One enters Oregon from Washington via the Astoria-Megler Bridge which spans the Columbia River. Prior to the bridge being completed in 1966, the trip across the Columbia was by ferry - now that must have been some ride! The bridge was built to withstand 150 mph wind gusts and river speeds of 9 mph.

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The Leems, friends we met at the Birch Bay campground, were here when we arrived and came over to visit. We began to chat about music and Al ended up giving a little impromptu concert.

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We were having some rain so out came the sewing machine so I could work on another baby quilt.

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The rain stopped long enough for us to get out for a ride to Sunset Beach. No sunset tonight but it was pretty in its own way.

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The ruins of a wooden trestle, which carried the trains used in the construction of the South Jetty at the mouth of the Columbia River, are an historical reminder of all that had to be done to complete the construction of this important jetty.

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The South Jetty at the mouth of the Columbia River took 27 years to build, beginning in 1886. The 6.5-mile jetty helps to contain and trap the shifting sand deposits at the mouth of the river and thus ensure a relatively stable shipping channel. It has been instrumental in the formation of Clatsop Spit, which was a partially submerged shoal before the construction of the jetty. It is always fun to come out here and watch the huge ships come into the mouth of the river.

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From South Jetty we moved a bit up river to see if there was any ship activity. The only activity we saw were some brave kids in this cold, cold water and a few fishermen.

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Tillamook Head is a high promontory just southwest of Seaside. It forms a steep rocky bluff on the ocean, approximately 1,200 feet high and is forested with Sitka Spruce. Al and I like to come to the beach at the foot of the head to watch the surfers and some beautiful sunsets.

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The gulls here at the head seem to pose for pictures and don't seem too afraid of people - probably a result of humans feeding them (something I never do).

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We always finds interesting produce and crafts at the Sunday market in Astoria. This vendor had peppers of every color and some kinds that we had never heard of before. She gave us a whole pepper education before we left!

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Driving up the hill on 17th street and across Grand you get to see many wonderful, grand old Victorian homes like the Foard House that was built in 1890. Martin Foard was the co-owner of Foard and Stokes Emporium in Astoria.

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George Sanford made his money in the salmon packing business. He had this beautiful Queen Anne style Victorian home built in 1890 on an acre of land on the hillside above the Columbia River. While taking a picture of the home, we were invited in for a tour by Jack Osterberg, one of the owners.

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Much of the work that has been done on the house since the present owners have had it has been done by professionals but we were told that they are proud of the work they did themselves on the dot and square and lattice panels on the exterior of the house. We felt so lucky to have had this opportunity.

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We decided since today was predicted to be a sunny day that we'd take a road trip a bit south. Our first stop was in Ecola State Park in Cannon Beach. We went out to Indian Beach, a secluded sandy beach that is popular with surfers and offers scenic splendor.

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From Ecola Head, we were afforded a spectacular view of the shoreline and many sea stacks this area is famous for.

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We are certainly not seeing a lot of wild life here in the park but we did find lots of these woolly bear caterpillars. The banded Woolly Bear larva emerges from the egg in the fall and overwinters in its caterpillar form, when it literally freezes solid. In the spring, it thaws out and emerges to pupate. Once it emerges from its pupa as an Isabella Tiger Moth, it has only days to find a mate.

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Haystack Rock is a 235-foot sea stack in Cannon Beach. It appeared in the movie Goonies and is sometimes claimed locally to be the third-tallest such "intertidal" (meaning it can be reached by land) structure in the world, but there are no official references to support this.

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Further south we made a short stop at the top of Cape Falcon. From here we were able to see the small town of Manzanita where we later stopped for lunch.

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We decided to return via Route 53 which is one of those "roads less traveled" experiences. It was windy and narrow but pretty.

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This giant sitka spruce, which once held the distinction of being the largest tree in Oregon and one of the oldest living things in the state, was the first honoree in the Oregon Heritage Tree program. In December 2006, a windstorm caused a large amount of rotted wood to break free from the tree at the site of an old lightning scar. One year later, the tree fell victim to a second windstorm that broke off the trunk about 80 feet from the ground. Though no longer rising to its 200-foot height, the tree's 17-foot-diameter trunk and two fallen sections still convey to visitors the giant spruce's massive size and serve as nurse logs for a new generation of sitka spruce.

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With Al standing below it, you can get an idea of how huge this tree is.

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Twilight Eagle Sanctuary is located within the Wolf Bay Wetlands and is more than 100 acres of protected land that supports an array of wildlife. According to the signs, there is a breeding pair of bald eagles (the Twilight Eagles) that call this home. Unfortunately the only wildlife we saw were mallard ducks which we can see in the pond in our backyard at home!

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We again decided to take a different road back which gave us this spectacular view of the Astoria-Megler Bridge and the huge tankers anchored off shore on the Columbia. We have been told that moorage fees in Portland are so high that these ships just anchor here and wait until they get the word and then make the trip upriver to pick up or drop off their load.

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Al loves playing his uke and will take any opportunity that presents itself to play. This afternoon he heard a group playing so went over and joined in a pick-up jam session.

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