September 3, 2014 - Astoria Oregon

Well, Astoria is a wonderful stop!  We are waiting out a little storm front on the coast so we will be here another day or two.  But, Astoria has plenty to offer for a visiting family.  Yesterday we spent a good portion of our day at the Maritime Museum.  It is definitely a worthwhile stop.

Large prop in front of Maritime Museum

After seeing all of this info, Kathy is now nervous about heading back out to sea!

The first 42 motorlifeboat, quite a display!!!!

Huge anchor,  Lightship Columbia (a floating lighthouse).

Astoria was all built over the water.  Two fires (late 1800's and 1920's) wiped it out.
They then dredged and filled in the waterfront to make some land to build on.

Info about lightship Columbia.  Roland, where you ever stationed here????

Home school is proving to be a bit of an adjustment.  Kathy is handling all of it so far while I work on boat projects.  The kids being used to summer vacation are not really into school yet, so progress is somewhat slow.  A school day so far is going from 8:00-2:30.  From other boater's we've talked to it should really end around noon, perhaps 1:00 at the latest.  I'm sure as we settle into a routine, and the kids become more focused, the time will shorten.

Today after home school was over, we off-loaded the bikes and wen't exploring.  There is a great waterfront trail that is about a 20 mile round trip.  We rode the whole trail.  There was a lot to see along the way.  We stopped at Rogue Brewery for dinner (along with a couple of IPA's).  We also stopped at Safeway to fill our backpacks with some essentials.

The great bike trail along the waterfront

Freighters and the Astoria Bridge

Cute Trolley ($2 for an all day pass).  

We rode more than 20 miles today.  Good exercise, great views,

Old Cannery building, from 1875!

Info from the Bumble Bee Seafood Museum.  A great little find, because we were
on our bikes.  This is the kind of stuff that makes our trip uniquely interesting.,

It's been great so far here at Astoria. This is an interesting stop with a huge amount of history.  If I recall my info correctly,  Astoria was the first settlement west of the Missippi way back when,

Working in the Salmon cannery around the 1930's.  This was the 3rd largest
cannery in America at the time.

My friend's Ryan and Mike will appreciate this :-)
Great beer AND great food!

Lightship Columbia and the Maritime Museum

lucky seagulls enjoy the "leftovers' from  great season.  According to a couple of
regulars we've talked to, this years fishing is the best in 20+ years

About 10 years ago, when I was harbormaster for the Shelter Bay Marina back in La Conner, I attended a Harbormaster's Conference here in Astoria.  I distinctly remember visiting the Astoria Marina East Basin to view their problem with seals.  Well, it was bad 10 years ago.  They had no real remedies to the problem of seals taking over their docks and making life miserable for the marina tenants.  I hate to say that 10 years has NOT helped the situation.  Today it is far worse than when I was here last.  This marina basin is all but abandoned for use by humans.  Seals are in control.