The main purpose of this summer's road trip was to spend some time along the Oregon Coast. I'd heard nothing but good things about it so the bulk of our trip was spent traveling North to South on the 101 (aka Highway 101 if you aren't from California where we put "the" in front of the freeway/highway numbers - ha ha!).
We departed Portland, heading west to Warrenton where we met up with some friends.
The view of the pond out in the back of their house.
The Clatsop County Beach is a "driving beach". A ten mile strip of this beach allows for passenger cars and trucks.
But we had to watch out for jellyfish.
This area is also where the Columbia River (right) and the Pacific Ocean (left) meet.
I was amazed to learn how important the Columbia is to the Northwest. Not living near a river (well I live near two that never have any water) it was just fascinating to see and understand how much it is used
Standing on the bank of the river, looking at Astoria.
Huge cargo ships and tugboats go up an down the river hourly. The river is only deep enough in this section right down the middle, so they can only come through one at a time and often have to have special drivers sent in just for the this stretch.
We call seagulls ocean rats, but these two were quite photogenic.
The foxglove was in bloom everywhere...swoon.
That evening, we crossed over the bridges to Astoria for the night. Astoria was the setting in the 80's movie "The Goonies", and I ALWAYS thought the story took place along the ocean. Astoria actually overlooks the Columbia River, NOT the ocean.
The view from our room.
Some sites along the river/old railroad tracks.
I was a little bit starstruck over being in The Goonies' hometown so we researched some of the sites to find them, but mostly ran into this...
However the jailhouse (Oregon Film Museum) and the Courthouse were available for pictures.
Next stop - Seaside and Cannon Beach
I've been putting together a list of cities where the Irish independence fighters when from the 20s to the 50s as things went array here and they were cut off economically. Of course you had the usual suspects; SF, Boston, NYC, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Chicago and hinterland of the Great Lakes generally. But oddly from my point of view there was some striking outliers. Spokane for instance, New Orleans, Denver and the towns of Colorado. Nebraska oddly, where they were fundamental to the feed stations in Lincoln and other train stations for troops. In LA, they didn't go there at first but eventually did in the late 20s and 30s. But for me I was shocked just how much of a destination the area around the Pacific Northwest was for them. And I extend that back to Butte in Montana. There they worked the mines, but in the NW it was the great forests.
ReplyDeleteI really like the 2nd and 3rd photos.
DeleteI’m not surprised they got into forestry! There is SO much of it! Way more than we have here down south. In most places the forests go right up to the water.
DeleteWhile the beach in those two pictures NOT the prettiest beach we saw, it was so fun to drive on.
Lovely scenic trip! I love a good road trip!
ReplyDeleteIt really was beautiful! Road trips are fun and visiting the US is as well. As frustrated as I am about living here right now, we have some beautiful places. I have been traveling out of the country for the last few years, it's been fun to see some of the US again.
DeleteWonderful photos! I got tickled at your Goonies reference. I've never watched it from start to finish, but it's a favorite of both my husband and my younger daughter and I know they've watched it countless times.
ReplyDeleteYou might enjoy the novel Allie and Bea (by Catherine Ryan Hyde) which includes a road trip up the Pacific coast.
It was fun!
DeleteI will check that out. The Coast was the first place in the US I've visited and said, "I could live here". A book about it sounds great!
oh this is great.. we didn't make it all the way to Astoria.. lovely pictures..
ReplyDeletehttp://www.henatayeb.blogspot.com
Been enjoying your photos too. A great part of the country!
DeleteLove the beautiful photos and narrative. That’s part of the country I am still yet to visit and this certainly makes me want to move it up on the list.
ReplyDeleteIt's a beautiful place. I'd definitely add it to your list.
DeleteIf I had a dollar for every time I have watched the Goonies, I would be a handful or two dollars richer! I never knew this was the film location but it looked like a nice town on film.
ReplyDeleteI've always read that it is a bit tricky going from river to ocean and back and requires a great bit of skill to navigate. Some day I want to make it up that way because I have a relative who funded a museum in The Dalles and I want to go through the archives to see what I might find.
Ha! I know, such a 80's staple wasn't it?!?!
DeleteOur friends were telling us that the Columbia/Pacific meeting place is one of the most dangerous of its kind. Some ships have the right navigation skills, but many of them have to have (I think they are called) pilots that are just used to get the boats in or out of the mouth.
Oregon had never been on my wishlist before as other states (or countries) were higher priority for me. I was pleasantly surprised. You will enjoy it for your museum as well as its beauty.