Maritime Museum – Astoria, Oregon

Thursday we took a ride to Astoria with friends Jeri and Terry.  It was a very interesting museum.  Never knew that the mouth of the Columbia River was so dangerous.  It’s called the Graveyard of the Pacific.  It is so treacherous that no barge can enter without a pilot.  These river pilots must memorize every little nuance of the ‘bar’.  We watched a short film on the river pilots and how they get out to the barges.  That can be the most dangerous part of their job!!
        
Ed still remembers his morse code.   
     
 
  
He wants to make this model.
 
On the way home, we stopped to get some lunch at Astoria’s Ship’s Inn.  We were able to sit at a table and watch the river.  We had some very good fish and chips. And Jeri said the chowder was very good.  Ed liked it too.  It was an enjoyable day with good friends. 

Seaside Aquarium

We went to visit the Seaside Aquarium.  It’s a very inexpensive aquarium, very small but also very enjoyable.  First thing we did was feed the seals. Or should I say Ed did. 

   

This was the first aquarium where I have actually seen an octopus.

  

Look at the size of this Halibut.  Some good eating there.

Once we left the aquriaum, we walked around the town.  Here’s the turn around with the statue of Lewis and Clark.

        

Friends Terry and Jeri Williams are here so today we are taking a drive to Astoria.  Looking forward to seeing another quaint seaside town.

Route 101 thru California and Oregon

This is the second time we have done this trip and will probably be our last.  It is a very beautiful drive and if you haven’t done it, you should at least once.  We left the Elks lodge at Walnut Creek on Wednesday afternoon and stayed the first night at the Petaluma Elks.  They didn’t have any spots so we boondocked for the night.  We left early Thursday and drove to Fortuna California and the Bear River Casino.  We drove the “Avenue of the Giants” on Friday with the car.

  
   
These were some big trees and the drive was very pretty. 
We left there on Sunday and drove to Florence, Oregon.  We stayed at Three Rivers Casino.  I wanted to go to Sea Lion Caves, which we did on Tuesday.  For the admission price, we were very disappointed. 
    
We left Florence on Thursday and are currently in Seaside Oregon at the Thousand Trails park.  On our way we did stop at the Tillamook Cheese Factory.
It was a bigger place than the one in Loleta but their vats are all enclosed so you couldn’t see as much.  We did purchase some more cheese and also tried their ice cream.  It is very good.
Since we are here for a couple of weeks, we hope to be able to do a lot of sightseeing.  Hope the weather cooperates with us.