Our RV Adventures

Jan woke up with a migraine this morning so we took things kind of easy with coffee for breakfast, and then about 11:30 she fixed us grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch.

But by 2 pm she was feeling better so Nick and Terry, and Jan and I headed over to the Columbia River Maritime Museum.

Located right along the Columbia River, the museum tells the history of the river starting from its official discovery in 1792 to the large container ships making passage today.

Astoria was once the home of over 30 canneries, and fishing has played an important part in its history. Built in 1945, this sturdy boat, or troller, was used for salmon fishing up until 1998, when it was donated to the museum.

Something I found really interesting was this photo of the USS Missouri firing its 16 inch guns during Desert Storm. At the far left in this shot you can see a black speck.

That is this 2700 pound shell leaving the gun barrel at Mach 2 and traveling over 20 miles before striking its target with deadly accuracy.

They also had many displays of sailing tools and equipment,

including this 1944 Diving Suit. Note the hand-pumped compressor in the box on the left. Better not make the guy running the pump mad at you when you’re on the bottom.

The museum even had a large display of tattoo art, but no pictures were allowed, so you’ll just have to take my word for it.

We next went outside to tour the Lightship Columbia. A ‘lightship’ is a floating lighthouse, used where a land-based lighthouse can not be used.

There was a lightship on station at the mouth of the Columbia River since 1892, and the Columbia, last of its kind, was replaced in 1979 by the LNB (Lighted Navigation Buoy) shown in the forefront of this photo. At some point this buoy was replaced with something else, although I wasn’t able to find out what.

As we were leaving the museum, we saw the Old Riverfront Trolley trundle past. What was unusual was the little wagon it was towing behind. A closer look showed it was a diesel generator!

A little research gave me the answer. This trolley, the only one on the line here, was built in 1913 for the San Antonio Traction Company in San Antonio, TX. It ran there until 1933 when the trolleys were replaced by buses.

Since then it was passed around by several museums until it was obtained by the city of Astoria in 1998. Originally its electric traction motors were powered by pantographs that reached up to overhead wires.

However Astoria decided that rather than wire up the city with overhead electrical wires, they would just tow along a diesel generator behind the trolley to furnish the power. Kind of neat when you think about it.

Leaving the museum, we drove about 10 miles away to Warrenton, OR so Nick could go by Staples and pick up mailing envelopes for the upcoming issue of the Gypsy Journal.

Then coming home, we stopped off at Fultano’s Pizza for dinner. But the first thing we saw pulling into the parking lot was a goat.

I guess this means the goat cheese pizza will be really fresh.

And although the reviews were good, the food was so-so. The salad bar was really good, but it went downhill from there.

But Miss Terry made up for it. On the way home we stopped for cappuccinos, and then we had a piece of her fresh strawberry pie with homemade whipped cream.

Really good!

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Thought for the Day:

In disciplining kids, I find random spankings the most effective. This way they have to keep guessing what they did wrong.

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After coffee and bagels this morning today was pretty much a ‘touristy’ stuff day.

It started about noon with a walk down to the beach almost a half mile away thru the grass land.

It’s a long, flat beach leading down to the water’s edge

I saw this barnacle-encrusted rope laying on beach, then on looking closer I thought it was a power cable.

But when I picked it up, I discovered it’s a type of rope seaweed. The clump of green leaves is connected to that large knot. The rope floats vertically with the clump of leaves near the surface and the rest of the rope dangling below.

About 2 pm we all headed out to Jack’s Country Store about 10 miles north in Ocean Park.

This place is really something. It’s been in business since 1885, and is the oldest retail business in Washington. A combination of old-time hardware store and grocery store, they stock over 200,000 items, from kerosene lamps to I Love Lucy lunchboxes to Radio Flyer wagons to fresh seafood. It has been called the largest hardware store in the world.

This is a place you could spend days in, just walking the aisles, checking out all the neat stuff you haven’t seen for years.

I would like to go back just to see all the stuff I probably missed the first time.

Finally coming back to Long Beach, we next stopped in at Marsh’s Free Museum, a cross between a tacky seaside gift shop with shells, live hermit crabs, and saltwater taffy,

to a freak show with a two-headed calf,

and Jake, the Alligator Man,

to a museum with stuffed animals, and old coin-operated machines,

including this 1937 World Series Baseball machine that still works.

Oh, and they also sell funny hats.

By the time we left Marsh’s, everyone was hungry so we decided to check out The Lost Roo, as in kangaroo.

Though primarily a sports bar, their food is excellent, and the good online reviews were very accurate.

Terry had a Grilled Portobello Mushroom sandwich, while Jan had Fish and Chips Tempura with lemon fennel slaw. And Nick and I both had the Roasted Prime Rib Dip sandwiches, which were delicious. This is one place we all agreed was worth a repeat visit.

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Thought for the Day:

"I’m not lying to you. I don’t tell lies anymore, I’ve given it up….The field is overrun with amateurs…." – Mark Twain

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