100820 Astoria, OR

Astoria, OR - 20 Aug 2010
When I arrived at this RV campground last night, the woman in the office gave me an impressive spiel about the local attractions, and I plan to take some of her suggestions. To start with, I walked the 164 steps to the top of the Astoria Column. It's situated on the highest hill around, for impressive views in all directions. What grabbed my attention was the mighty Columbia River and the over-four-mile-long bridge to Washington to the north, including several ships going under the bridge and up the river. The town of Astoria is laid out below the hill, on the waterfront. There are also bridges across the rivers to the south and west, over to the town of Warrenton and south toward my RV park.

(At least I SAW Washington State today, Gloria!! I'm getting closer!) :-)


Then I took the little trolley tour along the riverfront. This town has retained many of its Victorian homes and is a pretty, quaint little place. It's built on a hill and reminds me very much of San Francisco in that way. Interesting little town.

Then I drove over to the "south jetty", which is on the north end of the Warrenton peninsula. (No, I don't understand the name either.) And that's where I had the most excitement of my day. Or for some time, actually. As I got Carri stuck in the sand on the beach. Yeah, I know. But I've driven my RV on the beach so many times...and there were other vehicles parked on the beach...and there was a white pick-up truck right in front of me. I figured, if he could do it, so could I. Wrong!! I found out later, after I got stuck, and he was attaching a cable to my vehicle so he could pull me out, that he had to use four-wheel drive to get through the sand. Duh! Those other pick-ups probably did too. I never thought of that. Well, I was real fortunate that the guy in the white pick-up was right there, and willing to help pull me out. And I learned a couple things. I'll be a lot more careful about driving on beaches in the future. And I'll keep in mind that I can't necessarily go everywhere other vehicles go (especially if they have four-wheel drive!!). (Sorry, but I have no pictures of THAT part of this adventure!)

I’m still stepping outside to see the geese fly overhead when I hear geese honking. I’m the only one. Everyone else is so used to it, I doubt they even hear them anymore. In fact, around here they're considered nuisances. But I still find it magical to hear them honking away on their way – where? I’ve seen several groups in V-formations now, but, so far, they don’t seem to be heading south. Good. I’m not ready for fall to be so close yet. I have too many places to go and things to see.