where the columbia meets the pacific

Last weekend we took a little family day and headed out to Astoria on the Oregon Coast.  We'd never really explored this town before.  As usual, we had some letterbox clues to guide us to some fantastic locales.

At 600 feet above sea level, Coxcomb Hill is Astoria's highest point.  It has some really amazing views and is home to the Astoria Column.

"The story behind the Column, its deterioration and rescue by the Friends of Astoria Column, rivals the history it depicts." (from AstoriaColumn.org)

In addition to the history lessons and the awe inspiring views available here, one can purchase these fun balsa wood gliders for $1 at the gift shop and throw them off the top of the tower or down the grassy hill.

The woman at the shop said this now commonplace tourist activity began as a fundraiser and also as a way to keep people from throwing other things off of the tower... like bowling balls.   (Apparently, before the renovations and prior to the ground around the tower being cemented, the locals used to do this to see how far the balls would imbed themselves into the earth.)

We had a blast with just our little gliders for a couple of hours.

After a beautiful morning at the tower we crossed the Columbia from Oregon to Washington on the Astoria-Megler Bridge (the longest continuous-truss bridge in North America).  After driving up Hwy 101 we spent the rest of our afternoon at Cape Disappointment State Park.

 

The coast of Washington might just rival that of our home state.

It was an on-again, off-again, overcast, glorious day.