Astoria, Oregon

Today we drove to Astoria, Oregon and are accessing the internet via the free Wi-Fi provided by the town's library. We are staying at the Fort Stevens State Park which is located about 10 miles west of Astoria. This is a huge state park with over 500 camp sites many with full hookups. We will stick around tomorrow to do some bike riding and looking around.

This picture was taken at the South Jetty of the Columbia River in the State Park. Dan is checking out the North Jetty, which is in the process of being repaired.

We forgot to bring the book in which we write down our daily travels so we'll have to update the days between today and our last posting at another time. We have enjoyed very good weather for the last weeks with every day having at least some sunshine. We awoke to a heavy mist this morning but it finally burned off and the sun came out.

The Fort Stevens State Park is located on the south side of the mouth of the Columbia River and the views from the lookout at the end of the land are just beautiful. The Pacific Ocean on one side and the Columbia River on the other. The river's bar, which is famous for its huge waves during high westerly winds, was quiet when we were there. The bar is formed by the sediment that flows down the Columbia and is deposited at the river's mouth. This creates a shallow area which causes the waves to be so large and is compounded by the river's current flowing in an easterly direction.

In another day or so we'll be heading back north to spend some time in the Seattle area. We'll keep you updated.