Astoria, Oregon
“It is better to be lucky, than good.” Indeed. We could not have planned our “revised itinerary” any better! We began our voyage in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark by visiting Astoria, and what a spectacular day it was. Bright clear skies, the sun shining, and visibility could not have been better. We started our day at the Columbia River Maritime Museum, with a series of fascinating displays on some of the many shipwrecks that have occurred in this area. However it was hard to imagine any ship getting into difficulty in this area, as today the sea was so calm, visibility so good, it was indeed a beautiful morning.
After the museum we all went to Astor Column above the town, and the views were phenomenal, as we could see perhaps 40 or 50 miles in every direction. The famed Columbia River Bar, the scene of so many tragic shipwrecks was creating scarcely a ripple across the calm Pacific Ocean. The scene was so at odds to the descriptions Lewis and Clark gave this area, where they spent the miserable wet winter of 1805! Many of us even climbed the 160+ steps to the top of Astor Column for an even better vista.
In the afternoon we visited Fort Clatsop, where the Lewis and Clark Expedition hunkered down, and endured the winter, whereas by contrast we strolled through the reconstructed fort and ambled through the wooded trails, and thought what a Nirvana this area was. On our way back to the ship, we even saw a herd of Roosevelt Elk, the descendants of the same Elk that had sustained these early explorers those 198 years ago.
“It is better to be lucky, than good.” Indeed. We could not have planned our “revised itinerary” any better! We began our voyage in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark by visiting Astoria, and what a spectacular day it was. Bright clear skies, the sun shining, and visibility could not have been better. We started our day at the Columbia River Maritime Museum, with a series of fascinating displays on some of the many shipwrecks that have occurred in this area. However it was hard to imagine any ship getting into difficulty in this area, as today the sea was so calm, visibility so good, it was indeed a beautiful morning.
After the museum we all went to Astor Column above the town, and the views were phenomenal, as we could see perhaps 40 or 50 miles in every direction. The famed Columbia River Bar, the scene of so many tragic shipwrecks was creating scarcely a ripple across the calm Pacific Ocean. The scene was so at odds to the descriptions Lewis and Clark gave this area, where they spent the miserable wet winter of 1805! Many of us even climbed the 160+ steps to the top of Astor Column for an even better vista.
In the afternoon we visited Fort Clatsop, where the Lewis and Clark Expedition hunkered down, and endured the winter, whereas by contrast we strolled through the reconstructed fort and ambled through the wooded trails, and thought what a Nirvana this area was. On our way back to the ship, we even saw a herd of Roosevelt Elk, the descendants of the same Elk that had sustained these early explorers those 198 years ago.
