The Pacific Ocean, at last

Friday, September 22. Astoria, OR, to Cannon Beach, OR.

Let's get this straight: we are not really slacking here, even though we only covered about 31 miles today. We stopped at Fort Clatsop on our way out of Astoria to get one last, surreal taste of the Lewis and Clark story. That took time.

We almost made a special trip yesterday to Fort Clatsop, but didn't because it was on the route we would take today; in retrospect, we made a good decision. Fort Clatsop, for those unfamiliar with the story, was the winter camp for the Corps of Discovery in 1805 before they headed back to St. Louis. It was also one of the rainiest winters on record, with just 4 rain-free days in the 116 they were there.

This Fort Clatsop is a relatively new addition to the array of Lewis and Clark-related spots along their route; in fact, the fort itself is still under construction. Furthermore, the location of the fort itself is not really known, and the fort under construction seems located more for its proximity to the visitor's center than for any relation to historical accuracy.

There's more: the visitor's center is filled with exhibits and some good information about the expedition, but not very much about the role of the winter camp itself. There is a short film, about 20 minutes, which we thought might portray some more details about the expeditions' winter; but it did not. In a surreal kind of retelling, it instead portrayed a native american woman telling the story of the expeditions' arrival at the coast to a group of children as they all sat around a campfire on the beach - in 1841. It's hard to understand the choice of 1841 as the setting for the film, since that year doesn't represent any particular turning point or even significant event. But even more confusing was the fact that the story she told was only SORT OF about the expeditions time at the coast; mostly it was about the little conflicts they had with the native population there, and there were some sequences that seemed like modern ideas were anachronistically placed in her descriptions. Overall, it was less elucidating and more confusing than I hoped.

The fort, still under construction, is not open for close inspection; instead, you can only get close to the outside, looking in to the courtyard. It will be a nice fort when it is done, probably pretty close to the original.

We decided to move on, considering the unfinished state of the whole exhibit; perhaps we will return another time, now that we will be living relatively close by.

The day brightened, literally; the morning's cloud cover dissipated and left clear skies for the remainder of the days' ride. The road to Seaside is actually called Lewis and Clark Road; it follows (what else?) the Lewis and Clark River before climbing a small (600-foot) rise just a few miles outside of town. On the descent, we caught our first real glimpse of the Pacific Ocean; and, riding down 12th Avenue straight towards the ocean, we finally heard the surf about a block from the pedestrian walkway known as the Prom. And then, there we were, within sight of the surf. We stopped and got a picture, and of course we laughed as we both said "Ocean in View! O the Joy!".

After lunch, we got dessert at the Portland Fudge store on Broadway; Tsunami Bark, which is milk chocolate with rice crispies, marshmallows, peanut butter and chocolate chips. Mmmm.

By the way, who else is surprised by the fact that the entire town of Seaside is in a Tsunami Hazard Zone? The view from the oceanfront homes is not exactly great; from ground level all you can see is the vegetation on the dunes and a little of the sea beyond. Nothing dramatic. And, if -- no, WHEN that tsunami comes, Seaside will be under water. I was a little relieved as we climed the hill out of town and passed the sign announcing that we were leaving the tsunami hazard zone.

I thought it would be about 10 miles to Cannon Beach, but it turned out to be just 7. We rolled past, heading to Tolovana Park, a southern suburb of Cannon Beach, where we checked in to the Tolovana Inn. Our room is one of the few that do NOT have an ocean view; instead, it has what they call a "mountain view", a nice way of saying it faces the opposite direction from the ocean.

We passed the afternoon talking with Nancy's sister Emily (on the phone), who was supposed to undergo surgery today; so imagine our surprise when she answered her phone. Long story short: other, emergency surgeries (on other people, of course) pushed her scheduled procedure back far enough that it had to be canceled. We just wanted her to know we support her; it took us more than two hours to say that, and a whole lot more.

We had dinner at Mo's, just in time to watch a nice, ordinary sunset (which I'll take, if it means more nice weather). This Mo's is apparently the original one; there is a Mo's down in Lincoln City, too, just north of Siletz Bay (I think - you locals can correct me Monday when we get there). As a bonus, we got a tiara after dinner - picture soon. Nancy says it is a general purpose tiara, for any occasion, like when your regular tiara is out at the cleaners.

Tomorrow, we head to Tillamook, and more importantly to the Tillamook Dairy, where we will be able to get Tillamook Ice Cream. The Blue Heron Cheese Factory is also there (in Tillamook County there are more cows than people). Perhaps not surprisingly, one other notable institution there is the Tillamook Beef Smoker, producers of some of the best beef jerky available. One thing is certain: we won't starve in Tillamook. Three days left!