Sept 19 - Fort Stevens State Park & Astoria, Oregon

  Peter had a interview/phone call at noon today, so we hung out for the morning.  By then the ever-present clouds had cleared a bit, so we drove up the coast to the mouth of the Columbia River and Fort Stevens State Park.  They built a huge rock wall jetty on both the north and south sides of the River, back in the late 1800's, to protect the river from weather.  As a result, over the years, the land has built up and is now 1000 feet further into the river than before. 
  Our first stop was at a beach access, that still has the remains of a long ago beached ship.  The second stop was at the spit of land the south jetty was built on. There is an observation platform, which allows you to see the ocean, with the waves smashing into the jetty rocks, the River, and the plains with small mountains in the background.  Nice view.
  Further up the peninsula, at the northern most point, is a wildlife viewing area--one side of the peninsula looks out over the Trestle Bay, and the other side looks at the beach at the mouth of the Columbia River.  Folks were wading into the water in chest high gators fishing for salmon.
  We then went to the Fort.  This Fort was originally built during the Civil War, but was then used more extensively in WW II.  It was huge, and we took an hour long tour of the Fort, in a military truck holding 20 people.  Very interesting.  This was the only place on the west coast that was ever attacked by an enemy force--a Japanese submarine shelled the Fort in 1942.
  As we were driving over to Astoria, outside of the Park, there were Elk, about 8 of them, just wandering around the neighborhood we were driving through.  Neat to see.  In Astoria, Oregon we walked a little bit on the Riverwalk, but it was cold, so we at dinner at a restaurant overlooking the River.  Afterwards, we drove into the town of Seaside, near where we are staying.  This was a really cute little beachside tourist area.  We walked a few blocks down to the beach, and ate ice cream. 

Fort Stevens State Park Beach with the shipwreck remains photo:

South Jetty photos at Fort Stevens State Park:

South Jetty wildlife viewing area--Trestle Bay and Columbia River photos:

Elk photo: