Living the Dream...: Sunday, March 27 to Tuesday, March 29, 2022 (Fort Stevens State Park, Hammond, OR)

Sunday (Mar. 27) morning we headed out with Earl and Alison just before 9:30 for a day of sightseeing. We started off with Fort Stevens Historical Site.

After parking at the Visitors Center, we headed out on foot to explore. Unfortunately the Visitor Center was still closed so we had no info on our self guided tour of the Fort until we were done, so we ended up missing a few things.

The tower is the location of the Battery Pratt Command Station...

Battery Pratt and a little further down the West Batteries...

Battery Pratt (1900) was armed with two 6'' rifles with disappearing carriages

West Batteries (1896)...

View from the top of the West Batteries. These fields also have a Disc Golf Course along the Jetty Trail.

The Parados (1896) a manmade embankment of earth built to protect soldiers from an enemy approaching from the rear of the West Batteries...

Battery 245 (1944)

View of the Jetty Trestle built for the construction of the South Jetty at the mouth of the Columbia River in the 1880's. The Jetties on either side of the river mouth stabilized and deepened the river channel making it safer for shipping. It was used again during WWII to transport gun crews to gun emplacements that were hurriedly installed on the South Jetty after the attack on Pearl Harbor.

The guns at Battery 245 used radar and were off of a navy ship...

We headed towards the Earthworks (1863) and Battery Freeman (1902)

Fort Stevens began as an open, earthen fort known as an earthworks, and was the only installation of it's type on the west coast. The nine sided earthworks contained 26 guns. At the turn of the century the army installed safer more accurate guns.

(Click on photos to enlarge)

During WWII the army leveled the battery to create a parade square. Friends of Old Fort Stevens reconstructed the earthworks between 1989-91

Location of the barracks...

Central Power Plant...

Plotting Room...

Battery Clark was a mortar battery...

After a couple of hours of walking around the historical site, the Visitors Center was open, so we all went in to check it out before heading into Astoria.

We are in search of another good bowl of clam chowder, so we headed to Mo's Seafood and Chowder. We found the Chowder "okay" but no comparison to what we had in Reedsport while staying at Winchester Bay.

After lunch, we walked east along the Riverwalk. Looking back at Mo's...

Coast Guard Cutters in port...along with a paddle-wheeler...

We didn't visit the Columbia River Maritime Museum but continued onto the pier where the ships were...

The American Empress... Proudly serving as the largest overnight riverboat west of the Mississippi River, the American Empress cruises the Columbia and Snake Rivers delivering a rich sense of history in modern comfort. Boasting a vast collection of some of the most intricate artifacts and artwork of Native Alaska, Russia, the Gold Rush and the sternwheeler era in and around Portland, Oregon, the corridors of our Columbia and Snake River cruise boat hold nearly as much beauty and intrigue as the dramatic scenery unfolding on the river outside.

The Pilot Boat Peacock on display at the Columbia River Maritime Museum...

Astoria Riverfront Trolley...The Astoria Riverfront Trolley is a 3-mile (4.8 km) heritage streetcar line that operates in Astoria, Oregon, United States, using former freight railroad tracks along or near the south bank of the Columbia River, with no overhead line. The service began operating in 1999, using a 1913-built streetcar from San Antonio, Texas. As of 2012, the service was reported as carrying 35,000 to 40,000 passengers per year and has been called a "symbol" and "icon" of Astoria. The line's operation is seasonal, normally during spring break and from May through September.

More pictures along our walk...

Much of the shoreline around Astoria is littered with old pilons which is a bit of an eyesore...

The last time we were here there were only a few homes around Mill Pond...

Partway along our Riverwalk, Earl decided to walk back to get the truck. He met us at Safeway, about a mile further along the path. From there we drove another mile to the 39 Street Pier. It is Astoria's largest and oldest waterfront building with 84,800 square feet...it houses the Rogue Pier 39 Public House, Fisherman's Suites (a 4-suite luxury mini retreat) along with a coffee house, wine bar and a unique little shop.

After having a quick look around at some of the shops we stepped outside. The dock was full of California Sea lions...

There is also the Hanthorn Cannery Museum. Earl and Allison checking out the fishing boats...

Some very old outboard motors...

Refrigeration machinery...

Canning...

Heading back to Fort Stevens now...

The Astoria–Megler Bridge is a steel cantilever through truss bridge in the northwest United States that spans the lower Columbia River, between Astoria, Oregon, and Point Ellice near Megler, Washington. Opened in 1966, it is the longest continuous truss bridge in North America.

After a long walk exploring the waterfront of Astoria, we were back home by 3:30. We had video calls with both of our sons and their families...and happy hour outside by the fire again.

After dinner, Earl and Allison came over and we had a final night of Rummikub with them...they are leaving tomorrow.

Monday (Mar. 28) morning we walked over to say goodbye to our travelling buddies. Earl and Allison are going up the Olympic Peninsula to Port Angeles and will be taking the Black Ball Ferry over to Victoria, BC.... it was great spending the last 4 (+/-) months with you both! They pulled out just before 10:00...safe travels, guys!

We managed to get out for a walk between rain showers but basically it was a pretty uneventful day. Steve worked on pictures and later I worked on a blog. With the negative Covid test to enter Canada no longer needed effective April 1, we will be delaying our return for 2 days (original plan was to cross into BC March 30), so I called and extended our travel insurance...a cost of $26 CAD vs about $200 US to have the test done, a good savings!

Tuesday (Mar. 29) was another dreary day with rain on and off. We got out for another walk, taking a trail from our loop to a paved path that follows the road down to the beach...partway down we left that path, taking the Battery Russell Trail north...then looping back to the north end of the campground and home.