Rockaway Beach and Astoria, Oregon

August 15, 2013

Rockaway Beach 

We woke up to another cloudy, misty morning here at Rockaway Beach. Being so close to the beach we wanted to at least walk around a little bit before checking out and heading up north to Seattle.

I have read that Rockaway Beach is a good spot for crabbing. Even though it was still pretty early, we found many people enjoying the beach already. This seven miles sandy beach is very easily accessible in the center of town and there are crabbing outfitters that take people crabbing. We were suppose to be able to see the Three Graces but not today.



Exterior and entrance of Tradewinds Motel

Beautiful hanging baskets

a private walkway next to the motel building

to the picnic area

stairway to the beach

jelly fish got washed off to shore, still alive

many crab pieces along the sandy beach

center of town near the edge of the beach

birds feeding on fresh seafood (crabs)

After checking out of the motel, we continued our drive to Seattle. There are just so much to see in this area but, unfortunately, we did not have the time to do it all. We wanted to stop at Cannon Beach and check out the #1 scenic spot--Ecola State Park, but it was raining hard as we drove through the beautiful town of Cannon Beach and then missed the turn to the State Park. Oh well, we will have to come back one of these days. It would have been nice to overnight in Cannon Beach but the hotels are much more expensive and they sold out fast.

Astoria

I have always wanted to visit Astoria for some reasons. Being at the start of the Columbia River and with its history of the Lewis and Clark expedition, this city always interested me.

the Astoria-Megler Bridge in sight

crossing the bridge between Warrenton and Astoria

Astoria Column up on Coxcomb Hill

This 123-foot tall column is to commemorate the discovery of the Pacific Northwest.

Visitors can climb the winding 164 steps staircase inside to reach the top and fly the $1 paper planes that are sold in the gift shop. Needless to say, we passed on that challenge.

the Indian Burial Canoe

Again, because of the weather we were not able to see very far.

A little bit clearer now that we are down by the shore.

parked our car at the Maritime Museum parking lot

a nice view of the bridge

That's what we were looking for, right across from the Maritime Museum...The Bowpicker.

Check out that line! That's a half-hour-wait worth of a line right there.

People just kept coming and going and patiently waited.

getting closer

for some fantastic fish and chips

a little bit of history about the bowpickers

Totally worth waiting for! Fresh, hot, meaty, crispy fried tuna and fries. They look kind of small, like chicken nuggets here but I was only able to finish three pieces of these chunks.

After the late lunch we were ready to cross the Astoria-Megler Bridge.

This bridge is four miles long and made the 101 an unbroken link between the Canadian and Mexican borders.

Driving towards the state of Washington.

Looking at the Astoria Column from the Washington side.

Then we turned east towards Longview on Hwy 4, supposedly a scenic drive.

But it was actually a longer route to Seattle and the scenery was just OK after it turned inland. Regardless, we enjoyed our trip through the Oregon Coast even though we were rushing a bit. I think it wouldn't be too much to spend a week just visiting all the beautiful sites along 101. Then, MOR got an idea. Why don't we take the 101 instead of the 5 when we drive back to California after our stay in Seattle? Maybe we will have better weather and we will be driving on the 'right side' of the highway. OK, something to think about.

Our day ended with a huge traffic jam near Olympia when we got on Fwy 5. By the time we reached Auburn it was around 7pm, later than expected but seeing our family members again was the most exciting thing of all. For dinner, ET and AT treated us to a wonderful Japanese dinner which I forgot to take pictures of.