Astoria
After an absolutely awesome week of weather, the Sea Bird was greeted by overcast conditions at Astoria. It really was a contrast to the 80-degree temperature of yesterday. That is just another reason to come packed for both cool and hot weather at this time of year on the Columbia and Snake Rivers.
The Columbia Maritime Museum was a world-class museum even before the later additions that include one of the original 47-foot US Coast Guard “self-righting” rescue boats. The Coast Guard is the training ground for the rescue crews needed because of the extremely treacherous nature of the Columbia River bar. The docent did an excellent job of showing us the special highlights in the museum. There are exhibits that take us from first days of ship activity on the Columbia River bar, to the glory days of the salmon fishing industry and present import/export shipping trade.
A trip to the wintering home of the Lewis and Clark Expedition was our next stop of the morning. Fort Clatsop is an exact replica, taken from the William Clark drawings of the original fort. There was a fine film introduction to the fort and narrative of the trials and tribulations of the Corp of Discovery’s long stay of over three months at the mouth of the Columbia River. Their time here was so hard—they just couldn’t wait to get out of the rainy conditions—so left almost a month earlier, traveling upstream against a rain and snow meltwater-filled Columbia River.
It was back to the ship for lunch, before heading off in different directions for afternoon activities. A trademark of Lindblad Expeditions is the ability to provide options. We had the option of walking along a beautiful beach at Fort Stevens State Park, where three hardy individuals pulled off their shoes and tested the 40-degree water of the Pacific Ocean. It isn’t really cold: you feel a quick stabbing pain after which your feet become numb so you don’t feel a thing. Surfing in the Pacific off the Oregon and Washington coasts is definitely wetsuit weather all year around, but still fun. Our second option was a trip to the Astoria Column, a tall tower with a spiral staircase of 356 steps, a magnificent view from either the top or bottom and a pictorial history of the Oregon Country from the time that Robert Gray first entered the Columbia River in 1792. The third option was walk around the town of Astoria and the fourth as always is to just relax onboard with a good book.
All aboard was at half past four, when the Sea Bird cast off from the dock and headed out further west to the mouth of the Columbia River, where we felt just a hint of waves and could see the infamous bar before heading back upriver to Portland.
After an absolutely awesome week of weather, the Sea Bird was greeted by overcast conditions at Astoria. It really was a contrast to the 80-degree temperature of yesterday. That is just another reason to come packed for both cool and hot weather at this time of year on the Columbia and Snake Rivers.
The Columbia Maritime Museum was a world-class museum even before the later additions that include one of the original 47-foot US Coast Guard “self-righting” rescue boats. The Coast Guard is the training ground for the rescue crews needed because of the extremely treacherous nature of the Columbia River bar. The docent did an excellent job of showing us the special highlights in the museum. There are exhibits that take us from first days of ship activity on the Columbia River bar, to the glory days of the salmon fishing industry and present import/export shipping trade.
A trip to the wintering home of the Lewis and Clark Expedition was our next stop of the morning. Fort Clatsop is an exact replica, taken from the William Clark drawings of the original fort. There was a fine film introduction to the fort and narrative of the trials and tribulations of the Corp of Discovery’s long stay of over three months at the mouth of the Columbia River. Their time here was so hard—they just couldn’t wait to get out of the rainy conditions—so left almost a month earlier, traveling upstream against a rain and snow meltwater-filled Columbia River.
It was back to the ship for lunch, before heading off in different directions for afternoon activities. A trademark of Lindblad Expeditions is the ability to provide options. We had the option of walking along a beautiful beach at Fort Stevens State Park, where three hardy individuals pulled off their shoes and tested the 40-degree water of the Pacific Ocean. It isn’t really cold: you feel a quick stabbing pain after which your feet become numb so you don’t feel a thing. Surfing in the Pacific off the Oregon and Washington coasts is definitely wetsuit weather all year around, but still fun. Our second option was a trip to the Astoria Column, a tall tower with a spiral staircase of 356 steps, a magnificent view from either the top or bottom and a pictorial history of the Oregon Country from the time that Robert Gray first entered the Columbia River in 1792. The third option was walk around the town of Astoria and the fourth as always is to just relax onboard with a good book.
All aboard was at half past four, when the Sea Bird cast off from the dock and headed out further west to the mouth of the Columbia River, where we felt just a hint of waves and could see the infamous bar before heading back upriver to Portland.
