We are staying in the little beach town of Seaside. Our campsite has berry brambles in the back but unfortunately there aren't many ripe berries. As long as its not raining, Al goes out to see what he can find.

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The pond here in the park seems to be a stopping place for Canada and White Fronted Geese during their annual migration south. We have also seen Flickers, a raccoon and have heard the "whoo" of an owl who must live near!

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Since the sun was shining today - something we haven't seen much of - we headed down to the beach to watch it go down. The clouds gave us an opportunity for a unique sunset.

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The South Jetty stands on the Oregon side of the mouth of the Columbia River. The entrance to the Columbia River is one of the most dangerous and challenging river bars in the world. Because of this, the a member of the Columbia River Bar Pilots board ships and assume control of the vessel as they safely navigate the restricted channels and bars of the Columbia River.

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Over 4-miles long, the Astoria-Megler Bridge is the longest continuous three-span, through-truss bridge in the world. It was opened in 1966 and completed Highway 101 making it an unbroken link between Canada and Mexico.

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The American Car Company of St. Louis built the Astoria Riverfront Trolley, lovingly called Old 300, in 1913. The trolley has a varnished cherry wood interior and is maintained and operated by volunteers. The narrated 1-hour ride along the Astoria waterfront is a must when visiting Astoria.

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This one-of-a-kind structure stands 125 feet tall at the top of Coxcomb Hill. From here you get incredible panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean, the mountain ranges of both Oregon and Washington, the Columbia River, the city of Astoria and the bridge. The murals on the column celebrate the earliest moments of Northwest history.

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Wrapping around Tillamook Head between Seaside and Cannon Beach, Ecola State Park affords incredible picture postcard seascape views.

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The sea stacks shrouded in fog gave them almost an ethereal look.

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The Tillamook Rock Lighthouse is one of the coasts most interesting. It is about 2-miles out to sea and was an amazing, dangerous and even deadly feat of construction in the late 1800's. The light shone for 77-years and because of its location and harsh conditions was the most expensive lighthouse to operate and maintain. It was decommissioned in 1957.

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It was mesmerizing watching the waves hit the rocks.

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We met some surfers who told us they usually love to surf Indian Beach at Ecola but weren't taking a chance today because of the rip tides.

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This wooly bear caterpillar crawled across the path we were walking and...

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...this pelican soared above our heads.

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Cannon Beach was having their last farmers market of the season today. We got to see the fruits and veggies they were selling and...

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...listen to a local play the didgeridoo.

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Haystack Rock, the monolith that is a Cannon Beach icon, rises 235-feet above the shoreline.

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We are amazed at how fuscia bushes grow wild in this area!

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Weakened by time, nature and rot, this historic Sitka Spruce snapped during hurricane winds on December 2, 2007. At 500-750 years old, it was the oldest living tree in Oregon. It was 200-feet tall with a trunk circumference of 56-feet. How we wish we had come here before the winds.

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A sunny day means an incredible sunset at Cove Beach in Seaside.

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As you know we haven't had a lot of sunny days this summer. Al decided since it was sunny he'd do a bit of carving.

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Another sunny day so we headed into Astoria to stroll their Sunday Market.

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Astoria has a wonderful area of historic homes. We stopped to take a picture of the Sanborn House, a Victorian built in 1890 by George Washington Sanborn who was a salmon packer, industrialist and Astoria Port Commissioner. A man on the porch asked if we wanted to come in and have a tour and far be it for me to pass up an opportunity like this.

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Bill Bender, the current owner of the home, is in the process of restoring the inside of the house. Over the years it has been a private residence and a bed and breakfast. Today, Mr. Bender is attempting to furnish it as it would have been during the period the Sanborn family lived there.

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