WWII.   Fort Stevens was the ONLY US site fired on by the Japanese in WWII.   It was the only attack on the US by a foreign power since the war of 1812!   The fort did not return fire, and the sub went up the Pacific to the Aleutian Islands.   As a result of not firing on the sub, 20 men went AWOL in disgust.

On July 11 we went back to Astoria (more clouds, more fog) to tour the Flavel House Museum, home of Captain George Flavel in 1885 and owned by members of the family until 1935 when it was donated to the city of Astoria.     We also visited the Columbia River Maritime Museum where we learned about the fishing industry (39 canneries at one time), the Coast Guard Rescue Training site, and the river pilots and Columbia River BAR pilots, a group of 20 pilots who board ships and direct them over the treacherous river bars into the Pacific.   Their job is to travel the 15 mile section of water, one of the most respected and feared in the world.  It's known as the Graveyard of the Pacific.

To wrap up our time in this region, we went back to Astoria on Thursday to tour the Clatsop Historical
Society Museum.   We spent 2 1/2 hours there, enjoying their exhibits.  Tomorrow we'll go inland to Cascade Locks, a town along the famous Columbia River Gorge.