September 22-23, 2015 Garibaldi-Astoria, Oregon

We moved about an hour farther north up the coast of Oregon today.

The Tillamook Bay engine is painted like a dairy cow. Probably because Tillamook Cheese is made in Tillamook. In downtown Garibaldi they have a cell phone booth, just in case you wonder where to use your cell phone.

We found a teeter-totter on Rockaway beach. I tried to take a photo of John in the air with his arms flailing, but was a little late, caught him on the way down. We walked by this  freshwater stream running down the beach into the ocean near some rugged rocks.

 

Sunset on the beach and with the moon above the coast guard lookout tower.

Cruising north there were a few cute small towns. This one is Wheeler. Notice the Tsunami Bar and Grill. Most of the coast of Oregon and Washington are in tsunami zones. The San Juan De Fuco fault line is right off the coast, if it moves, causing a big earthquake it will cause a tsunami to wash away the coast line.  Parts of the road along the coast were narrow, curvy with no shoulders and beautiful views. I looked at the views, John watched the road.

 

Other parts of the road are tree tunnels through very tall trees.  We passed Ms. Bigfoot along the road. Mr Bigfoot is a little farther down.

We are now camped at Fort Stevens State Park outside of Astoria. It is on a peninsula between the ocean and the Columbia River.  The river is so big that where it meets the ocean-called the Columbia Bar- there are very violent waves. Sea going ships have to have Columbia Bar pilots to guide them in. Then they are passed on to river pilots because of the shifting sandbars to continue on. In this sunset photo are ships lined up waiting for pilots so they can go up river or back down to the ocean.

 

While I was taking the sunset photo from the pier I looked down and there were all these sea lions. We had dinner at the Buoy Taproom, restaurant and brewery.

 

The Bouy is on the pier over the river, with a view of the river and the boats. There is a window in the floor so you can look down at all the sea lions on the pilings of the pier. You could hear them barking through the floor. We met Brad and Morgan Kolielusz for dinner. John worked with Brad in Fort Collins.  He retired and they moved to Astoria in June. They are loving it here.  It was fun to visit with them.