Two Days in Astoria

Our friend, Tine, invited us to spend two nights with her in Astoria, Oregon, and we happily accepted.

Everyone in Astoria lives on a slant. This is why god made emergency brakes. Astoria has hills akin to those in San Francisco and Knoxville, Tennessee. Roads that drop out from underneath your car and plunge toward deep water.

Bob presented Tine with a Jedi logo flag because we’re really into flags these days, and he was pretty sure Tine would like this one.

Tine took us for a walk at a nearby demonstration forest where we learned a whole lot about forestry and tree management. If you’re wondering what’s a Clatsop, well, the Clatsop were the original people of this region. Before the white people came.

The forest is mainly planted in Douglas-fir and western redcedar. We got to see both managed and untouched forests on either side of the trail. While I’d love to say that Mother Nature knows best, the managed trees looked larger and healthier than the untouched trees.

Bob and Amy trying to identify a tree that is neither a Douglas-fir nor a western redcedar.

Everything out here on the Oregon Coast is ginormous, even the slugs.

Amy and I split off to do an extra loop and encountered some really big trees. This one looks like a cedar.

Next stop: the Astoria Column, an “artful summary of the triumphs, conflicts and turning points of the frontier.” At the base of the column is an image of a forest populated by animals and the words “Before White People Arrive.” Notably missing are the Clatsop people who had occupied the region for tens of thousands of years.

If you wanted, you could climb the spiral staircase to the top and look out across the Columbia River at Washington State on the other side. I thought this was a great idea, so up I went.

A view across the river.

After all that walking, we were ready for something to eat, and Tine knew just the place.

When I asked Tine for a low-traffic route to the river, she set me on course. The streets she chose were not whizzing with cars, but were instead populated by deer who regarded me with mild curiosity.

Tine had grown excited when she mentioned the pigeon steps and I soon understood why. They practically beg to be taken.

It was still early when I arrived at the river.

I saw a giant slug hugging—humping? can’t get the previous image out of my mind—a not-open-for-business food truck. Which was just as well because I found the slug unappetizing.

So I turned around and walked back up the pigeon steps, which took a lot more effort than I had imagined on my way down.

Tine was a wonderful host, and we were happy for the break between our drive up the coast from Cottage Grove and more touring ahead. Stay tuned for Mt. St. Helens, the Bonneville Dam Fish Ladder, and other interesting Pacific Northwest destinations.