"No one would have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in the storm."
Charles Kettering
Amen to that, Charlie, amen to that.
And it was storming when we woke up, early, Thursday morning.
We knew there was a storm in the offing, but we both hoped it'd stand off a bit before blowing in. Long enough for us to enjoy the area and then get back on our way.
None of the pictures shows how hard the rain was pelting down. It was making ripples in the water where the sheets of rain, blown by the wind, would stripe the water of the Marina.
But the worst of it passed after a while and things got back to normal. Ships still come in and go out.
Calm Marina Motel Balcony Selfie!!
And we still posed for Selfies...shamelessly.
In addition to the Museum Passes, which were very nice, thank-you very much, there was also breakfast. It wasn't fancy...waffles. But it was filling and the OJ and coffee were never ending. Plus they had bikes you could use. We had planned to 'try' the tandem bike but the weather this last morning kinda precluded that.
All in all, it was a pretty good motel for the price. It was OK by me.
OK, I promised to say something about the colorful Adirondack Chairs and now I will. I had thought I had another picture of one of them around the town and heaven knows there had been plenty of opportunities to get one...but I didn't.
Anyway, see the bright pink chair in the lower right? Well, we saw any number of these distinctive chairs dotted all over Astoria. And I'm not talking the sedate white ones....noooo, the ones we saw were all brightly colored and, honestly, so out of place as to forcibly draw your attention to them.
We tried figuring this one out and couldn't. Maybe there was a fire sale of ugly-colored Adirondack Deck Chairs. Maybe they just like being a bit left of center. Regardless, much like the brightly painted homes, we were left wondering...and looking without understanding.
I got this shot of a heron that landed on the roof on the other side of the motel.
It gives you an idea of how hard the wind was a-blowin'.
Even the birds were stopping to get away from it.
Finally there was a lull in the storm and a bit of sun came through.
So we quickly packed up the rest of our gear and got out to the car.
Bidding a fond Adios, Y'all, to the Astoria Riverwalk Inn, we headed out to see a bit of the area before turning back towards home.
One last shot (from this angle at least) of the bridge...
...and we were off. We drove through the town and happened to pass by the Flavel House. Really, it was, for me, one of the highlights of the trip.
Totally recommend it.
And the air was clean and crisp after the strong winds and the light was warm and bright after the clouds. Here's a corner of the Post Office as we headed north toward the river.
We stopped at the Mickey D's again...same reason as before and saw that Fine Fellow in the same seat as the day before. The only thing that had changed was he switched out the old briefcase for a large plastic bag.
As we were leaving Mickey's and stopped at a light, Carol spotted a Bald Eagle flying high. He was flying from the river toward the hills.
We drove back through the downtown area. I do like me some Small-Town America.
Heading west on Marine Drive, we were going to the west side of the city to parts unknown...
...and got on the road to Warrenton and Fort Stevens. This is the bridge over Youngs Bay that separates Warranton from Astoria. It's the 101 continuing to the south.
We just drove around for a bit on Fort Stevens as the weather was just holding off and we could see the storm was fixing to come back almost any time now.
Here's the Guard House on Fort Stevens. One of the Coastal Artillery Forts, Fort Stevens was built to guard the mouth of the Columbia River. Built near the end of the Civil War, it was named for slain Civil War general and former Washington Territory governor, Isaac Stevens. The fort was an active military reservation from 1863-1947.
Inside the Fort, we came upon this family.
Yeah, we got about 30 pictures but I won't show you all of them. No, no, no. Don't ask.
CB
The clouds began gathering again and I decided it'd be best if we put it on the road home so we headed back towards 101 and the bridge over the Bay.
And our timing was great!! We were the second car in line when the gate went down so the drawbridge could go up.
Hahaha, while we were sitting there the Mini was literally rocking with the gusts of wind coming in over Youngs Bay.
And why were we stopped? Must be some large ocean-going vessel seeking to find refuge in the calm waters of the Bay, right!?!
Hahaha, WRONG!!
Here she comes...this is the mighty craft that they were raising the drawbridge for. Honest, I'd thought the bridge was high enough for this polliwog already.
Evidently not.
Youngs Bay is crossed by U.S. Route 26/101. It has a vertical-lift highway bridge with clearances of 45 feet down and 80 feet up.
Obviously, 45-feet isn't enough clearance for this bad boy.
And...he made it to the other side.
Down came the bridge and we were on our way.
By now I could see where the storm was coming back in and so I decided to get in front of it and go home.
But not without one quick shot of the Astoria Column from the bridge.
Still don't like tall bridges over water...especially when the winds are high and you can feel them blowing.
Nearing the Washington side of the bridge...you get an idea of what the weather was like.
The river wasn't looking too serene, either.
Hoozah!! Washington, The Evergreen State.
Very soon we were highballing it down the 101 heading north. And racing the storm. It caught up to us a couple times and I had those windshield wipers slapping double-time to keep up with the rain.
Still, it was an enjoyable and scenic ride back.
A lot of wetlands down that way.
And when we got back, we stopped at our park just to touch base and see what the weather was doing in our neck of the woods.
This one was happy to be out of the Mini and back on familiar ground again.
The weather was...normal for Seattle.
Cloudy and overcast with a strong chance of rain.
Ahhhh, home.
The winds have taken a goodly number of leaves off the trees but there's still color out there.
This is the first time I've seen this...the cormorants huddling along one log waiting out the wind.
Looking good, Seattle.
Well, we certainly got our ticket stamped in Astoria. Well worth it. Even without the museums, it would have been a great trip.
If you're planning on visiting Astoria and the Column between now and the end of the year let me know and I'll hook you up with a Parking Permit!!
Hahahaha, hey!! It's $2 still in your pocket!!
You're welcome.
It was a good drive back. I got to listen to Michael Medved on the radio and look at some great scenery, too.
Plus, we successfully avoided the dreaded traffic jams in both Olympia AND Tacoma!! Win-Win, Amigo!!
Looking forward to the next adventure.
Life is definitely good.
Hooah!!
No comments:
Post a Comment