Our Beach Trip Part Two 2012

This last week, we spent a few days exploring the Northern Oregon Coast, you can read about the first part of our trip in this post,  Our Day in Astoria here.

On our way back from Astoria we had a couple of other stops to make.  We thought we would explore Fort Stevens a bit, so that was where we were headed next.  Fort Stevens was an army post from the Civil War through World War Two.  Now Fort Stevens is a historic area that is very interesting to explore.

We saw lots of interesting old weapons, like this giant mine.

 Here are the old barracks foundations.

The whole park is full of old military machines and weapons to look at up close, and explore.  

You could climb all over this building, and see the views from the top, as well as look around the inside.  The inside was pretty dark, next time we will have to bring a flash light.

Joseph really enjoyed the climbing, and Sarah loves exploring old buildings.  It is interesting to imagine back to what it must have been like when it was in use.

Perfect place for anyone who loves history to explore.

The buildings are really starting to break down a bit, you have to be careful when exploring them.

There are a few different parts to the fort, when we were done exploring the first section, we headed on to the next.  The next portion began at this wonderful stairway, we have come across quite a few sets of stairs this summer, at the end of summer I may have to compile a post just of all the different stairs we have come across.  You can see Sarah and Joseph at the bottom of the stairs.

Here is a view from the bottom of the stairs.

This next location was mostly this big building, with quite a few different rooms, some you could figure out what they were, you could see multiple water pipes in what were once the restrooms, you could see fireplaces in some rooms, it was interesting trying to figure out what each room might have been for.

This was a huge metal ring, still firmly in place, wonder what it was supposed to hold?

This wasn't my favorite place to explore, to be honest, it was dark, dirty, had lots of water damage, and had a lot of elements to freak out the mom in me.  But I was a good sport, and let everyone explore, with only minimal reminders to avoid rusty metal, and drop offs.  I decided to step back and take a few pictures while they were finishing up.

All over this area the foxglove are in bloom, I found a pretty little patch, and decided to get a few pictures.

I especially love the way this one turned out, I love the detail of each flowery trumpet.

Overall, Fort Stevens was an interesting place to visit, I hadn't been for many years, and I always enjoy visiting historical locations.

We had one last stop to make before we made our way back to Seaside.  We stopped at Clatsop Beach to check out the Peter Iredale shipwreck. Another place I hadn't visited since I was a child and my grandmother had brought us to see it.  

The Peter Iredale was a 278 foot British ship, that wrecked in 1906.  All aboard made it to shore safely.  The ship remains partly buried in the sand and is the most photographed shipwreck on the Pacific Coast.

Luckily we caught it just before the tide started to come it too much.  In between waves we were able to get up close and touch it a few times.  The waves were coming in stronger than some of the flatter beaches we were used to though, and me being the shortest of the family got a bit drenched.  I actually love the ocean though so that just gave me an excuse to play in the water a bit longer. :)

We had some fun playing in the water before it was time to head back.

I decided it was a good time to try and get another "feet in the ocean" picture.  Last year during our beach trip ( You can read about last years trip to Seaside here), I had a lot of fun getting this shot of all of our feet in the ocean.  It takes a few shots to get everyone in the frame as well as above the sand which we all kept sinking into.  I love how it turned out, so I thought I would attempt another one.

This years proved to be quite a bit harder, I was on the end and the angle was awkward.  It wasn't until we got home and realized that it would have been easier if I was in the center rather than on the end. Finally, however, I got all four pair of feet just as the water was headed back out.  We had quite a laugh trying to stay lined up and our feet out from under the sand.

After we were done playing in the water, we headed back to Seaside.  Wednesday was quite a full day of exploring, from the Astoria Column, to the Flavel House, to the Oregon Film Museum and Goonies House, to Fort Stevens and then the Peter Iredale at Clatsop Beach, we were pleasantly tired and spent the evening watching a family movie and enjoying a simple dinner.

Thursday morning, we spent the earlier part of the day right in downtown Seaside, we had a big breakfast, and did a little bit of shopping and browsing through our favorite little shops.  Seaside has a wonderful Carousel, when the kids were little we went on it every time we were at the beach, some times more than once.  The sign says you are never too young or too old to ride it, so after much persuading, I got us all to give it one more ride for old times sake.  

I myself was so excited to have talked my teens into riding the carousel, that I forgot to take into account that it might be difficult for a five foot two inch, nearly fourty year old, not in shape mother to hoist myself up onto the horse.  It must have looked a sight, but fortunately Gary gave me a hoist once I was able to reach my foot high enough.  We had a fun ride, then getting down was an equal challenge. :)  We had quite a laugh and it was a fun part of the day.

Here are our four horses.

I love carousels, it always makes me think of the carousel scene in Mary Poppins.

After our morning in town, we went back down to the beach.  The weather was iffy, but as Oregonians we are always prepared to have fun even in a little rain.

 
It was a bit foggy, pretty windy, and we had a few sprinkles, but it wasn't cold, so we still had fun.

The ocean water was surprisingly not at all cold, and we played in the waves for quite a while.

Sarah and Joseph went to explore a pile of drift wood, and found someone had turned it into a fort.

Joseph dug out this piece of drift wood that was almost completely buried, he decided to make a contribution to the fort, and added it to the top.

Here Gary, Sarah and Joseph were playing follow the leader, which mostly involved seeing if they could follow in each others foot prints in the sand.  After a couple of hours on the beach we headed back, and got cleaned up to head back into downtown Seaside.

For dinner, we enjoyed some very yummy Seaside food, Pronto Pup Corn Dogs, and Elephant Ears.  Not too healthy, but very yummy!  We had a relaxing evening, and got packed up to leave on Friday afternoon.

Friday morning we made a few more stops.  I wanted to show Sarah and Jospeh a little spot on the Lewis and Clark trail right in Seaside.

The Salt Works, a little historical site that shows how salt was made from ocean water for preserving food for the Lewis and Clark expedition.

They would build a fire, and it would evaporate the ocean water in the Kettles above, leaving salt.

The stop only took a few minutes, and was a fun bit of history.

We also made one last stop for salt water taffy.  So many flavors!

Sarah spotted this flavor- Maple Bacon, it is delicious!

My favorite was Molasses.  We brought home a very nice assortment to enjoy over the rest of the summer.

Then we went down to the beach to say our goodbyes to the ocean.

There is a wonderful turn around that we always visit when we arrive and leave Seaside, you can see this statue of Lewis and Clark at the end of their trail.

The weather was very nice, so we enjoyed a little more time in the water.

 

One last look at the wonderful Pacific Ocean, and it was time to head home.  We are hoping to return for one more beach trip in August, I love the beach and look forward to our next visit!

We had a wonderful few days, perfect summer trip!