Yesterday (Friday) and today brought us to the Pacific coastline starting at Seaside, OR. On the left is Jan at the beach at Seaside. Note the contrast from 98 degrees F. on Wednesday, with 60 degrees F. and windy on Friday. And yes, that's a rain cloud in the distance, which moistened us a good bit on the way back to the hotel. The town of Seaside and the beach area has been densely populated for the past couple of days for the Budweiser volley ball tournament.
Before arriving at Seaside, we made our way to Astoria, OR near the mouth of the Columbia River. It's the oldest settlement in the USA west of the Mississippi River and is built on hills not unlike San Francisco. Nearby was Fort Clatsup where the Lewis and Clark Expedition wintered before returning East.
Today we drove south to Cannon Beach which has a shoreline populated with stone monoliths and rocky beaches which have a rugged beauty. We then headed to Tillamook, OR to visit the Tillamook Air Museum, housed in one of the huge hangers built during World War II to house the dirigible fleet which escorted the cargo ships up and down the Pacific coast. The hanger was built all of wood because the available steel was directed to other war construction, and is now the largest wooden building in the world. Check this URL. The museum houses a great assortment of vintage planes used in WWII through the Vietnam War.
Finally we checked out the Cape Meares lighthouse near Tillamook. It has been replaced by a modern signal unit, but is open to the public to marvel at how it efficiently it worked.
Here's the photo gallery of the trip. Enjoy!
