050717- Chinook
July 16, 2005
This morning was overcast and cool. shortly after hitting the road, the weather turned to a light drizzle which continued on and off for most of the morning.
Geographically, we started off the morning in Washington state, east of the Columbia river. The museum is actually in Astoria, south of the mouth of the Columbia River at the northwest tip of Oregon Therefore we had to cross the river back into Oregon, and travel along route 30.
The Maritime Museum is dedicated to the Coast Guard which is stationed adjacent to the museum.
The Columbia River is the 2nd longest river in the United States. It originates in Canada and is fed by many tributaries. At one time it was wild and untamable but now is managed by many major and minor dams. Astoria, Oregon is at its mouth where it enters the Pacific Ocean with a mighty force. In fact, it is so treacherous to navigation, the area has been named the graveyard of the Pacific. Even today, all ships entering the area must be guided thru by the most experienced sea pilots alive who have complete and tested knowledge of this specific waterway.
At one time, Astoria supported over one hundred salmon canneries but as seen in many other cities, the area was “fished out” and the
Buildings became abandoned, but shipping and commerce continued to grow and do business as far inland as Idaho. At one time there were also hundreds of steamboats that traveled to river, creating town wherever they docked. At that time, the river was the main and easiest road to travel.
After crossing the Astoria bridge – a very large and high magnificent structure that spans the mouth of the Columbia, we were officially back in Washington state, heading for the Pacific coastline. The coastline is actually roadside, and we encountered many fisherman casting out from the surf as we passed by.
Our campsite was easy to find, across the road from the ocean in Chinook. How many people can say they’ve been to Chinook?
The camp is small, friendly, grassy, but gravel roads, which is the natural enemy of rolling walkers.
Our first night here was a pot luck dinner – bar-b-q hamburgers and hot dogs. We don’t like pot luck dinners because we never have anything to contribute, but we are always welcomed as if we did make something. There was plenty of food, and Peter even got presented with a hot dog that fell off the grill. He was at his best behavior and was the center of attraction and conversation.
The sun doesn’t set until 9 pm so that gives me a chance to walk Peter after dinner. He likes that. Keeps him from having to keep his legs crossed overnight.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
The weather was beautiful today, so we brought the Batmobile out of its bat cave and prepared it for action. It sure is a wonderful device. Without it, Peter would get no exercise and I would be quite restricted in my ability to see any sights.
Chinook is a really small seaside town that apparently does a good business in fish sales. We traveled a few blocks north and noticed a drive-thru Espresso shop. It just seemed out of place. We followed the signs to the marina and found it to harbor some really nice looking and expense looking boats.
Further down the road we noticed another drive-thru Espresso shop. It’s hard to imagine that the population has that much of an addiction to coffee to support 2 shops and to be in that much of a hurry as to need drive-thrus.
Peter enjoyed the long walk and was pretty tired and thirsty when we got back to the Beast.
As a predicted, our cell phone service is poor to none and our wireless modem cant find a signal. I suspect it will be this way for the next week till we reach Puget sound.
By some quirk of luck, we found an active signal so off it goes before we lose it.
Till next time,
This morning was overcast and cool. shortly after hitting the road, the weather turned to a light drizzle which continued on and off for most of the morning.
Geographically, we started off the morning in Washington state, east of the Columbia river. The museum is actually in Astoria, south of the mouth of the Columbia River at the northwest tip of Oregon Therefore we had to cross the river back into Oregon, and travel along route 30.
The Maritime Museum is dedicated to the Coast Guard which is stationed adjacent to the museum.
The Columbia River is the 2nd longest river in the United States. It originates in Canada and is fed by many tributaries. At one time it was wild and untamable but now is managed by many major and minor dams. Astoria, Oregon is at its mouth where it enters the Pacific Ocean with a mighty force. In fact, it is so treacherous to navigation, the area has been named the graveyard of the Pacific. Even today, all ships entering the area must be guided thru by the most experienced sea pilots alive who have complete and tested knowledge of this specific waterway.
At one time, Astoria supported over one hundred salmon canneries but as seen in many other cities, the area was “fished out” and the
Buildings became abandoned, but shipping and commerce continued to grow and do business as far inland as Idaho. At one time there were also hundreds of steamboats that traveled to river, creating town wherever they docked. At that time, the river was the main and easiest road to travel.
After crossing the Astoria bridge – a very large and high magnificent structure that spans the mouth of the Columbia, we were officially back in Washington state, heading for the Pacific coastline. The coastline is actually roadside, and we encountered many fisherman casting out from the surf as we passed by.
Our campsite was easy to find, across the road from the ocean in Chinook. How many people can say they’ve been to Chinook?
The camp is small, friendly, grassy, but gravel roads, which is the natural enemy of rolling walkers.
Our first night here was a pot luck dinner – bar-b-q hamburgers and hot dogs. We don’t like pot luck dinners because we never have anything to contribute, but we are always welcomed as if we did make something. There was plenty of food, and Peter even got presented with a hot dog that fell off the grill. He was at his best behavior and was the center of attraction and conversation.
The sun doesn’t set until 9 pm so that gives me a chance to walk Peter after dinner. He likes that. Keeps him from having to keep his legs crossed overnight.
Sunday, July 17, 2005
The weather was beautiful today, so we brought the Batmobile out of its bat cave and prepared it for action. It sure is a wonderful device. Without it, Peter would get no exercise and I would be quite restricted in my ability to see any sights.
Chinook is a really small seaside town that apparently does a good business in fish sales. We traveled a few blocks north and noticed a drive-thru Espresso shop. It just seemed out of place. We followed the signs to the marina and found it to harbor some really nice looking and expense looking boats.
Further down the road we noticed another drive-thru Espresso shop. It’s hard to imagine that the population has that much of an addiction to coffee to support 2 shops and to be in that much of a hurry as to need drive-thrus.
Peter enjoyed the long walk and was pretty tired and thirsty when we got back to the Beast.
As a predicted, our cell phone service is poor to none and our wireless modem cant find a signal. I suspect it will be this way for the next week till we reach Puget sound.
By some quirk of luck, we found an active signal so off it goes before we lose it.
Till next time,
posted by The Highway Guys @ 10:03 PM
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