Explorers

We explored the northwest corner of Oregon today...where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean.  

First we went to breakfast at the hotel in which we are staying, free buffet.  We really surprised at all the food they offered and so tasty in the restaurant here.  We asked the waitress if every room got a coupon and she said, "Only the baby rooms."  We said, "Baby rooms?"  Then we started laughing, because we knew what she meant about "baby" rooms....as we had remarked last night that we couldn't remember staying at hotel with such a small room.  Thankfully, the hotel chain saw fit to at least give us a great breakfast in exchange for their baby rooms.  Only problem is that if we stayed here too much longer, we won't be able to fit  in our room after breakfast!  

After a hearty breakfast we went to Fort Clatsop, which is the small fort Lewis & Clark built in the winter of 1805-06 when they reached the Pacific during their discovery exploration.  This fort was probably less square footage than most modern houses today.  

An interesting exhibit in the visitor center was a map of where the exploration group was on this certain day, August 20, and since they kept immaculate records of what they did and saw....we know that on this day in 1804 (211 years ago), the group had it's first and only casualty of the trip.  

We drove across the bridge over the Columbia River (four miles wide) to Washington and went about 15 miles up to Long Beach, WA.  This beach is the longest beach in the "world" and you can drive down it (like Daytona).  Or so they say...as long as you want to drive between Labor Day and April 15, otherwise it's off limit to vehicles.  So, we thought we'd walk out there and explore.  Not to be, as they're having a festival and no parking to be found.  Oh well!

Drove back to Astoria (the first major settlement west of the Rockies), due to John Astor of New York sending ships there to pick up furs.  Therefore, Astoria was a fur trading town in 1811.  They have a Maritime museum that was not not on our agenda, but decided to explore it anyway.  Well worth the visit!

First of all when we get to the lobby, we see that they are offering a 3-D film on Galapagos.  OMG!  Hubby wants to go there soooo bad, that I  insisted we see it.  I liked it more than he did.  Go figure! 

The museum was excellent, describing how the Columbia River empties billions of gallons of water into the Pacific everyday.  Read below

This "wave condition" is referred to the "Bar" at the the mouth of the Columbia River.

The Bar creates such a massive amount of turmoil that thousands of ships and boats have been wrecked and lost in this area.  Part of the museum showed the actions that the Coast Guard take on to rescue people.  Here's a replica of their boat in action.

 Due to the Bar, all ships must be escorted into the river and out of the river by specially trained pilots, of which there are very few.

Here's a map from 1766-67...before the Revolutionary War that shows my "home" area - Wisconsin & Minnesota.  I like the phrase .."

With all that exploring today, we were hungry....hadn't even had a snack or drink all day...so we headed to Camp 18.  Camp 18 is museum and restaurant geared towards logging.  You better bring your lumberjack appetite to that place!

Finished off the evening trying to get this blog done and the internet / WiFi crashed, therefore you're getting this a day late!