Our 7th Month of Christmas Trips took us to the Washington Coast. We decided to head down to the Columbia River area, to check out the coast there, and to visit with family and friends while there.

Traffic was terrible!
Heading down, we ran into some pretty significant traffic.

Off the beaten path
Once we got off the main route, though, traffic really opened up for us

Great place to eat!
The Crab Pot really has some good crab, as I'm sure you can imagine.

Long Beach
Our first stop was Long Beach... a sand castle contest was going on, and we stopped to check it out.

Not sure about that
They claim to have the longest beach, but its only about 18 miles... I'd think that the Dunes area of Oregon, or places in Maine or California would have longer stretches.

Interesting marker
An old buoy provides an interesting marker for messages and the like

Sand Castle Contest
The traffic got us there a bit later than we'd hoped, and the competition was wrapping up

Demise of the sand castles
The tide was closing in on the sand castles, and they were being reclaimed by the ocean

Sinking Octopus
The Octopus seems to be watching the tide with his one eye...

Waves
The waves were pretty interesting, but the little guy didn't want to head down there...

Stuck!
Quite a few vehicles got stuck in the sand... with the tide coming in, they had to drive in the softer sand above the tidal zone, and instead bogged down.

Marine Layer Rolling In
As we headed into Astoria where our hotel was, the marine layer started to roll over us.

Parting Clouds
A break in the clouds lined up perfectly with the Astoria Spire, making for a pretty god picture...

Astoria Bridge
The Astoria Bridge is about 4.1 miles long, and spans the Columbia Estuary, linking Washington and Oregon.

Peter Iredale
The Peter Iredale was a 4-masted sailing ship that wrecked on the beach during a storm in 1906... its been rusting away ever since...

Shipwreck
There's not much left of the old ship... but what IS left is pretty interesting, I think.

Old ship
More than 100 years of weathering has taken its toll.

Baracles and Rust
The ship serves as a haven for critters that live on rocky out croppings... its a wonder how those things can find a resting spot like that.

Reflection
I can't help but wonder what the ship looked like when it first wrecked here...

Disappearing Deck Plates
The deck plates were pretty thick, but they're no match for time, and the salty bath of seawater...

Romance
I drew a sign for everyone to see... =]

Digging
The little guy and I started digging... always a fun thing to do at the beach!

Tearing it down is fun!
He could wreck faster than I could build. =]

Coastal Battery
While at Ft Stevens, we checked out a coastal battery... a fun place for the little guy to explore and run around on...

Turret well
The well left behind for the turret shows just how big these guns were!

Concrete works
Old and slowly decaying to time, the battery is still an impressive piece of work.

The little guy and Mom
The little guy had a blast! He and mom look out from the control room for one of the batterys

Long hallway
We had fun exploring the rooms of the battery...

Astoria Bridge
We crossed the Astoria Bridge a few times on our trip... much to the little guy's delight!

Waterfall
Next to the Pacific Courthouse, a small waterfall cascades into the pond.

Nice Reflection
The walking trail over the little pond makes for a great picture...

Pacific County Courthouse
The courthouse is pretty impressive, I think.

Banana Shake
On the way back home, we stopped by Clarks for some ice cream... the little guy really liked my Banana Shake. We had a fun time, and we're looking foward to our next trip already!

 

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