August 14-18, Oregon Coast

We went on our long awaited Oregon coast trip this past week.  After the fair, we weren't sure we had the energy to drive all the way up, but we did it.  We left at 3 am Monday morning and drove all day.  We arrived around 5pm that evening in Warrenton, Oregon, just 15 miles south of Astoria.  

The house we rented was just around the corner from the beach.  As soon as we arrived, we headed to the shore and the kids were thrilled-- they ran straight out to the waves.  

Tuesday:  We headed into Astoria to visit the Columbia River Maritime Museum.  It was fascinating.  The boys love airplanes, and now they are obsessed with ships.  Where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean it is the most dangerous bar crossing in the world.  The bar pilots have to have special training, and there are less than 2 dozen that are qualified to help the ships pass safely in and out of the harbor.  They board ships at the bar that are from all over the world, so the ships' captains have to trust that the bar pilot will get them safely to harbor or out to sea.  I never knew that there were things such as "lightships", either.  They anchor out near the crossing to help ships safely come in, and they act just like a lighthouse.  The crew lives out there for weeks at a time.  We got to tour the lightship Columbia here in the background.

 The museum had a great section on weather, and Sammy got to be a weather girl. 

 Luke got to be a clown for the camera. 

 Here is a replica of a ship out on the bar.  The Coast Guard is impressive!

 Touring the Columbia.

 The crew in their bunks. 

 Can you see the look in his eyes? I think he is just a little impressed with this large torpedo!

We headed back to the cottage at lunch, then over to the beach to catch some crabs.  The kids went nuts-- there were crabs in the tide pools everywhere. 

 It was a little windy and chilly.  It was quite a nice change from the dry heat we've had this last month. 

 Inside view of our beach cottage.  We loved it.  It was about the price of a hotel (cheaper for our family, actually) and we could eat our meals there so it was a deal.  

We then went exploring after the beach. This is the Peter Iredale shipwreck.  It's been there for a long, long time.  The ship was built in 1906 and people come to photograph it all the time.  A big hunk of rusty iron that attracts all sorts of attention. 

 We then toured Fort Stevens, an old WWII fort set to guard the Pacific Coast.  It was actually fired on by a Japanese Sub during the war.  

 The new cover for our next album.

 We then zipped over to the jetty by where the Columbia and Pacific meet.  We saw the sunset as well as several whales flipping their tales up and spraying! It was so gorgeous. 

Wednesday: We got up early and headed to fort Clatsop where Lewis and Clark wintered after arriving at the Pacific coast.  They survived on elk and deer all winter long (yuck).  It was a pretty small fort.

The kids were probably more impressed this guy, Tim, on his motorcycle traveling the country with his dog, Blanca.  She even has her own Instagram account.  They have gone to all the national parks you can think of out West, and were visiting Clatsop that day.

Hanging out at the fort. 

 This was a seriously large slug the boys found-- and I should have had one of them put their hand next to it to show how large it was.  It was a wood slug-- I'm guessing about 6 inches long and very fat. Lewis and Clark weren't hungry enough to eat those, I guess. 

Next stop, Astoria Column.  It was 164 steps to the top, and I made it up there without freaking out too much.  The view was amazing. 

Here is a view from the top.  There is the Astoria-Megler bridge in the background which we crossed that afternoon.  It is five miles long and connects Oregon to Washington.  

Hello up there! Rich, LL, and Sam wave to us down below. 

We crossed the bridge over into Washington.  This is the Cape Disappointment lighthouse, and yes-- we were disappointed that it was being renovated.  I never knew that lighthouses have a specific light pattern for the evening, and a specific color for the day so that ships can tell exactly where they are.  They know the lighthouse here is for Cape Disappointment because it is all white-- and it has a double blink of it's light when it turns around.  

 Inside a big tree. 

 The view from the second lighthouse nearby in Cape Disappointment State Park. 

 This one was painted white and black, and the Coast Guard has an office in the lighthouse.  We couldn't go through it-- but the kids loved it. 

 On the way down the hill from the lighthouse, we went to Waikiki beach-- really.  It was the most gorgeous little alcove down below where the kids explored and the ocean waves came in.  

I love the look on their faces.  I love the fort in this picture that someone made. It is a perfect "Let's go explore" picture-- sums up little boys right there. 

 And now Spencer wants to take the lead....

 On our way out of the state park, we stopped at a place in Ilwaco called the Painted Lady Lavender farm.  I had seen the signs on the road, and read about it on the internet so I was curious.  We met the painted lady.  She was not painted, but maybe she's sniffed a lot of paint in her day.  She reminded me of Professor Trulawny from Harry Potter.  She invited us to the belly dancing festival this Saturday and Sunday, and let us know that it was family "orienTATED".  Well, I'm so disappointed that we will miss the family orientated show!  There was very little lavender, by the way.  I didn't know if I dared try the lavender fudge or lavender cookies since there is a legal weed in the state next door that might be flavoring them as well. She had her cat, Marty, on a leash to keep it safe from the raccoons, and her other cat named "Tinkerbell" was hanging out there as well-- no leash, big enough to fend off raccoons, I guess.  LL had to have a picture by the Painted Lady's boat.  Eat a cookie, try some fudge, then you can properly imagine that this boat is flying on the ocean waves!!! WEEEEE!!!! 

  Thursday:  We did our Goonies pilgrimage to Haystack rock.  It really is quite impressive.  Cannon beach is beautiful. 

That afternoon, we headed back to Astoria and took a ride on the trolley.  The conductors are volunteers and tell you all sorts of fun things about Astoria and the docks there.  

 Back to the beach one last night.  Spencer balances himself with his legs out like this-- he doesn't like to get his knees in the sand. They built a castle with a moat, but the waves broke through without a fight. 

Friday: Goodbye little beach house! We were sad to leave the little house near the beach.  Especially sad because we knew the long drive that was ahead!

We stopped at Multnomah Falls on our way home.  It was beautiful and quite impressive.  I can see why it is crowded. 

The drive home went really well.  The kids were all troopers.  We listened to audiobooks both ways there. We are now home getting ready for school to start next week.  I am looking forward to a schedule, but I am really not excited about subbing or teaching piano again.  Oh well.  We have some good summer memories to keep me going!