Up the Coast to Washington

New Territory!  We  headed up 101 hoping to stay somewhere near Astoria, Oregon on the border of Washington.  This was new ground for us as we had not ventured any further north than the Canon Beach area.  

Some scenes along the way...

Rock 'stacks' near Canon Beach

Gorgeous Oregon coastline

Early morning beach walk

It was only about an hour and a half drive to Ft. Stephens State Park which was minutes away from Astoria and we lucked out and got the last sight available.  This state park was a military base that had been used in WWII as a lookout for Japanese invasions.  Most of it is now a camping area and wildlife viewing area (mostly sea birds) with 12 miles of biking and hiking trails throughout the park.  Lots of families were enjoying the biking trails and visiting the beaches as well as the historic batteries and bunkers.

Seabirds at Ft. Stephens State Park

The historic seaport of Astoria was just a few miles up the road.  Astoria is a very much a ‘sea’ town at the mouth of the Columbia River.  Established in the 1800’s, it has many Victorian houses and is also the home to a Maritime Museum and a Lewis and Clark Museum.  We could  have spent more time exploring lovely historic Astoria, but since we only had one night at the State Park, we decided to go on into Washington and come back another day.