Oregon: Astoria

We left Cannon Beach and headed north on US 101.

We stopped to visit the Peter Iredale, a shipwreck that has been slowly rusting away since 1906 in Fort Stevens State Park.

Also in Fort Stevens State Park is the top left corner of Oregon! For some reason I found this to be very exciting. I suppose the more exciting part is the mouth of the Columbia River, where Lewis and Clark's expedition finally reached the Pacific Ocean.

It was a short drive from the park to Astoria. Since it's been about five years since I've seen The Goonies, I navigated us to the big tall thing on top of the hill: The Astoria Column.

Photo by Jesse Stratowski

After walking to the top, realizing that I don't like heights and Jesse doesn't like small enclosed spaces, and almost calmly walking back down, we sat on the hill and enjoyed the view in a less stressful manner.

Photo by Jesse Stratowski

Our wistful gazing and selfie-taking was only briefly interrupted by two Norwegians - one with a longboard and the other with his foot in a fresh cast - asking me to take their photo. Jesse also took this time to flop on the ground to take pictures of flowers.

Photo by Jesse Stratowski

Photo by Jesse Stratowski

After siting for a good long while, completely at a loss for what to do, I consulted Yelp. Even though I have never ordered fish and chips for myself, I couldn't pass up an almost perfect rating. We headed down the mountain, into Astoria.

We were not disappointed. Bowpicker serves fish and chips and that's it. And boy do they do it right!

After lunch we wandered around Astoria before heading east, back to the city.

Photo by Jesse Stratowski

Photo by Jesse Stratowski

But wait! We had one final adventure before returning to the Portland area. All day we had been seeing these tiny, drive-up espresso stands. Whaaaaat?

We couldn't resist.

It was fantastic. 

Next up: We conquer Mt. Hood and drink more coffee