Astounding Astoria

Astoria is a small port town at the mouth of the Columbia River and the maritime community has been in existence since 1811.  We were here 3 years ago, but the only thing we focused on for that very short visit was the Astoria Column.  Yesterday, we spent a good portion of the day exploring the riverfront area near downtown.  First on the agenda was to find a long term parking space.  Found it in front of their maritime museum, and it was free.  Good choice for us.  The big propeller, anchor and the Columbia boat all were located near the parking lot.

We found out that many cargo ships use this harbor to anchor their boats because there is no charge here.  So, they put down their anchors and await another load.  The old wood pilings are left in place and not taken out of the harbor.  If they are removed, the owner loses the rights to this portion of real estate (or water estate) and it reverts back to the state.

Interesting fact: the Columbia is one of the most treacherous rivers.  So much in fact, that only licensed river bar pilots are allowed to assist ships through the channel.  They are helicoptered on to the ship! They are licensed to steer anything from a nuclear sub to a 1000 ft. cargo ship,  

Yuck!  Forget about putting my toes into this part of the river!

We ambled down the Astoria Riverwalk.  About a mile or so down from the museum is a huge sea lion population.  They are referred to by the locals as the Astoria Losers.  These are male sea lions who couldn't find a mate when they were on the coast of northern California.  So, they migrate up here, find a nice fish and chips place and make a nuisance of themselves.  The local fisherman hate them because they are eating(literally) all their profits.  A large sea lion can eat up to 70 salmon a day.

No need to look hard for them, you can hear their loud barking blocks away!

 Can you imagine how hard it would be to try and dock your boat with these guys all hogging the docks?  They are very territorial.

Here is one guy, trying to get up on the dock.  You can see he is explaining that he has just as much a right to be here as they do.....

 And they probably answered back, "I don't think so!".  At any rate, he slipped back into the water and tried the other side.  That didn't work either.  Either these male sea lions have a chip on their shoulder or they are eternally crabby.

One of the best bargains in Astoria is their 101 year old trolley.  You can wave a dollar anywhere along the line and the driver will let you board.  Don was trying it out with Sandy's dollar bill.

 

 It worked!  The trolley conductor gave him a thumbs up!

 Not only did you get to ride up and down the riverfront, the conductors took turns giving a short history lesson about the town, and pointed out various buildings.  This is where Kindergarten Cop was filmed as well as Steven Spielberg's The Goonies.  I guess The Goonies has a cult following, but I have never seen it.

If you have an old electric streetcar and there is no longer an electric line, what do you do?  Connect it to your own personal generator!

 As we traveled back to Seaside, we took a short side trip to see wreck of the Peter Iredale once again.

Our timing was perfect; the ranger here was just walking over to the wreckage for the last time this summer to give his talk.

This is what the ship looked like when she was stranded on the beach in October, 1906.  For that time, she was a huge ship, being 285 feet long.  She was also unusual since she wasn't all wood, and had a steel hull and masts.  It didn't take long for the storm to dismantle most of the Peter Iredale.

I took my camera down the beach, to where there are portions of the steering rudder still intact.  Sandy and Don are standing by one of the mast stumps. This kind of gives you an idea of how large the ship was. The Peter Ireland may remain here for another few centuries, resting on what is known as Clatsop Spit.

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 Before getting back into the truck and heading back to the RV park, Sandy had to find out exactly how cold the ocean was.  Only her toes got wet,  Another great day of adventure was behind us.