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Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Morning light

Bungo Spirit, Ship in the Columbia River, Astoria, Oregon The ship Bungo Spirit spent several days anchored beyond my office where I could see it most of the time. I love it when the sun's rays turn the ships' colors brilliant. Does anyone know why the prow curves forward in such an arc at the waterline? I don't. Does it rock less in the big waves of the ocean?

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The Olaf J

Push Tug Olaf J in Astoria, Oregon, on the Columbia River The Olaf J is another push tug, but of a different style than the Lewiston, shown in a recent post. It looks like the Olaf J is a smaller, more open boat, used mainly for work in the local area on the river, rather than an ocean-going vessel. I see it often pushing this crane barge around the waterfront. In this photo you can clearly see the two bumpers in the front. One was visible in the Lewiston photo, but it was hard to see. I took the photo in June, when work was being done on the dock of the Pilot House.

A note on yesterday's post: there were no stairs stolen after all! For the update, please see the bottom of the post.

The bright red crane gives me an excuse to submit this photo for Ruby Tuesday. For more pix featuring RED, follow the link to Ruby Tuesday.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Who stole the column's stairs?

Spiral Stairs from the Astoria Column On yesterday's walk along the river, I passed the Public Works yard where the metal spiral stairs are being stored that were removed from the Astoria Column column in June and replaced with new ones. I had heard recently that the stairs had been stolen from the yard. What a feat that would have been, and the Public Works yard is only a block down the street from the Police Station, too. Some nerve. But I pictured them as being gone. So, when I saw them yesterday, I was surprised. Had they been returned? Recaptured? What was the deal? I looked up the story online, and found the original police press release, which puts it all into perspective, as only "several stairs" were taken. . . .

Police Department City of Astoria
TYPE OF INCIDENT: Theft of old Astoria Column steps
DATE/TIME: 09/16/2009
RELEASED BY: Eric Halverson, Sergeant

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

On 09/16/2009 The Astoria Police Department began an investigation into the theft of cast iron steps that were removed from the Astoria Column recently for replacement.

The steps were being stored at the Astoria Public Works yard. Several stairs were cut off a section of the staircase. The steps have an estimated weight of 130 pounds and required the use of a torch to cut them loose. The estimated scrap value of the stairs is approximately $70.00, however the historic and sentimental value of the stairs is quite high.

The Astoria Police Department is seeking information leading to the recovery of the steps and prosecution of the suspects. “This was a calculated move on the part of the suspect (s) requiring time, knowledge and specialized equipment to accomplish” said Sgt. Halverson. Anyone with information is requested to contact the Astoria Police Department at (503) 325-4411.

So, there you have it. That's the story :)

OOPS, HOLD THE PRESSES: UPDATE FROM "ANONYMOUS" . . .

"They haven't retracted the story yet, but the guys who work for the city told me no stairs were stolen-that someone just goofed up."

Thanks for the info. I don't know if that's encouraging or discouraging, but it seemed mighty strange that someone hopped over all that chain link with those hefty stairs in hand. Well, amusing story, anyway.

Sunday, September 27, 2009

The Liberty Theatre, Sunday Market

I took this photo at last week's Sunday Market. Today looks to be another clear day, if getting colder. (October 11th will be the last outdoor Sunday Market of the year; I wonder if part of it will move indoors, as it did last year?) Here you can also see a bus dressed like a street car that runs part of the week. I'm not sure what days, but certainly on Sundays and probably when the cruise ships are in. You get a small glimpse of the east end of Commercial Street. Two blocks down the way it merges with Marine Drive. Sunday Market takes up three blocks and two parking lots. The Liberty is at about the halfway point.

The Liberty is one of Astoria's prize features, and it's gone through major renovation inside and out in the last seven or eight years. I featured the inside in this post and this one. You can see the outside of the building, or mainly the top, in this post. It's the large mass of building at the center right of the photo.

The Liberty Theatre was built in 1925 in a Mediterranean exterior, and is said to have some of the best acoustics around. Even music groups from Portland enjoy coming to play here. The inside is adorned with painted panels of Venice, carrying out the Mediterranean theme. Originally used for vaudeville and silent movies, it now hosts live music, dance, graduations, and I even went to an art appraisal event there. Now that it's been refurbished, it sees a lot of use.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Soaring

This lovely old Italianate Victorian house seems to be soaring into the sky. It's located one house over from the "oldest dwelling in Astoria," and we've been to this address before, because this is where the hitching post horse lives. Note that there's a small, round, blue and white plaque by the front door indicating that this is a historic home. I learned from Lee (Bend, Oregon, Daily Photo) that this house used to be larger. At one time, the house just up the hill from it was attached. The upper house was disconnected, turned sideways, and finished off as a separate building. This must have been an even more imposing structure at one time, but it has nothing to worry about. It's striking and lovely as-is, and the flowery bower adds a nostalgic touch of antique charm. It looks as inviting today as it ever did.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Push Tug Lewiston

The Push Tug Lewiston of Portland One of the types of boat you see a lot on the Columbia River is the push tug, like the Lewiston of Portland seen on the right. They push barges up and down the river, and they're tall, appearing almost ungainly, so the captain can see over the barge in front of him. It's hard to see from this angle, but you can just make out a tall, straight, dark green bumper at the front of the boat. Push tugs have two of these bumpers, which apparently attach to the barges in various ways. I read something about an electromagnetic attachment, but I don't know if it's used or not. It was shown online as an invention. One thing that surprised me from this angle was the extremely large and long exhaust pipes. I'm sure this tug has a massive engine to push the big barges in the strong river currents. Maybe someone will clue me in on details. It's interesting how many boats and ships we see here in Astoria, Oregon, built and fitted for so many varied and colorful types of work.

I've shown the pilot boat to the left in several posts, and I'm sure you'll see it again. It's such a fixture of the waterfront, and it's extremely active, although its runs are short and it can often be found here in the dock. Not so with the tug, which docks here much less often.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Imported

Water Meter or Drain Cover, Made in India, 12th Street If the drain cover in this post was from Salem, Oregon, is the meter cover in the photo above from India? I had my doubts, thinking maybe it was just a term such as "India ink," or a type of metal casting, but I looked it up in Wikipedia. To my surprise, "In recent years, India has become a major player in the industry" of making manhole covers. They are so inexpensive to make there that it even offsets the cost of transporting such heavy objects all that distance. So now I know. We have an exotic, imported blue meter (or drain) cover at the foot of 12th Street.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

The Norwegian Pearl in Astoria

Who knows the future, but yesterday felt like perhaps the last festive day of summer here, so I took advantage of it. I usually reserve the photo essays for my personal blog, but for whatever reason, here are seven photos describing the visit of the Norwegian Pearl yesterday. We knew the cooler weather was coming in soon, and we knew that yesterday was going to be either "nice" or "freakin' hot," depending on your point of view. I vote for "it was hot," but I talked with some people who said, "Are you kidding? We're from Vegas. This is chilly." Eight-eight degrees. Right. But a lot of people were having fun in Astoria yesterday. Believe it or not, there were two big cruise ships in town at one time. One tied up at the Port Docks on the west side of town (photo from an earlier blog post), which is the usual place these ships dock, so they had to find another place for the Norwegian Pearl. That's why we had the unusual experience of having a large cruise ship anchored in the river off of the Maritime Museum on the east side of town, near my shop.

I saw at least three of these red-and-white tenders bringing passengers from the ship to the dock.

Here are two of them at the 17th Street dock. On the river beyond the dock railings, you can see a tanker and a dredge going about business as usual, which is one of the attractions here.

Two orcas and a handful of yellow-shirted handsome photographers and greeters with the shipping line met the cruise passengers as they came up the plank. Come to think of it, I'll bet the orca costumes got hot as the day went on, but then I'm sure Astoria is cooler than some places this cruise ship lands.

A band called the Columbia Crew played old favorite music that everyone seemed to enjoy, including me. This is the same anchor exhibiting a very different persona from the last time we saw it.

That anchor is right next to the unusually-shaped Maritime Museum, which has world-class exhibits, including real boats and ship parts, and a map of the wrecks on the river-bottom. I haven't shown it before because (a) I've had other things I wanted to show and (b) due to the lighting, angles and size, I've had a hard time getting the picture I wanted. For now, the mystery is solved. This is the museum. I'll try to come up with a more artistic shot one of these days. The four flags flying are the U.S. Flag, the Oregon state flag, the Maritime Museum flag, and the Chinook tribal flag. It's very cool, and I'll feature it another time.

Finally, I was rather dismayed to encounter this thing. Normally, the pier is open to locals and tourists for wandering about, but cruise security apparently needed to co-opt our pier. However, this is nothing compared to the security when a cruise ship comes in at the Port Docks. Check out the 8th photo in this post. I don't think it was like this a few years ago, which is a sad comment on today's society. But sad was minimal. Many of the local shops thrive on tourism, and a day like today is a big help for them. People wandering around town seemed in good spirits. People trying to buck the inflated traffic, less so. I've not figured out why vehicular traffic increases when a ship is in, unless people come to meet their friends. Anyone know? [P.S. See first comment.]

What summer event does your town look forward to?

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Where the Oregon Coast begins

Oregon Coast at Fort Stevens - South Jetty Oregon is known for its fantastically beautiful and interesting coast, and this is where it starts at its northernmost end. I took this photo the other day from the viewing platform where I also took the picture of South Jetty. In today's photo, you can see some of the rocks forming the jetty, and you can also see light-colored, faded timbers that once formed the trestle and railroad line that brought the boulders that create the entrance to today's Columbia River. There's a lot more of the old trestle to be seen on the other side of Clatsop Spit, and it's quite scenic. The first mile of the stretch of beach you see here was formed after 1885 by the build-up of sand caused by the jetty's presence. Yesterday's post shows this whole location from the air.

Monday, September 21, 2009

On a clear day you can see the mouth of the Columbia: A 19th-Century feat of engineering

Aerial view of the Mouth of the Columbia River This aerial photo was taken by Frank Wolfe and lent to me by Branden Wilson for use on the Astoria, Oregon, Daily Photo blog. It shows the south (Oregon) side of the Columbia River as it pours into the Pacific Ocean. The line you see going from Clatsop Spit into the ocean is a man-made jetty. The line crossing from the land to the left side of the photo (and disappearing behind the airplane in the lower left) is what's left of the train trestle used to carry rocks to the jetty project. When you see all the mud in the water, it's easy to understand how the sand bars are built and moved around.

I took yesterday's blog photo from near the point where the white ocean waves meet the line of the jetty. Now, if you look at the right-hand edge of the waves, where they encounter the mass of land at the end of Clatsop Spit, and take this as the starting point, estimate about 1 mile going left, and that is where the mouth of the river was at the time of the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1806. That mile of beach and land is new, having accumulated once the jetty changed the flow of the water. It's pretty amazing. It took several expeditions to this area before Europeans even realized this was the mouth of a river. Due to the sheer size of the river's mouth, it had not been obvious, especially in bad weather. It was not until 1792 that Captain Gray discovered the river. Even Captain Cook had missed it in 1778, and Captain Gray had missed it on his first trip, a few years before his 1792 discovery. Others had also come this way and not recognized what they were passing. Today it remains one of the most dangerous bars to cross in a ship. I believe it was one of the pilots who said, there is one more dangerous, but this bar takes more skill. Don't ask. That's all I remember. The mouth of the Columbia has been dubbed "The Graveyard of the Pacific." Wikipedia quotes Saddler Russel as saying, "More than 2000 vessels and 700 lives have been lost near the Columbia Bar alone." (This "Columbia Bar" link helps explain why the elements here cause conditions to be so treacherous.)

But the mouth of the Columbia is also a beautiful and stirring place. Wildlife abounds, along with majestically scenic views and a taste of the incomparably-moody ocean. More scenes from both sides of the river to come later on this blog.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

The mouth of the Columbia River

South Jetty with Ship at the Mouth of the Columbia River, Oregon It was a bit hazy early yesterday evening when I drove the few miles to Fort Stevens and out to South Jetty to get a photo of the mouth of the great Columbia River. And I got lucky. Do you see the small gray bump in the center of the horizon? That's a big ship coming in from the ocean. It's best to click on the image to enlarge it for a more impressive view. I took this photo from the viewing platform on the jetty. The ocean is on the left, and the river is on the right. The end of South Jetty and North Jetty are so far apart, I couldn't capture them both in the same picture from here, but you'll get an overall view tomorrow, when I intend to post an aerial photo by Frank Wolfe that shows the river pouring into the ocean. In fact, South Jetty angles to the left, and the end of it is just outside the frame of this photo. On the north side, the jetty also ends just outside the frame of the picture. I could easily fill a week's posts with different ways to look at this spot.

Before the jetties were built, ships sometimes waited as long as two or three weeks for conditions to be safe enough to attempt to enter the Columbia River. The jetty in this photo is made of huge rocks, but if you look at the left edge of the silhouette, you'll also see the remains of wooden boards. This is part of the ruined railroad trestle that ran several miles, bringing rocks of up to 50 tons for construction of the jetty. (Much of the trestle still exists, and would make a good photo for another day.) When it was finished, the jetty was five miles long, but it was extended another two miles - a task begun in 1903 and finished ten years later. According to the interpretive plaque supplied by the State Park system, the two jetties were built between 1885 and 1895 "to keep the mouth of the Columbia river from moving around, to narrow the current to help flush out river sediment, and to keep beach sand from clogging the river mouth . . . . Generally, waves and wind push Oregon Coast beach sand south in the summer and north in the winter - sometimes driving sand into shipping channels."

Locals and tourists enjoy coming out for an interesting view, to watch the sunset here and to see big waves during storms. Occasionally the storms are so strong that advisories will warn us to stay away from the jetty and viewing platform.

For scenic photos from around the world, drop in for a visit to Scenic Sunday.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

Feels like fall

The Columbia River, Astoria, Oregon - on the River Walk near the Wet Dog Cafe There's always one day when the air first feels like fall, and for me, yesterday was it. I can't quite describe it. I've seen the signs for weeks: the one clump of yellow leaves on a broad-leafed green tree, the flowers dying, rain, a drop in the temperature (with intermittent days of heat). We're supposed to have temps in the low 80s again next week, which is warm for Astoria. And still, yesterday was the day I felt the season change.

I actually took this photo a few days ago in front of the Wet Dog Cafe along the River Walk. Beyond the bushes, you can see the railing of Doc's on 12th, the home of Baked Alaska, Mise en Place, Xclusive Salon, and other cool places.

Friday, September 18, 2009

Morning mist

Morning Mist - Old Anchor at the Maritime Museum, Astoria, Oregon This morning I spotted a lone dog-walker just behind the Martime Museum at the foot of 17th Street. That's Tongue Point in the background. The distances are interestingly skewed because of the zoom lens.

For more Skywatch Friday, follow this link.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

"The Hottest Spot in Town"

Authentic Finnish Sauna (Union Steam Baths, Hot Tubs), Astoria, Oregon Back when the bricks were still brown and not painted an unnatural bright red, this establishment was billed as "The Hottest Spot in Town." I wouldn't doubt it! It sounds like a nice place to be on a drizzly Astoria, Oregon, rainy day. Unfortunately, it's closed, but I'm not sure when it ceased to function as the local family bath house. You can get a glimpse of one of the tubs inside as well as the historic diesel steam boiler on this site.

The sauna ("Union Steam Baths") is on Marine Drive right across the street from the Suomi Hall and down the block from the Old Finnish Meat Market (now a coffee house). In the upper left of the photo, you can see a bit of the curved ramp where vehicles lift off from their earthbound state and launch themselves onto the great bridge that spans the Columbia. (I'm being fanciful, but it almost feels like that.) In fact, you can see a bit of the bridge structure reflected in the window of the steam baths. I wonder if they will ever re-open. I hope so.

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Glowing silver

The early evening light was just right, turning the Associated building to silver. Located on Commercial Avenue between 11th and 12th Streets, it is one of the buildings comprising the center of the downtown shopping area. The building actually has three names emblazoned on the upper story: Copeland Building, Hobson Building, and Carruthers Building. It was designed by architect Charles T. Diamond and built in 1923, after the fire of December 1922 burned most of Astoria's downtown area. Many of the new buildings display the date of 1923, as does this one. A web page by Robert D. West which gives details of many of Astoria's landmarks, and says that the 1922 fire started in just about this location. Downstairs in the Copeland building is the Riversea Gallery, one of my favorite places to drop in when I'm not in a hurry. It's nicely arranged and filled with the most interesting art by talented local artists.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Behind the words: The gillnetting industry in Astoria, Oregon

Work is Our Joy - Pier 39, Astoria, Oregon This repainted sliding door is one of the first things you see when you cross the causeway from the riverbank to Pier 39, which now houses a brewery/restaurant, Coffee Girl coffee house, a small museum, a diving and kayak rental business, and various offices.

I've always been taken aback by the slogan on the door, as it reminded me of the pathetically ironic "Arbeit Macht Frei" welded into the gates of certain Nazi concentration camps. I was going to say, "I wonder who thought that one up ('Work is Our Joy') and whether the workers concurred with management."

As I was writing this post, I looked up the phrase, and found an informative and extremely well done documentary of the same name giving a much more positive meaning to this phrase and explaining the local industry in great detail. It has interviews with the original gilnetters and lots of photos. In this case, the "little guys" took their fortunes into their own hands and started their own cannery when they were being oppressed by "the man." Work really was their joy. The video is linked from several different pages, and here's the intro from one of them:

"Work Is our Joy - The Story Of The Columbia River Gillnetter

"Drift gillnetting came to the Columbia River in the early 1850s. Many gillnetters on the river today are third and forth generation descendants of fishermen who immigrated to the region in the nineteenth century. Here they established new communities and developed the most advanced gillnet fishery found anywhere in the world. Based on a series of oral history history interviews, this half-hour video describes the unique culture of the Columbia River gillnetter. “Work Is Our Joy” will take you into the world of a living tradition. A world of nets, of boats, of fishing,part of a rich maritime heritage of the Pacific Northwest. http://www.salmonforall.org/history/work-is-our-joy-movie/"

Here's another link to the video. I tried to embed it, but the embedding code wasn't working:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7498615072882757605

Monday, September 14, 2009

Downtown "This Way"

River Walk and Trolley Tracks, Astoria, Oregon This is the waterfront scenic route visitors can take from the cruise ships into town. They can walk, or they can ride the trolley for a dollar, or they can walk another block up to Marine Drive and walk along the street. Buses are also provided to take the passengers from the cruise ship into town. Which route do you like?

For more images featuring YELLOW, visit Mellow Yellow Monday.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Arrow No. 2

Pilot Boat Arrow No. 2 on the Columbia River, Astoria, Oregon This is Arrow No. 2, the boat that takes river pilots out to the big ships and brings them back. If you click on the image to zoom in, you can see who uses the buoy besides the ships' pilots. There are a couple of fat sea lions lazing around on the base of the buoy, and a seagull perched on top. This is the Columbia River side of Astoria. The pilot boats don't operate in the bay, although they are sometimes called upon to assist in unusual circumstances, such as in the photo I snapped for this blog's third day online.

Friday, September 11, 2009

Ilwaco Art Walk

Ilwaco Harbor Walk, Port of Ilwaco, Washington Thanks to an invitation from Stephanie, I spent several hours after work at the Ilwaco Art Walk yesterday evening. The Port of Ilwaco is in Washington, across the Columbia River from Astoria, Oregon, and a few miles downriver. It's a picturesque port for fishing boats and pleasure boats (but mostly private fishing boats by the look of it), and that's the direction in which I pointed my camera. On the other side of this walkway is a row of small art galleries and a few restaurants, some with lounges. The last art walk of the season sponsors a beach cean-up, and there was a drawing for prizes for those visiting all of the participating locations and getting your card stamped. It was quite festive, and the weather was perfect, provided you remembered to bring a light (?) jacket. Wine and snacks were offered by most of the galleries and shops, music was played at a few, and a good time seemed to be had by all. We ended up having appetizers at Pelicano's, and the local fried oysters on a bed of creamed corn were fantastic.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Nice horse, where did you come from?

Horse Hitching Post at 14th and Franklin I wish I knew the story behind this hitching post, but I don't. I believe Astoria has at least two old hitching posts, but I couldn't find one of them even with the address (I'll have to go looking again) and I don't know where the other is supposed to be. There are some posts with rings in them on Duane Avenue near 14th that could be old hitching posts, but I'm not sure if they are. The wood on this post looks pretty new, and for all I know, the nice horse may be old or it may have come from a garden center, although it's implanted in front of a picturesque old Italianate Victorian house at 14th and Franklin, one house over from "the oldest dwelling in Astoria." If you know, please leave a comment, otherwise I'll probably knock on the door someday and ask. In any event, the horse munching on the metal ring brought a smile to my face. He/she looks rather friendly.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Tug and barge

Sometimes it seems picturesque, and sometimes it seems irritating, but a lot of my river photos are taken through the base of the radio tower, because it's right outside my office window. And no, I'm not complaining! I feel very fortunate. I sometimes feel, though, that I should vary the foreground, especially for posting. However, since I spend so much time in my office, some of the most interesting river scenes and the widest variety of ships are the ones I notice during the course of an average day. On Monday, this interesting arrangement presented itself.

The tug (the Henry Brusco) is the small black and white boat on the right, and the barge it's towing is all the way on the left. In between there is quite a long distance, as you can see the complete gray-hulled Tasman ID in the background. If anyone can explain to me why there is such a long distance between the tug and the barge, I'd like to know. (I'm going to post this tonight, but I'll call Brusco Tug and Barge, the owner of these boats, in the morning and ask them about it, so if you're interested, please check back!)

[Update: As I sit here waiting for a callback from the tugboat company, Anonymous says, "Why the long towline? The clue is in the background--the ship on the hook with the bow pointed seward means the tide is really flooding hard-since barges dont have brakes, power or steering it is actually getting towed and pushed hard by the current at the same time-in case the tug had to stop, slow down suddenly, or make any other navigation adjustment, the current would keep pushing the barge-its a safety thing. Also, the ship is several hundred yards away from the towboat so the distance between tug and barge looks greater than it actually is because of the persepective."] I say, of course perspective plays a part, but the ship is not THAT much further out than the tug. It is a long towline - not longer than usual, they are usually this long. Thanks for the explanation.

Further, from Anonymous: "Any craft, whether it pushes or pulls a barge or other vessel w/out power is a tug boat--even though that is a big tug in the pic, that tow probably originated at the sawmill on the Skippanon and is hauling a load of sawdust upriver to Wauna."

We've been having truly beautiful days on the river - usually overcast early on, with picture-book clouds and sunshine by later in the morning. I always love the way the light brings out the gold color of the wood chips, but I haven't yet been able to capture the true color of its glow.

If you'd like to see some really cool photos of mountains in Central Oregon, check out Lee's Bend, Oregon, Daily Photo today for pix he took on his colossal hike yesterday.

Monday, September 7, 2009

Boxes

Daily Astorian and Mailboxes, Warrenton, Oregon I like the colors, the faded print, and the artfully dripping rust. I think the whole thing looks like a painting. The local newspaper is the Daily Astorian, and it's usually delivered to blue boxes like these. I took this photo just across the Youngs Bay Bridge, so we're actually in Warrenton by the Columbia Fitness Center looking back across the distance to the tree-clad hill that is Astoria. There are a lot of houses on that hill, but you can barely see them because of the trees . . . which is quite nice. One of my first posts for Astoria, Oregon, Daily Photo was taken a few feet from here, but with a totally different effect.

Youngs Bay after the rain

Youngs Bay, Astoria, Oregon This is not the Columbia River. It's Youngs Bay. This bay and the rivers that feed it are the other half of what makes Astoria a peninsula, and they come together at the point of the peninsula. I took this photo from the Astoria side just before the bay joins the Columbia River. The new Youngs Bay Bridge crosses from Astoria at the confluence of the bay and the river, and is just to the right, out of sight in this photo. The old Youngs Bay Bridge is still used and connects the two sides of the bay further upriver to the left of this photo. The Lewis and Clark River and Youngs River both feed into the bay, which becomes wide here before it enters the mighty Colombia, although it's actually much smaller than the Columbia. Youngs Bay is filled with interesting sights and provides docking for many fishing boats, which fish the bay or pass under the bridges into the Columbia and the ocean.

Young's River was named in 1792 by Lieutenant William Broughton of the Captain George Vancouver expedition, after Sir George Young of the British Royal Navy. Over the years, the apostrophe seems to have been dropped, and also the bay took on the name of the river. When the Lewis and Clark Expedition arrived in 1805, they named this body of water Merriweather Bay after Merriweather Lewis, and they gave Youngs River a long native name. Both have been discarded, and now both the river and Bay retain the name of Young. The camp site of the Lewis and Clark Expedition during the winter of 1806 is not far away. By water, you would follow the Lewis and Clark River (which opens into the bay's far side) a short distance to the picturesque location.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Wet

River Walk in the Rain, Astoria, Oregon I wonder how many people will show up for one of the last Sunday Markets of the year today? It could happen. After the squall, the sun came out and people were walking on the streets again, although the weather man shows T-storms and rain all day. On the river, the colors are indescribable, where you get the clouds, dark background, green water glowing in the sun highlighting a buoy, a stretch of the river, the green bridge. And then it changes in the blink of an eye. It should be interesting for viewers, but maybe not so for those having to set up tents with all their carefully hand-made or homegrown products . . . and keep them from getting wet or blowing away!

This photo shows a bit of the river walk outside of the Animal Store facing east toward the Maritime Museum, Custard King, and the park where I was bitten by fleas. I should emphasize, this is the walk, not the river. It only looks like a lake because of the super-heavy rain we had this morning.

Saturday, September 5, 2009

A taste of early Astoria: Inside the oldest dwelling in town (1852)

Astoria Historic Home - Oldest Dwelling in Astoria I like the one-photo-per-day idea, so I seriously debated which one to show. But one photo is not going to give the whole story (in fact 20 photos won't give the whole story). In any event, I decided that this was a rare opportunity to see and share some of Astoria's oldest man-made features and give a real flavor of an historic home. I took these on June 14, 2009, a dark and gloomy day very much like today, during the course of an estate sale. I did not get a picture of the kitchen, but you will get a feel for it from the materials used in the house. I believe the kitchen was white, and fairly roomy. There were people gathered there for the sale, and I didn't find a good angle. In hindsight, I think I should have taken one or two anyway. The first photo (above) is of the carport. The house is on the right, out of view. I showed the outside of this home two days ago. Enjoy the tour.



Back porch.



Etched glass around the front door (shown above and below).




Informal living room and/or dining area. The kitchen is straight back and to the left.


Such a typical Victorian ceiling!


I love the door knob.



This is only one narrow part of the basement.



I appreciate having had the opportunity to visit this venerable old house.

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