Astoria Revisited!

I can't believe it has been a month already since my Hubby and I went on our Anniversary trip to Astoria, Oregon. To read the post about where we stayed click HERE :)

On the Friday drive over to the coast the weather was glorious, one of those beautiful Spring days where you feel so alive and truly grateful to live in the NorthWest. But, on the Saturday morning we woke to this! (below)

"A Bridge to Nowhere" (the Astoria Bridge, shot taken from the Oregon side looking at the Washington side of the Columbia River.)

The North Head Lighthouse at Cape Disappointment, WA. ( see sunnier photos and more info HERE :)

It was a pretty bleak day and looking at the surf and rocks and mist below the Lighthouse you can understand why it is called "The Graveyard of the Pacific"

"Almost 2,000 vessels of all types and about 700 lives have been claimed by the treacherous waters off the Peninsula over the past 300 years." (from Long Beach Peninsula Visitor's Bureau)

These Fishermen certainly experienced the Surf first hand!

This Juvenile Seagull was looking at me like "Are you going to Feed me or What?" (Click on the photo for a larger image and see how wet those little feathers really are :(

We saw lots of these big Ships passing our Hotel, I love Ships! (I really think I must have been a Pirate Wench in a past life) (He! He! Dream on!)

Then, on the Sunday we awoke to blue Skies and Sunshine! (a typical Spring weekend weather pattern here in the N.W.)

We went to visit the Astoria Column.

The Scenes painted on the Column depict the history of the local area. From Native Americans thru Lewis and Clark's adventures and the coming of the railroads.

It is a beautiful Pictorial lesson in local History. (If you look closely on the right of the photo you can see one of the little wood gliders they sell at the gift shop for people to launch off the top of the column, such fun :)

Astoria Bridge from the Column.

One of the period homes in Astoria, this one sadly neglected but eerie and stunningly Beautiful in the state it finds itself. But there are many beautifully preserved too! (See HERE :)

Crab Pots at the Port of Ilwaco.

Colourful Fishing Floats.

This photo (2010) is of The Wreckage of the Peter Iredale grounded in 1906 on the Oregon coast.

I hope you enjoy reading about some of Oregon's history and it's beauty. We who live here really love it and I think we even enjoy complaining about the rain :) But we do have beautiful sunny days too :)

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.

Dawn Glow.

I woke up early the other morning and this is what I saw :)

I was so blown away, I had to drag myself out of bed to snap these photos before this beautiful glow disappeared and it did very quickly. (Of course, I fell back into bed and went straight back to sleep :)

As rain is predicted all week and it was very intense yesterday, I had to go and take a look at these shots to help me remember what a clear morning looks like.

Have you noticed that I blog a lot about the weather; I read recently that people use the weather in conversation as an ice breaker. Oops! Sorry about the luke warm pun :)

Anyway, I am not sure I agree with that statement but I do know that the weather is a huge part of our lives and especially for me it can sometimes either make or break the day :)

How about you?

Hope you are having a wonderful Monday!

Happy Painting/Creating! :) T.