Today I drove 146 miles traveling from Lincoln City, Oregon to Astoria, Oregon.
It covers today as well as the previous two days here on the Oregon Coast. Today's activities begin at 2:27:29 in this video. (Don't like long videos? Click  for some shorter videos from today.) |
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Greetings, I checked the weather forecast yesterday and it said it was going to be sunny all day today just like the last several days. So I woke up early and checked out of the hotel in order to catch the favorable morning light. I was quite surprised to find it completely gloomy and foggy when I got outside. My room was on the ground floor right by the front entrance so I kept the drapes closed and didn't look out. Had I been aware I would have slept in and waited for the fog to lift. Since I was now checked out of my lodgings I hit the foggy road. I made a couple scheduled stops but they weren't too impressive in the morning gloom. My third stop was Cape Meares Lighthouse. The lighthouse was named for Captain John Meares who was the first to sail into Tillamook Bay. It is recognized as the shortest lighthouse on the Oregon Coast. Built in 1889, this teeny tiny wonder stands only 38 feet tall.  After the last few lighthouses that I have visited I was disappointed I couldn't get very close to them having to rely on my zoom lens. That certainly not the case this morning.  By the time I got to Cannon Beach the sun was trying to peak through the clouds. It may have cast a few short-lived rays upon Haystack Rock, a 235-foot sea stack. A popular tourist destination, the monolithic rock is adjacent to the beach and accessible by foot at low tide. The rock is also a nesting site for many sea birds, including terns and puffins.  My next stop was just up the road in Seaside. I drove around the famous ocean-front promenade but there was no place to park and it was still really gloomy so I passed it by. Astoria was now only a few miles up the road. This is where I am spending the night and I got here at noon. Before going to the hotel I went to the Astoria Column.  As you can see from the picture above the sun finally came out. Originally named the Astor Column, the tower overlooks the mouth of the Columbia River on Coxcomb Hill. Built in 1926, the 125-foot tall column has a 164-step spiral staircase ascending to an observation deck at the top. Sadly I was not able to climb to the top but there were great views from the base of the tower making it unnecessary.  The Astoria–Megler Bridge is a steel cantilever through truss bridge that spans the lower Columbia River, between Astoria, Oregon, and Point Ellice near Megler, Washington. It opened 53 years ago in 1966, it is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America. Located fourteen miles from the mouth of the river at the Pacific Ocean, the bridge is 4.067 miles in length, and was the final segment of U.S. Route 101 to be completed between Olympia, Washington, and Los Angeles, California.  After departing the Astoria Column I drove across the bridge into Washington State and made a brief visit to nearby Fort Columbia located on Chinook Point at the mouth of the Columbia River.  After about fifteen minutes in Washington I drove back across the Columbia River on the Astoria–Megler Bridge. The picture below shows the bridge from the Washington side.  Next I checked into my Best Western Hotel here in Astoria.  Tonight I continued eating at small, local restaurants. Geno's in Astoria was my choice tonight. Again it was very good. It's on into Washington state tomorrow.  Until tomorrow, Tim |
Most of the original audio track is in tact on this video but occasionally content playing on the radio was removed and replaced with background music. |
Click on the arrow above for tomorrow's adventures.
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