Friday, July 06, 2001

July 6: Being tourists in Astoria

When my brother and Beth came up from Cottage Grove for the day, the weather turned out to be much nicer than it had been for the celebration on the 4th. We did some of the tourist things. I'd learned enough to show them a few places, and we did some things I hadn't done before, either. Our first trip was out to the beach to see the wreck of the Peter Iredale - scenic and compelling as always.

This is a part of the ship further back from the bow. It's probably the mainmast housing.

Next we went up to see the Astoria Column with its spectacular view over the Columbia River and surrounding countryside.

I love the purple foxgloves, and I still can't get over the amazing array of green things and shades of green in Oregon.

The column shows the history of our area in pictures and words.

It sure does climb way up there into the sky. There's a door at the bottom, and you can walk all the way up the spiral staircase.

In case you wonder where you are, there's a bronze map at the base of the column.

I wonder what's in here. Maybe some floppy disks? I hope there will be a way to read them. Maybe some 35mm film capsules?

Here's the view on the other side of the column from the river. The tallest mountain on the left is called Saddle Mountain. It has lots fo bumps and . . . a saddle :) That's Youngs River, and no, they don't use an apostrophe.

Here we are down by the river again, just west of the Maritime Museum. The old pilings and foundation are picturesque, and sometimes there are ships in the dock.

The Columbia Light Ship is in the dock permanently. The Queen of the West (I think that's the name) is a paddlewheel boat that comes down the Columbia just this far bringing tourists.

They're expanding the museum. See the trolley tracks in the foreground? You can ride for one dollar, and that's what we're going to do.

This is one of the sights out the trolley window - the old cannery building called "Big Red." It's privately owned. You can't go through it - darn! I can only imagine!

I don't know the guy. I thought the inside of the old refurbished trolley was pretty cool. And when you get to the end of the line, the seats can be flipped so everyone is once again facing the way the trolley is moving. I like that!

Here's another pic of the inside of the trolley. It was wonderful having Gary and Beth come visit. Why is it that I never take photos of people? I guess it's because I don't like being the subject myself.

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