Photo Contest: "A Room with a Very Affordable View"

Astoria, Oregon, Upstairs in Pier 11

Guest Photographer: Riki

Riki calls this place "A Little Piece of Heaven on Pier 11." One might also call it, "A Little Bit of Hawaii in Astoria," although it doesn't sound as poetic. I've always wondered what it looked like from the top of the Pier 11 Building. Here's the view across the river to Washington and to the fishing operation on the next pier. And the inside looks sooooo inviting! Has anyone noticed the weather report? It seems our beautiful fall weather is coming to an end very soon. This would certainly be a comfy place to watch one of our winter storms!

I learned that Malama Day Spa is one of Astoria's newest businesses - if not THE newest, having opened on October 8th. I have not been to visit yet, but I expect to soon! Riki and her mom (who still lives in Hawaii) spent hours at the beginning of the month getting the place ready to open. Here are a few particulars. Check out the links:

"Malama Day Spa is on Pier 11, in Astoria and is currently offering 20% off your first service. See their blog at http://riki-malamadayspa.blogspot.com/ or visit their website at http://www.malamadayspa.qwestoffice.net/. Phone: 503-325-8233. This is not your average spa. Prepare to RELAX and be pampered affordably. Mahalo!"

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Photo Contest: "Net Shed"

Astoria, Oregon ~ September 5, 2010

Guest Photographer: Kim Taylor

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Floating Ziggurat

September 28, 2010

When I saw this cruise ship in the Port Docks, I wound my way up onto Alameda Drive to see if I could get a good angle. It's docked in exactly the same location as the dredge Essayons in this recent photo, but the cruise ship is much larger.

Zoom-in of the dock. The ship's name is Oosterdam. The Essayons was so much smaller that I was able to take the bow-end photo from approximately the left-hand side of this photo or a little out of the picture on that end.

Here you can see part of the Astoria-Megler Bridge. The red-roofed building is the Harbormaster's Office (and rental space), and a few masts in West Mooring Basin can be seen on the right. I took this photo from across West Mooring basin looking back at the building across the water.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Animal Planter

Warrenton or Hammond, Oregon ~ March 28, 2010

I've enjoyed looking at this planter in the grassy median ever since I first noticed it. I don't know how old it is, but I hope it's around for awhile longer. I'm not sure how long that will be, since it has clearly been affected by the wet environment. The planter was made with nice colors, and it features animals of our maritime area.

The median separates 6th Street from Pacific Drive and stops at Lake Street, just beyond the planter. Not that I would have known any of these street names. It's across from the mini storage on one corner, the mini mart on another corner, and is at one of the entrances to Ft. Stevens State Park. I'm actually not sure if the location is Hammond or Warrenton, but if you know the area, you will know where it is. There are small stores where you can buy bait and tackle, and various things needed for an outing in the park or a fishing trip on the river or ocean. Can anyone tell me if this is officially Hammond or Warrenton?

I've found myself taking so many photos of animal art "along the way" over the years, that I finally started a blog for - yes - Animal Art Along the Way. It's not brand new. I'm up to 107 posts now, and it's an *almost* daily blog. I'm sure that parts of this planter will appear there soon.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Nature's Floating Reed Art

April 2, 2010

More after-storm phenomena are the patches of broken reeds that float downriver and sojourn in bays and quiet areas of water before they continue their journey toward the ocean on the next tide.

They form floating mats, held together by nothing more than some principle of physics that I couldn't begin to describe, but is probably rudimentary. What I like is that groups of reeds clump together in patches of almost the same size, making the mat look like it was created using embroidery stitches or a paintbrush with thick paint. Enlarge the photo to see what I'm talking about.

They clump and they move, staying in formations of their own making, like a school of fish or a flock of birds.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Colors on the River

Astoria, Oregon ~ April 2, 2010

There are so many color schemes on the river, and one of my favorites occurred today between rain and hail storms. The sun came out for awhile to find that the water had turned muddy and the clouds across the river were still dark. It almost has the feel of an enclosed set or sound stage.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Theme Day: Red

Astoria, Oregon ~ March 31, 2010

Two Red Doors

Today is City Daily Photo Theme Day.

Click here to view thumbnails for all participants.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

The Goonies are (Almost) Back . . .

This is the Clatsop County Courthouse, shown from the corner of Commercial and 7th. The front of the courthouse is on the left, on Commercial (Avenue/Street) [digression: "streets" have numbers and "avenues" have names, but most people use "street" for both; I am herewith giving up trying to conform to the system], the old County Jail is the small gray building on the right, and the turret peeking over the jail is the Flavel House. The huge tree on the right was in this recent post, and the small protective roof at the corner of the building houses a piece of a huge old-growth tree that's on display here. (I haven't done a post on it yet.) The post office, which I've shown several times, is out of the picture on the left, across the street from the courthouse. The color of the courthouse building seems to brighten up the area unless, I think, you're there on unpleasant official business.

One reason I'm showing this photo today is because the old jail (seen in the beginning of The Goonies movie) will, on June 4-7, 2010, be opening as the Oregon Film Museum. You can read all about it here, and if I'm in town, which I expect to be, I'll try to get a photo of the event. I will not, however, be watching the movie. I already tried that once, and I made it maybe halfway through. Did you watch The Goonies? Did you like it? The film's landmarks are big attractions around here.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Skunk Cabbage

Western skunk cabbage is blooming. I encountered it in the ditches along the roadsides, and it can be found in many areas locally. I happened to see this patch in Warrenton on my way back from the beach on Sunday.

I've seen plenty of skunk cabbage patches, but I don't remember seeing them in bloom before. I wonder if it's because this is an unusually good year for flowers, or if they have a short season, and I happned to catch them on a good day. The large yellow flowers, of course, caught my attention. When I approached to take the pictures, I realized that they are aptly named. I wonder if the smell, too, comes with the flowering season.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

High Wind, High Surf Advisory

The coast is under high wind and high surf advisories from Sunday night through Monday. The high winds were just beginning and it was still safe to go out on the beach. It's hard to see the blowing sand here, but before I got back to the car, I had sand in my ears, my hair, my clothing, and my camera. Even with the wide angle, I came just short of getting entire length of the wreck of the Peter Iredale. I've included the picture below from February 2008 to show how you can spot the end of the wreckage. Near the center of the photo and touching the horizon are two metal pipes sticking into the air (they look like one in the small version). I'm not sure if they mark the end of the ship or only a spot near the end. The sand ebbs and flows with the elements, and some years, days, or storms, you can see more of the ship than at other times.

Clearly, Peter is more photogenic on some days than others, too. I've posted images before, and I still have a few in the archives to come later. But today I wanted to show you the beginning of the storm. It's been rainy, drizzly, cloudy, and now windy, and it seems we have rain forecast all week. I would love to get out there and show you some huge waves, but we'll see how it goes. Even as I drove back along the access road, the police were out "suggesting" that lookers be careful. And I do have respect for big waves.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Park with Blossoms

At the corner of Commercial and 6th is a small park made just for kids. At the moment, it's wearing cherry blossoms - or I believe that's what they are. This view is looking east along Commercial Avenue with the post office in the background.

It looks nice and warm out, but I'd gone back to the car for my jacket, although several kids and their parents were out playing on the sun.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Astoria High School, About 1909

The photo above is another postcard loaned by Midnight Mike. The only date on it is the postmark, which is 1909. The picture shows the old Astoria High School at the corner of 8th Street and Grand Avenue. The photo was taken from 7th and Franklin.

Earlier on this blog, I posted the photo above, taken from almost the same location (7th and Exchange), but from a vantage point closer to the ground. In the next photo, taken the other day (March 23, 2010), I was standing at the opposite corner of the park, which is somewhere in front of the blue house in the background above.

You can see what a lopsided piece of ground it is. I wonder why they eventually tore down the building? The park is currently used as a baseball diamond, and at the left is a swing set. There's a picnic table with benches near the tree. Of course, that's the great Columbia River in the background; the hills on the other side are in Washington.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Curved Fence

I thought the curved fence at this home at 7th Street and Grand Avenue was both ingenius and charming. New blossoms and the relatively warm spring day made me feel almost as if I were in the countryside about a century or so ago.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.

Comparisons: Then, Now, Then, Now

August 7, 2001

The photo I wanted to post today was this shadowy, worn, corrugated funk from 2001 (and before), as it's one of my favorite Astoria photos from my archives. But since it no longer exists, I thought I would update the location. The text on the sign used to read:

KNAPPTON
TOWBOAT
PARKING
ONLY

The building, at 12th Street and the River Walk, was refurbished a year or two ago (I can't keep track except through my photo archives), and now holds several businesses and some space that's still available for rent. I took the photo above this morning at approximately the location of the first photo. There are several windows now, and I don't know if they're in the same places as the old one in the shadow picture. (Note: Although this end of the building is at 12th Street and the River Walk, the other end is at 14th Street, hence the name "14th Street Pilot Station." There is no 13th Street here, so the building is one block long, and is named after the other end, which is probably the official address :)

I took this photo a year ago, on March 12, 2009. You can see the window on the right, and you can see why they call it the 14th Street Pilot Station. The pilot boat dock is the gray building on the left. You can stand on this deck or on the enclosed deck at the center of the building and watch the pilot boats come and go.

This year they pained the gray pilot dock building red, although the color is hard to see on this rainy day. I took the photo this morning when I took the picture of the window above. Our weather has been alternating sunny and stormy, which is normal for this time of year. At times yesterday, the scene would have looked more like photo number 3.

This blog is sponsored by Tapir and Friends Animal Store.