We were disappointed that, the day, we were supposed to go to Olympic National Park, the Shutdown occurred. We had to go to Plan B. Head to the state parks! We planned on going to Cape Disappointment State Park after leaving Seattle, but ended up going south out of Olympia(after visiting the capitol-post for another day) instead of west, so we decided to head to Astoria, Oregon(which is right across the Columbia River from Washington) and stay there. What a blessing! We camped at Fort Stevens State Park. This fort was built during the Civil War and was active through WWII(was part of a 3 fort defense system at the mouth of the Columbia River). The North had concerns about the British attacking from Canada or the west to support the South. British and France were selling arms to the South for cotton and tobacco. Fascinating history, that I was not familiar with.
We spent our first day in Astoria. One of the big reasons for visiting Astoria was to take our kids to Fort Clatsop which is where Lewis and Clark wintered 1805-1806 after they spotted the Pacific Ocean. Well, I did not realize that Fort Clatsop is part of the National Park Service. So it was all gated up!
We headed to Astoria after that with a quick stop to the Visitor’s Center. Our friends, the Smiths, had told us about a fish and chips place that they loved. We could not imagine it being better than the halibut we had eaten in Alaska, especially when we realized it was fried albacore tuna. Well, it was unbelievable! It was so delicious!!
Another thing that Astoria is famous for is movies. There have been so many movies made here like: The Goonies, Kindergarten Cop, Free Willy, Short Circuit, Into the Wild, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, etc. Well, last night we had family movie and watched the The Goonies. Scott was shocked that I had never seen it! It was so cool seeing different places from the movie around town. We also drove by the elementary school that Kindergarten Cop was filmed at.
We headed to Astoria Column following the Goonies house. The Astoria Column is a tower that sits on the highest point of Astoria, where it provided a spectacular view of the city, Columbia River, bay, forest and surrounding mountains. Our friends, the Smiths, had told us about purchasing airplanes from the gift shop that our kids could fly from the top. They were so excited! They had a blast flying the airplanes off. Kane climbed the tower up and down 4 times(he got his workout that day), rushing down to get their planes and going back up to fly them again.
We finished the day at the docks to check out the barking sea lions. There were at least 30-40 on the docks.
Day 2 – October 4, 2013
We biked around Fort Stevens State Park Campground and visited the Fort and Battery. While biking Kane and Kat looked for mushrooms. They are really into looking for Boletes and Chanterilles. We ended up at the beach where we saw the Peter Iredale Shipwreck from 1906.
Day 3 October 5, 2013
We wanted to go clamming in Alaska, but missed the minus tide(which is a negative tide or unusually low tide). Good news for us-it was a minus tide this weekend! Kids and Scott headed to town to get clam gun and license in the morning. Then kids and I went to the Ranger led program on Mushrooms. It is so cool seeing their interest and knowledge grow about mushrooms.
After, the mushroom program we went fishing at Lake Coffenbury in our campground. Kids caught multiple teeny yellow perch and Kat ended up falling off the dock into the lake, but was okay.
After dinner, we headed to the beach for our first try at clamming. We went about 1 hour before minus tide. We headed to the beach and started looking for “clam show(a dimple, a doughnut or keyhole in the sand).” When we found our first clam show, we centered our clam gun over the dimple and twisted it down about 6-10inches. Then we placed our finger over the air vent and sucked up the sand and clam(sometimes we had to suck up 2 or 3 times to catch the clam, they dig fast). Kids were so excited each time we found one! We ended up collecting 6 razor clams.
Day 4 – October 6, 2013
This post is getting long, so I will just bullet point today:
Scott watched the Chiefs game
Kim went to the Laundry Mat
Scott and Kids found King Boletes in the woods
Clamming for the Second Day(not as good as last night(super windy), but we still found 4, thanks to Kane(he found the “clam show” and dug 3 of the 4 himself)
Day 5 – October 7, 2013
Today was dedicated to Lewis and Clark. The kids have been learning about Lewis and Clark since we started on our journey. I was so excited about them being able to see the places that Lewis and Clark have been and to think about what it took to survive their journey. So we went to some of the places around the Columbia River and the Oregon Coast that they were. We started at Dismal Nitch, where Lewis and Clark were pinned against the rocky shore and they took shelter from the strong waves, winds and torrential rain of a Pacific Northwest Storm. It was the first time Clark described the situation as “dangerous” on their long journey.
Station Camp-Lewis and Clark got their first full view of the Pacific Ocean at this point. (Sorry no picture).
Cape Disappointment- Lewis and Clark finally reached the Pacific Ocean here. They explored the step bluffs and forested hollows of the cape.
Seaside, Oregon -Salt Works
We visited the Salt Works where replicas of the structures (known as “cairns”) where Lewis and Clark’s men boiled sea water to evaporate the water and gather salt to season their food and preserve their meat. These cairns were ovens built of rock and shaped like an upside down “u”. Wood was piled beneath the rocks and a fire built and kept constantly going. Between December of 1805 and February of 1806, three men worked with five brass kettles boiling 24 hours a day, going through over 1400 gallons of seawater to make enough salt for the expedition to use on their return home. They were able to make three quarts to one gallon each day and ended up with over 20 gallons of salt. It is amazing to think of them hiking 15 miles from their camp to make salt. Then having to haul it back.
Last stop of the day was Cannon Beach where Lewis and 12 of his expedition traveled to see a beached whale. Tillamook Native Americans were already there boiling the blubber, so Clark bartered with them for 300 lbs. of blubber and some whale oil.
We loved visiting Haystack Rock at Cannon Beach. It was low tide when we got there, so we were able to go tidepooling. A tide pool is a puddle of water left when the ocean recedes during low tide. It is a great time to spot marine animals and plants. We spotted barnacles, anemones, seastars and hermit crabs. Our kids really enjoy spotting the marine animals.
