Day 18

Saturday, September 27

Did lunch and afternoon in Astoria, Oregon.   It is an old fishing town just inside the Columbia estruary.   Also known as Goonietown, because "The Goonies" was filmed there.   Many people come out from Portland for afternoons or weekends.

Met Linda's friend Susan and had lunch in a Fish and Chips pub.   Linda and Susan attended middle and high school together in Kentucky a few years ago.   Was great to see Susan!

Brother Joe also arrived and had lunch.

We walked through Astoria and visited the exceptional good maritime museum.   Really good exhibits about the treacherous Columbia River bar (where the river current meets the high waves of the Pacific).

Later that evening, we raised a cup of cheer to the success of the trip and happy reunions by using the nice bottle contributed by my wonderful sister, Mary Hope!

The next day would begin our trip back East.

Linda Adds:

It was great to reconnect with high school friend, Susan.  We hadn't seen each other since college days.  Our high school class had only 20 students graduating and the school was closed that year.
Also nice to see Stan's brother, Joe, who we don't get to see nearly as often as we would like.

Astoria is a very interesting town, founded as a fur trading fort in 1811, such a short time after Lewis and Clark visited there.  It was the first permanent location established in the area and named for John Astor who owned Pacific Fur Company.  The other claim to fame is in the late 1800's, seven cannery men opened Bubble Bee Cannery.  They continue to can and distribute tuna and salmon today.

The maritime museum was very interesting.  Had not realized how dangerous the confluence of the Columbia with the Pacific is.  It is the scene of many ship wrecks.  I can only imagine the difficulty Lewis and Clark's team had in crossing this area by dugout canoe from their initial camp, Cape Disappointment on the north side to the south side where they established Fort Clatsop.