Astoria Oregon is about 1 1/2 hours south of Westport and is a good day trip drive through the lower wetlands of Washington State along the bay – It is also where civilzation begins again!  They have a Costco and no sales tax – Boose and Groceries!  Besides the supply run Astoria also offers a few sites for the tourist.

Astoria Oregon,sits on the Pacific Coast across the Columbia River from Washington.  It is about 1 1/2 hours south of Westport and is reached by traveling down Hwy 101 along the wetlands of Southwestern Washington and then you reach the Columbia River!

A 4 1/2 mile bridge across the Columbia River!  For about 3 miles of the bridge you are just above the water and then you climb this hill (on the bridge) to reach Astoria!  Quite a beautiful bridge.

Astoria is a quaint little town (at least the downtown is) with lots of little shops, a trolley, a pier and some great fish-n-chips at the Wetdog Cafe where you can also get a burger for your pouch for only $1.00!

After wandering around downtown and eating we ventured up the hill to the Column for some spectacular views of the Northwestern coast of Oregon.  After climbing the 165 steps inside this column you reach the top where you have to walk out the door to a platform that is about 2 feet wide all the way around the top.  It is so windy up here, the clouds are moving and you are sure the column is not stable, but just stand there for a few moments and you are aclaimated and ready to take in the views.  You can see to the horizon looking west; looking east you see Mt. Rainer & St. Helena; to the north you see Washington and the Cascade Mtns of the Olympia National Park; and to the south you see GREEN, lots of forests and some rivers!

The Column sits atop the mountain of Astoria so the view just from the base of the Column is pretty good.  I thought this was pretty cool, an Indian Burial Canoe.  It was on display infront of the Column overlooking the Lewis & Clark River.

Since Astoria is at the mouth of the Columbia River, Ft. Stevens was built during the Civil War to protect the waterway.  A beautiful State Park with all the fun stuff to do, swimming, fishing, kayaking or just sitting on the beach watching the waves.  At least that is what I had read about the fort but Paul had another idea!  Fort Stevens has Battery’s and lots of big guns that we were able to walk around and enjoy!  At least he did.

The views from atop the Battery’s was spectacular so I was ok!  Enough site seeing lets get to Costco!

 

This entry was posted on Friday, June 24th, 2011 at 8:24 pm and is filed under Washington. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.