Thanksgiving - 2004

Rocke and I decided to make a mini-vacation of Thanksgiving this year. We would go out on the Oregon Coast and spend 3 days and two nights. We reserved a two-bedroom condo at Seaside and were looking forward to our get-away. Sylvia had cooked Thanksgiving Dinner for Rocke and me, two years in a row, so we decided it would be nice to invite Sylvia and Michael to come to the Coast with us. We were excited that they accepted our offer. We would eat Thanksgiving dinner out so that neither Sylvia nor I would have to cook and clean up a mess this year. Thanks, Rocke & Michael!

On our drive out to the coast, we stopped by to look at the oldest and largest tree in the State of Oregon. It is a Sitka Spruce and is about 750 years old and 206 feet tall. It has a circumference of over 52 feet and it is the largest Sitka Spruce tree in the United States.

While there, we saw a tree with a split trunk. This tree obviously began on a nursery tree and as the nursery tree further deteriorated and finally became non-existent, the roots of the tree went down around the fallen tree and rooted in the ground on each side of the nursery tree. Today the nursery tree is gone and the tree trunk only spans the memory of the fallen tree.

After checking out this old tree we continued our drive to Seaside. As a beach resort, Seaside might be said to date to the winter of 1805-06, when explorers Lewis and Clark established a salt-making camp on the beach.

Later, Seaside became known as the end of the railroad. In the 1920's Portland families would board at 6:30am, bring breakfast to eat on the train, pile out for a few hours on the beach, and return back to Portland in the evening.

Today tourists crowd the famed Seaside Promenade, "Million-Dollar Walk", a strip of arcades, fast-food joints, and gift shops lining Broadway.

Seaside has a rich historical past. It has become Oregon's largest and oldest resort. As the end of the Lewis and Clark trail, Seaside is a national landmark. This event is commemorated with a statue of Lewis and Clark statue (at the well-known Seaside turnaround) and a reconstructed camp site.

When we arrived at Seaside, our condo wasn't ready, so we took the opportunity to stroll the famed Seaside Promenade and explore some of their shops. We also took some time to walk on the beach and take in some of the beautiful scenery before checking into our condo.

After getting settled in our rooms, we went to Pudgy's, within walking distance, for Thanksgiving Dinner. I had the traditional Thanksgiving dinner while the others enjoyed something different. After dinner, we all went back to our unit and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Friday morning, Rocke and I took a stroll on the beach, while Michael and Sylvia slept in. We walked about three miles, to the end of the beach and returned back to our unit ready for some breakfast. We both had worked up an appetite.

After breakfast, we all decided to go to Ecola State Park and take a hike. Ecola State Park, located off Highway 101 north of Cannon Beach, offers some of the most breathtaking and exquisite views to be found on the Oregon Coast. One of Ecola State Park’s first attractions was a beached whale. In 1806, Capt. William Clark and twelve members of the Corps of Discovery climbed over rocky headlands and fought their way through thick shrubs and trees to get to the whale in what is now Ecola State Park.

From the parking lot, there are trails that lead to several viewing points within the park. We decided to hike the Indian Creek trail. The trail starts up an old gated road on the right-hand side of the Indian Beach parking turnaround. The trail climbed up through old-growth spruce and alder woods. It never leveled out until we came to a primitive camping area for backpackers. Thank goodness it leveled out as I was getting tired of climbing. From there, the trail led us to an old dark, 6-room concrete bunker, which housed a radar installation in World War II. Just beyond that we came to a cliff-edge viewpoint, breathtakingly high above a rugged rock beach.

From this view point, a mile to sea, we could see Tillamook Rock, a bleak island with a lighthouse that operated from January 1881 to September 1957. Nicknamed "Terrible Tilly," the light was repeatedly over-swept by winter storms that dashed water, rocks, and fish into the lantern room 150 feet above normal sea level.

In 1980, a group of Portland investors purchased the light for $50,000, had it stripped and sealed shut, converting the facility into the Eternity at Sea Columbarium-a unique resting place for ashes of the deceased The island was finally bought by funeral entrepreneurs who bring in urns of cremated remains by helicopter.

On our way back down the trail we investigated the ruins of an old dark, 6-room concrete bunker, which housed a radar installation in World War II.

This wonderful land of ours is rich with interesting history. I can never get enough of reading about and seeing so many great things in this beautiful state of Oregon.

Back at our condo for dinner, Sylvia fixed us some homemade pizza. I was really looking forward to her pizza as I think she makes the best homemade pizza I know. While she fixed the pizza, Rocke and Michael relaxed watching Star Gate, while I went down to the hot tub to enjoy soaking in the hot water. Thanks, Sylvia, for making your homemade pizza.

Saturday morning after breakfast, we packed up and were ready to start our journey home. We decided to drive up to Astoria and cross the Astoria bridge, and return to Portland on the Washington side of the Columbia. Along the way we made serveral stops.

We stopped and toured Fort Stevens State Park. Whan an awesome place.

First we visited the wreck of the British 4-masted barque, the Peter Iredale, which ran aground at what is now Fort Stevens State Park on October 25, 1906. Due to her accessibility at low water, the Peter Iredale is one of the most photographed shipwrecks in the world.

From there we stopped at South Jetty, where the Columbia River meets the ocean.

Our next stop was the Military Museum which is an historic area that includes concrete bunkers and a gun batteries dating to the civil war. Over 100 years ago, young soldiers dressed in Union blue stood watch over Fort Stevens at the mouth of the Columbia River. Originally commissioned as a Civil War fortification in 1863, Fort Stevens was deactivated as a military fort shortly after World War II. It is now an Oregon State Park. Its museum features military artifacts, guided tours, interpretive displays, movies, and living history demonstrations.

Fort Stevens enjoys the distinction of being the only military installation in the continental United States to be fired on since the War of 1812. On the night of June 21, 1942, the Fort was the target of a Japanese submarine which fired 17 shells in the vicinity of the Fort. The shelling caused no damage and Fort Stevens did not return fire.

After tourning the museum we drove on to Astoria. We stopped at the Astoria Column and climbed it.

The Astoria Column was erected in 1926 at an elevation of 600 feet atop Coxcomb Hill, the location of the first permanent American Settlement west of the Rockies. It has been listed in the National Register of Historic Places since 1974, and was refurbished in 1995. This impressive Oregon Coast historical monument is the only one of its kind in the world!

The column displays 14 scenes commemorating important events in the history of Astoria in cronological order. The mural scrolls around the 125-foot-high structure in an upward spiral direction, with the earliest scene at the base of the column. An interior 164-step spiral staircase leads to the top of a viewing platform with spectacular views.

New York architect Electus D. Litchfield designed the column, patterning it after the Trajan Column erected in Rome by Emperor Trajan in 114 A.D. It was decorated by Attilio Pusterla, an Italian-born artist, using a sgraffito technique (bas-relief etching in cement) developed during the Italian Renaissance. In 1926, it cost $27,133.96 to build and decorate the Column.

John Jacob Astor, for whom Astoria is named, was the head of the fur trading company that built Fort Astoria. His great-grandson, Vincent Astor, helped finance the building of the Column. The Great Northern Railroad paid for the rest of it.

Due to years of inclement coastal weather, the images on the Column had become so damaged that many of them could no longer be seen. Thanks to the efforts of the Friends of Astoria Column and countless others, restoration of the column began in April 1995. The finished project was unveiled in November 1995. The cost to repair it was approximately $750,000.

Now, we get to cross the Astoria bridge and head back home to Portland. The Columbia River (Astoria) Bridge, also known as the Astoria-Megler Bridge is just over four miles long (21,474 feet), and is the longest bridge in Oregon. The main span is a 2,468-foot steel cantilever through truss, and is flanked by five steel deck trusses, one hundred forty 80-foot concrete deck girder spans, and, at the Washington end of the bridge, seven 350-foot steel through truss spans. The bridge was designed jointly by the Oregon and Washington state highway departments. Construction was begun in 1962, and completed in 1966.

We arrived home thankful for such a wonderful fun-filled Thanksgiving Holiday.