Carnival Splendor and the Cannery Pier Hotel

Astoria is a port of call for big cruise ships as well as smaller paddlewheel boats that come down the Columbia River from Portland. The big cruise liners, of course, come the other way: in from the ocean. This ship dwarfs the four-storey Cannery Pier Hotel, built on the location of the former Union Fisherman's Cooperative Packing Company. The designer and owners went to a lot of work to attempt to preserve the look and flavor of the 1900s buildings. A boutique hotel will never feel like an authentic cannery, but I'm so glad they went to the lengths they did instead of building something without thought to history or location. We have a few of those, too! You can see an old photo of the Union Fish Cannery and a fleet of small fishing boats in a photo on the hotel's web site.

The cruise ship Carnival Splendor was getting ready to leave and go back out to sea. They stay for a day and then they're on their way. We've had quite a few cruise ships in already this year. The visitors come into town by bus or they can take the riverfront trolley or walk along the River Walk. They fill Astoria's streets, put smiles on the faces of local merchants, and generally seem to enjoy their stopover, even the ones who have been re-routed here instead of going to Mexico due to the swine flu outbreak this year. Astoria has many faces, and one of them is tourism. Many people drive to the coast from inland or come down from Seattle, and the ships help boost that bottom line for many merchants struggling with today's economy.

I took this pic at 8:18 p.m. on May 26. I love the way the water reflects light from the sky on most evenings here.

. Watery Wednesday

. ABC Wednesday, "U" is for "Union Fish Cannery"

. Outdoor Wednesday

. . . and can I include

. Window Views? There are more than I can count if you include the staterooms!

While we're at it, I'll make an additional link back to my friends at City Daily Photo, which is what got me started with this blog. It's such a great way to travel the world when I can't be doing that it real life!

More like peppermint ice cream

Most of the numerous Victorian houses in Astoria are painted in subdued earth tones, grays, blue-grays, blues, shade of white, pale yellow, greenish, and similar colors. There are a few notable exceptions, and this is one of them. This original Italianate Victorian was brighter at one time (the base is also pink) and the owners got much abuse from locals, including having their home dubbed "The Kaopectate House." Astoria's houses are a lot of fun for viewers, and often for the owners, although I've heard stories from potenial buyers and from real estate people here that there is almost not a house in town without notable quirks.

A few of these architectural details (or anomalies) show on the outside as unique cupolas, intentionally non-vertical walls (not on this one, it's the camera lens), and one-of-a-kind trim. But to those in the know, the stories are endless. I lived in a renovated apartment in a very old building one time, and you couldn't put anything round on the floor or it would quickly roll against one of the walls - but I gather that was tame. Astoria is built on such hills, the houses are so old, and much earth settling has taken place. I'm sure there will be entertaining things to show and relate as time goes on. And maybe we'll get some good comments. This house is a little more than halfway up the 15th-Street Hill, almost to Irving. The hill starts climbing at Duane, and the streets are alphabetical, going as far as Niagara.

Happy Ruby Tuesday, everyone! As I said in the title, this may be more like peppermint ice cream than like rubies, but for sure it's in the right part of the spectrum!

Columbia River Bar Pilot Boat "Chinook"

Resting in the calm, sunny waters of Hammond, Oregon, across the river from Astoria, the Columbia River Bar Pilot Boat, Chinook (the yellow one), gives no hint of what it was designed to do when at work on high seas. Both are Bar Pilot boats; I'll try to get the name of the orange one, too. Hammond is downriver from Astoria, and transfers bar pilots to and from the big ships as far as 10 to 15 miles out in the ocean during stormy weather or calm. The bar of the Columbia River is one of the most treacherous river bars in the world, and some call it the most treacherous. Piloting the ships across the bar is a specialty occupation, and the pilots have to understand not only the tides, currents, weather, and what lies below the water line at any given level of the tide, but also the capability, draft, and size, of each ship they board. The distance they navigate is short, but the importance of the job is incalculable. Many ships would wreck here each year if not for the work of the skilled pilots - or I guess we should say, the river mouth would otherwise be unnavigable by the large ships. Once the bar pilots have finished their job, a river pilot takes over, also brought to the ship in pilot boats, which I'll show another day). These green boats do most of their work near enough to Astoria's waterfront that we can watch them virtually every day. Piloting a ship up the Columbia to Longview, Kalama, or Portland, is also a specialized job, and requires about eight to 12 hours from Astoria to Portland, depending on the speed of the ship.

Occasionally we see the yellow and orange boats in Astoria, but most of their work is done on the ocean, which begins several miles further downriver from Hammond. I wish I could have gotten more of the orange boat in the photo, but there was a fence I couldn't get around. The name "Chinook" comes from a local Indian people who live in this part of Oregon and Washington. I've provided some links below that show the Chinook (boat) at work, and other interesting bits and clips. Helicopters have also been used regularly to transfer pilots in the ocean, and there's a video of a helicopter at work below with some informative narrative on the video.

What are the outdoor jobs do you enjoy watching in your town?

. Mellow Yellow Monday (see more pix featuring the color yellow)
. Photos and video of the Chinook at work on high seas
. Chinook clears the water
. Interview with a pilot
. YouTube: Boarding Vessels by Helicopter
. More about the Chinook people

When the sun speaks

We've been having a lot of overcast, drizzly, or simply darkish and misty days. Periodically, the sun comes through and creates a spectacle like this one from the top of Coxcomb Hill where the (currently headless) Astoria Column overlooks two rivers, a bay, the mouth of the Columbia River, a couple of bridges, and the town of Astoria. You really should click on the photo and dive into the scene to get the effect of the sun's rays. The bridge spans just over four miles from Astoria, Oregon, to the state of Washington. It's actually at a narrow part of the river! I've shown two earlier views from the column, but the lighting and clouds give this one its own ethereal look for Scenic Sunday. Here are views over the southwest side of the Astoria hill and the northwest side on earlier days this year.

"Ancient Mariner" commented below, "The old local mariners call those descending beams of sunlight "Sundogs."

Cool, and thanks! What a great term. I hadn't heard that before. I love learning things like this and being able to pass them along via the blog.

The "littlest" catch?

Laurel (right), Teagan (my grand-tapir, in the red shirt) and I went to our favorite coffee spot for lunch yesterday. We had a window table at Coffee Girl, where we could watch the mist and clouds over the river and see the fishing boats as they came and went. I like the decor, the food and the people. The decor is very real and not kitchy; it includes this vintage life preserver from the Alleutian Ballad crab boat, which starred in Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch. The Aleutian Ballad wintered in the dock here at Pier 39 (the building that houses Coffee Girl), and here's a photo I took of it last November. It's fitted out with seats for its new life as a tourist fishing/crabbing boat in some of Alaska's calmer waters. I happened to be looking out the window on April 2nd this year as it passed downriver. I wonder if that's the day it left here for the summer?

I actually never watched that show because I don't have TV. Did you watch it?

Sunset at the Peter Iredale

Last night at the beach, the sun set not over the horizon line of the ocean, but into a dense fog bank. You can see the bony hull of the wrecked Peter Iredale at the bottom of the photo silhouetted against the waves. The beach is only about a 15-minute drive from downtown Astoria, and it's a favorite place to watch the sun go down. It's especially nice on a evening like today when the air is still wet from a recent shower. The sunset is not as dramatic as it is some evenings, but it always feels special here. Off to the left, I watched a red jellyfish-shaped kite glide among the misty clouds until they turned gold. Be sure to visit other participants in Skywatch Friday to see the skies around the world.

Bright, Classic Green Machine

I couldn't help noticing this striking classic car as I passed the U.S. Customs Office on the River Walk the other day. Who knew it would be a perfect solution for Think Green Thursday and Thursday Challenge (Topic: Machines). I didn't know what it was, but Anonymous came up with "My Little Deuce Coupe." I looked it up and it matches - that's a 1932 Model B Ford. Hotrodded. I like the fact that the inside of the engine compartment (the firewall?) is painted with a black and white checkerboard pattern. Seems odd, but looks nice. Is there a precedent for this? And what about the black machine in the background. Is that a classic, too? We don't often see such cars on the streets of Astoria, and when we do, they're usually here for a rally down the coast in Seaside, or the most recent one I noticed was a few weeks ago at Fort Stevens, near the ocean. Cars show up from all over the Pacific Northwest, and our few roads are sometimes pretty jammed. One day we accidentally got into the midst of a tour of these classic vehicles in Seaside (just down the coast). We were on foot, on the boardwalk (pavement) along the beach, and it was fun to stand at the turn-around point and take pictures from all angles. There were some amazing cars there, treats for the eye and fun to see, even for someone like me who doesn't care much about what they are. I can enjoy the visuals and appreciate the love and care people have put into their pet projects. Everyone was having a great time.

Astoria has had a U.S. Customs House since 1849. The old one is preserved further east, and I'll post a photo one of these days. The current U.S. Customs and Border Protection office is here on the River Walk near the east end of the downtown area at 14th Street. I don't usually think of Astoria needing a border protection office, but actually Astoria is a port of entry to the U.S. The coupe is parked in a space reserved for business at the Customs Office.

The boats are out

This is the time of year when the small pleasure boats and fishing boats appear on the river. The water is usually calmer now and we have days at a time when you can actually see blue sky. But, blue, gray, rainy, or fine, when the sturgeon are biting, the boats are out. You can see by the buoy that the current in this part of the water is running upriver, which means that the tide is coming in. However, the river is so large and the currents so quirky that you can have an ebb in one part of the river and a flow in another nearby at the same time. It's a complex world down there. I often wish I could magically see under the water to observe the life, the currents, and the bed of the river like a cutaway view in a museum or movie.

Once again, it's Watery Wednesday. Check out the wet participants!

The Light Ship Columbia

The Light Ship Columbia is permanently docked at the Maritime Museum in Astoria, and is part of their exhibit. You can take a tour inside the ship when the museum is open. I think the buoy is at least as interesting to look at as the ship, and I love its colors, faded and worn as they are. I come here often, because it's only about a block from home, and of course it's on the River Walk. I haven't been inside the museum itself for quite some time, but the unique building and some of its contents will appear here eventually. You might want to check out The Columbia River: A Photographic Journey for more photos and lots of information on the Light Ship Columbia. The hill in the distance is Tongue Point, and white building in front of it is the J.O. Hanthorn Cannery I posted the other day.

Lee commented, "Interesting story about this. It used to be moored just outside the mouth and helped ships find the entrance to the Columbia. We've come along way. The crew was so bored they salmon fished all summer."

Happy Ruby Tuesday, everyone!

Flying feet

If I were younger and braver, I think I'd like to feel like this. I did some stunts on a bike that amaze me now to think of them. Still, I don't know if I'd have had the courage. It's amazing to see how easily tennis-shoed kids cling to the boards with their feet, understanding exactly what gravity is going to do with them. In Tapiola Park on the south slope of Astoria, there's a wonderful skateboard arena made from an old public swimming pool. The whole pit has been reshaped for a smooth ride that goes down and around several interestingly-shaped walls before the kids pop out at a number of spots along the side. Sometime I should post a picture of the whole arena. It's photogenic. There were three or four guys doing a terrific job of swooping around the place while I was there today, and one much younger who wanted to learn. Helmets are definitely required!

Today is Theme Day at City Daily Photo, and the theme is "Feet." I love the way the shoelace casts an exaggerated shadow.

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