Astoria — Blog — The Towering Travelers

I already wrote a little about 2020 in a previous post, As Far West As We Could Go, but it’s been quite a sobering ride. Looking back through photos, it’s bizarre but really nice to see pictures that feel like forever ago when it’s felt like time has been frozen for so long. I’ve been learning to appreciate how lucky we were in 2020, and these photos really back that up.

Right before everything shut down, we had two friends come out to visit us a week apart. Sage and I got tattoos; we went exploring on an island with Martin; we all spent time with Loki before losing him about six weeks later. In the first part of the year, we also spent time at social events without masks, which just looks wrong now.

Family picture with Sage

The initial outline of my tattoo

A man and his stick

A dragon sneaks up during a Chinese New Year celebration

And then, suddenly, none of those things were happening anymore.

A deserted scene in Pike Place Market (photo/Jason Rafal)

We went to Astoria, Oregon and the nearby coast to spend some socially distant time with friends and family a couple times over the year.

We saw a lot of fun and crazy looking plants and animals on our hikes.

We had some wonderful times at lakes.

Paddleboarding on Baker Lake

A sunny morning on Fish Lake

The beautiful view at Picture Lake

Lily Lake in the snow

We also spend some beautiful times at the coast (and sound).

A sunset at Cape Disappointment

Dramatic mountain views from the Dungeness Spit

Riding the ferry back to Seattle from Bainbridge at sunset

Looking out over Samish Bay

A paraglider at the Samish Overlook

I am running out of categories, so here are some random photos from hikes in 2020.

Of course, I have to include some photos of our amazing view of Seattle, especially since we will be leaving this apartment soon. Please enjoy a sunrise, a few pictures of the moon (one with a bonus firework), and a picture of the awful air quality during the late summer fires.

Thanks for following along with this year’s adventures in the Pacific Northwest. It’s been a really rough year in a lot of ways, but we’re grateful to have spent it together in this beautiful place. Hopefully we’ll get to see some of you in person in 2021.

For Memorial Day weekend, we went to the riverside town of Astoria, Oregon, which is famous for being where Lewis and Clark spent a miserable winter after finally reaching the Pacific. It’s an old town that is not so slowly becoming a favorite of Portland dwellers and hipsters, and it’s quickly gentrifying as the old houses and shops are remodeled and repurposed. Nicole’s grandparents bought an old house and are slowly doing some restoration.

The grand Liberty Theatre (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The riverfront is very scenic, with Washington visible across the Columbia River and massive container ships frequently passing below the bridge on their way to and from the ocean. Wooden supports, remnants of a long-ago burned pier that are now covered in algae, line much of the Astoria Riverwalk.

A very large, very orange cargo ship heading out to sea (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The remains of something that might be a boiler (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After arriving in town and getting some food, Jason and I headed to the Astoria Column, which I saw from outside the restaurant and set my heart on visiting. The Astoria Column is a significant tower on top of a hill that overlooks the town of Astoria, the Colombia and Youngs Rivers, and the dense green forest to the east. It’s an incredible 360-degree view. We hiked up through the dense, green forest from the community college to climb the tower, and then made our way back to the house along the top of the ridgeline.

Nicole is confused by some sticks at the start of the trail (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The view of Astoria and the Columbia River from the Column (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The forest beyond the city (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The Astoria-Megler Bridge at sunset (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A large private garden that has welcomed the community to spend time there (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Although Astoria is not actually on the ocean, it’s very close, and we had to go to the beach while we were there. We went to Fort Stevens, which had a lot of civil war memorabilia and education in honor of Memorial Day. We greeted the horses and the educators before walking through the forest to the beach.

A typical Civil War-era scene. With a stroller behind it. (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Martha discusses the horses with one of the educators (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Portrait of a mustang (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Surveying the landscape (Photo/Nicole Harrison)

Walking out onto the beach (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The view from the jetty (Photo/Jason Rafal)

On Sunday night, after a delicious seafood dinner, Jason, Nicole, and Eric went to the Fort George Brewery to see live music and eat dessert. The band, All Our Exes Live in Texas, was composed of four women from Australia who turned out to be great folk artists who were, for some reason, stopping at a brewery to play at the start of their U.S. tour. The brewery was packed, the music was lively, and the musicians even sang happy birthday to one of the children dancing in front of the stage. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

A sign from above (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A jumble of reflections (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The band (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After the music was over and the dessert consumed, we walked back to the house through the city streets and the hillside passageways that allowed pedestrians to walk up and down between the houses. We took about 6 of these passageways while we were in town, but we definitely got the feeling that there were more of these secret paths than we could find in a week.