Last Day - Visiting Astoria!

Ships and barges from all over the world come over the Pacific Ocean and then head down the huge Columbia River and into Portland, Oregon.  

ASTORIA is the small city that sits on the tip of the Columbia River mouth.  
We call it "Little San Francisco" because it is built on a hillside and the streets are so steep!

"The Bridge to Nowhere"
is 4.1 miles long and was built in 1966.  It connects Washington to Oregon crossing over the Columbia River.

Sometimes there are wind gusts of 150 mph from fierce storm--the bridge was built to withstand it all.








ASTORIA COLUMN
The Astoria Column is at the top of Astoria's highest hill, you can see for miles! 
The story of the Lewis & Clark Expedition is carved into the Column.  Lots of history!

http://www.astoriacolumn.org/pages/history2.htm  

This is a fun sight to learn about the Column 






















Two of Anne's grandkids, Madeline and Eugene came with Alexa and Lilli and they climbed the 164 circular steps all the way to the top!  

Finding Waldo... Find Alexa and Lilli ??

Guess what Madeline & Eugene's 
MOM's name is?        L i l l i    :-)

Kids get to fly little wooden airplanes from the top and see how far they can fly! 

You can see the Astoria Bridge!  
It is windy up here!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SHIPWRECK!

 This is the PETER IREDALE SHIP
 It wrecked in 1906, this is all that is left, but it is cool and it is HUGE!



Happy Thanksgiving.......................................................................................................

We had some Thanksgiving dinner with some of Anne's brothers and sisters!  
They are all LOUD and talk all the time!  We never got bored!

WELL,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,THAT'S OUR TRIP!  


                    Alexa and Lillian will fly back home in a box to Minnesota
                                                   with their sand dollars and sea shells.  

THANKS for COMING to the BEACH!  

Heading SOUTH on Highway 101 to Tillamook!

We got up... went outside and there they were!  Anne has an elk refuge!  

There are lots of Elk in the Nehalem hills.

So we got in the car and headed SOUTH down the Oregon Coast

and saw the Cape Mears Lighthouse first!  

We even got to go up inside the lighthouse to the very top!  It was sooo COOL!

There were LOTS of seagulls on the beach this morning too.

THE TILLAMOOK CHEESE FACTORY

Lots of Dairy Farmers in this area.  We got to see how they made CHEESE! 
and then we ate grilled cheese sandwiches.  MMMMMMmmmm!

AND THEN.... we got a GIANT ICE CREAM CONE made with the famous Tillamook Icecream.

Back to the Beach...    SAND CASTLE TIME 

with Bridger, Addy and Laurynn (3 of Anne's grandkids)

 SAND CASTLE FUN!

  Anne collects driftwood from the beach sometimes 

and then she paints them with castle-type Windows & Doors. 

and then we all added the driftwood to our sand castles. 

HAVING LOTS OF FUN!

Heading NORTH on Highway 101... Cannon Beach and Seaside

We got up early again today.  

Anne made us FRENCH TOAST stuffed with CREAM CHEESE for breakfast!

We LOVED it!  We topped it with homemade raspberry syrup.  Our FAV!!!!

We started our drive up Highway 101.

We stopped at the top of Neahkahnie Mountain Cliff and we could see where Anne lives. 

We could see the Nehalem River, the Nehalem Bay and the Manzanita Beach all at once!

This is where Anne comes to watch the WHALES.

August-September is the best time to see the whales.

Anne has 11 grandkids! Today we are spending the day with one of  her grandsons.

His name is KADE and he is 13 years old.  He is the one in the green sweatshirt.

He is always cracking jokes!

We will have a fun day!

We all stopped at Cannon Beach to see the famous HAYSTACK ROCK!

Haystack Rock is 235 feet tall

It is called Haystack... because it looks like a big haystack.

It has a huge cave around the back and you can see in the cave when the tide is low.

We saw all kinds of sea creatures and tiny crabs.

Then we drove 4 more miles and we arrived in SEASIDE.

The ocean is sooo BIG!  There is sooo much water--there's no end as far as you see...

and the WAVES just keep rolling in and out, never stopping.

When we got to SEASIDE, 

we rented a SURREY for an hour

and peddled on the promenade along the beach. 

We got to ride in the front. 

Kade and Anne

did all the peddling.

They have swing sets right on the beach, so we took a break for awhile and did some swinging in the breeze 

and watched the waves.  

...AND looked for more seashells!

Then we got to ride the merry-go-round in the middle of town.
This merry-go-round, has sea horses, pigs, rabbits, cats, giraffes!
 

 ELEPHANT EARS??
Anne said we had to eat Elephant Ears... we weren't sure about THAT!  

But when Kade got all excited about it, we thought it MUST be something good.  
He was right!  They are GIANT pieces of fresh fried bread coated with cinnamon and sugar!
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!

The day went too FAST!  We drove back down to Nehalem 
and watched the sunset at the Arcadia Beach.

The day wasn't over yet!  

BACK to the MANZANITA BEACH!

BONFIRE and SMORES!!

Anne makes homemade hot fudge and spreads the graham cracker with the hot fudge.  

We roasted the marshmallows and when the marshmallows were just right......

 Anne squeezed the marshmallow between the creamy sticky hot fudge crackers.  

I think we ate TWENTY!

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!

Good thing we had lots of WATER to DRINK!

Today--was a SUGAR HIGH!

TOMORROW--only healthy C's!!!!!  CARROT STICKS, CHICKEN and CHEESE!

We will head SOUTH to Tillamook and go to the CHEESE FACTORY!

WATER... WATER... Everywhere!

Taking a walk...on Sunday Morning

on the dock along the calm NEHALEM RIVER.

Alexa & Lillian saw lots of birds, seagulls and even an eagle.

Alexa & Lillian met Flat Stanley who was visiting from South Dakota.  

They all watched the boat on the river.

 Alexa and Lillian meet Elijah... 
Elijah's dad has a big dairy farm in Nehalem.
Elijah's dad gets up at 3AM
 to feed the cows every day!

Sometimes Elijah and his dad 
go fishing after the cows are fed.
This time of year you see lots of fishermen
fishing in the NEHALEM BAY & TILLAMOOK BAY.












This year Elijah caught 
a huge salmon!  
His dad helped him 
pull the giant salmon 
out the water.





IT'S TIME--
TO RUN BACK TO THE BEACH....

AND WAIT TO SEE THE SUNSET!

TIME FOR BED...

Anne has a special bedroom for us-- 
a PINK FRENCH ROOM
(Anne has been to France 4 times----
Anything French... she's a little bit crazy that way) 

We sleep here. It's FUN!!
We can hear the soothing roar
of the ocean waves at night.
Sweet Dreams............  

Alexa & Lillian... at the Beach

It was such a beautiful day today at the Manzanita Beach. 

Alexa and Lillian are standing in front of the Pacific Ocean and the Neahkahnie Cliffs.

Neahkahnie (pronounced Knee Aaah Kaah Knee.) means "place of god".  
The Nehalem Indians named the mountain after their supreme god Ekahni. 

At certain times of the year....
        we go to the top of the Neahkahnie Cliffs to watch the WHALES pass by.

                         Alexa and Lillian dug in the sand, played in the sand dunes 
                                                and found some sand dollars!  
                                They will bring their sand dollars home with them.  

                                        It was a little windy today at the beach... 
                              a big gust of wind came up and Alexa ran away!!!
                  I mean flew away with the wind---but Lillian and Anne caught her! 






                People love to parasurf at our beach.








             Lots of fisherman, 
                 dairy farmers 
                   and loggers
          live here in Nehalem. 

MINNESOTA! Welcome to OREGON!

I have TWO VISITORS from snowy Minnesota!

Welcome to the Oregon Coast "flat" ALEXA and "flat" LILLIAN! 

We will be discovering part of my world--the Oregon Coast!

Of course, I'm a fabric worshipper, so the first place I had to take you to.... is one of my favorite fabrics shops that I am lucky enough to have right here in my little town of 232 people--Nehalem! 

My town is the best ever because... well for one, I have this fabric shop ran by my friend DORIS.  Second because I live only one mile from the beach! 

 My town is surrounded by the Nehalem River and the Nehalem Bay and they run into the Pacific Ocean!  We will travel up and down the coast these next few days, because there are so many fun things to see!!  Lighthouses... Go to the Beach.... Have a Bonfire... Make Sandcastles... Find Seashells and Sand Dollars... Eat at Mo's Restaurant (fresh fish mmmmmmmm)  Will you eat raw oysters with me (I LOVE them!)  

I had 5 sisters and 6 brothers while I was growing up!  NEVER a dull moment.  Well "some" of them are coming for Thanksgiving, I will have over 20 people here for dinner.  It will be fun.  I will introduce you to them :-)  

We will have a fun time... I will "TRY" very hard to post every day about your visit here!

Thanks for coming for a visit!!

Anne...on the beach :-)

  

Time to do Laundry...

SAME as TODAY...
Summer... Winter...
Laundry always needed to be done!

great website with historical info
http://www.oldandinteresting.com/french-washboards.aspx


There are Wash Houses
in every village in France.

They were a step-up from
washing on the river bank.
These wash houses
hold memories...
   wash boxes,
   paddles,
   lie soap

TODAY... they are surrounded
by the beauty of nature
and bouquets of flowers.

         And a reminder------------
                 Life is much easier today.