We planned on visiting some sites within the Lewis and Clark National Park where they discovered the Pacific Ocean and camped for the winter. We fist visited Fort Stevens on the coast, and stopped to look at a shipwrecked wooden schooner. But there were gusty winds and driving rain and we couldn't stay out of the car long enough to really explore the wreck. We were soaking wet and cold within a few minutes, so it was off to the next stop!
We headed to the Fort Clatsop visitor center. Lewis and Clark, and the Discovery Corps built the fort up away from the beach with hills protecting them from the gusty ocean winds. The visitor center described the area and the conditions the Discovery Corps had endured during the winter they were there. There was a full scale replica of the Fort built to specifications from Lewis' journal. Nothing remains of the original, which rotted away. It was a very small fort with tiny little rooms.
Next up was the Astoria Column in the city of Astoria, Oregon. The history of Astoria was depicted in murals spiraling up the outside of the column. You can climb the 120 steps to the top where they have a viewpoint, but due to the pouring rain and low visibility, we decided against it. Instead we ate a picnic lunch in the car and admired the view of the Columbia River below.
We said goodbye to Oregon for now, and crossed the four mile long bridge over the Columbia River into Washington!
Continuing on in the Lewis & Clark National Park, we drove to the interpretive center just north of Ilwaco, Washington. This was the most inclusive description of their journey that we have seen so far. The displays included details from their departure from St. Louis to their arrival at the Pacific Ocean and every stop along the way. There were details about the people, food, animals and plants they encountered. We could have stayed longer, but they were closing.
The next day we went to the Pacific Coast Cranberry Research Foundation on the Long Beach Peninsula. The museum was closed, but we took the self-guided walking tour. We found out that cranberries grow on red colored vines, and they only flood the bogs to harvest the fruit in October. There are several different kinds of cranberries, but there are two kinds that are the most common. Most of the growers in the area grow for Ocean Spray.
Tacoma was our next destination. We checked into a motel and spent the next day doing things like laundry, going to the dry cleaners to get Rebekah's coat cleaned because it was stinky from the campfire, getting pictures developed, grocery store shopping, trying to find a camera cable, etc. It was a productive day for the most part!
The next day we went to the Museum of Glass. Here they have an interesting area where you can watch them making things. While we were there, they made a forest green plate with white swirls on the back side, and white on the rim of the plate. It was really fascinating to see how much work went into the process. They also had galleries of items made from glass. This month they were featuring goblets in one of the galleries. I never saw so many different kinds before! In another gallery, they had globes with flowers and other plants inside of them all made out of glass.
There was a beautiful bridge outside the museum, called the Chihuly Bridge of Glass that spans over the freeway below and connects to the University of Washington. It had a display of vases in the first half that glowed with the light. Then there were some funny looking blue bubblegum colored cotton candy looking trees in the middle. On the second half the bridge ceiling was covered in pieces of colored glass of various shapes and sizes that made for an interesting display. Chihuly is from the Tacoma area, and is well known. He designed the ceiling display in the Bellagio in Las Vegas, and many others.
Today we came to Seattle and went up the Space Needle for a look at the city! It was grand! I was excited to see Puget Sound, some ferries, and the city below. Here is a shot of us there!
After such an exhilirating time in space, we went to the Pike Place Market, Now that was a driving experience! The street is for cars and pedestrians alike, and the people wander everywhere! I had such a difficult time trying to manuever into a parking place with people meandering around the front and back of the car as I was moving! But eventually, we parked and became one of the crazy pedestrians ourselves. We had some coffee at the first Starbucks, some delicious Russian piroshkies (a potato, mushroom, and onion, and a beef and cheese), a Turkish "kebob" with chicken, lettuce, tomato, onion, and yogurt sauce all rolled up in a soft, warm pita, and a Turkish spinach and feta cheese pastry. At a French bakery we enjoyed macaroons, a marion berry tart, bought a baguette and a brioche and a croissant for breakfast in the morning. We have plans to head back to the Market tomorrow to do some more food exploring, and see the famous fish throwing!
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