Today we went about 2 hours down the highway though heavy rain to Lincoln City Oregon. We arrived at a campsite on the Siletz River, just south of Lincoln City.
Our campsite on the river
The above photo I took from this dock.
Some views near the mouth of the Siletz River. Notice the rain let up as we arrived to camp.
This afternoon we went to the Air Museum in an old WW2 blimp hanger.
Length: 1,072 feet
Height: 192 feet
(over 15 stories)
Width: 296 feet
Area: Over 7 acres
(enough to play six football games)
Doors: 120 ft. high,
6 sections each weighing 30 tons.
220 ft. wide opening. The sections roll on railroad tracks
Catwalks: 2 catwalks, each 137 ft. above the hangar deck
In 1942, the U.S. Navy began construction of 17 wooden hangars to house the K-class blimps being used for anti-submarine coast patrol and convoy escort. Two of these hangars were built at the Naval Air Station Tilllamook, commissioned in December 1942 to serve the Oregon-Washington coastal area.
Construction of the two hangars was rushed to completion. Hangar "B" was the first one built and was completed in August of 1943. Hangar "A" which was destroyed in a 1992 fire, was completed in only 27 days. Amazingly, there were no serious injuries or deaths on the whole project.
Stationed at NAS Tillamook was Squadron ZP-33 with a complement of eight K-ships. The K-ships were 252 feet long and filled with 425,000 cu. ft. of helium. With a range of 2,000 miles and an ability to stay aloft for three days, they were well suited for coast patrol and convoy escort. Naval Air Station Tillamook was decommissioned in 1948.
Since 1994 the remaining hangar has been home to one of the top five privately owned aircraft collections in the nation.
Some of the sights.
This WW2 airship hanger held Class K Blimps
WW2 photo.
Some of these planes are kept in flying condition at the mouth of this hanger.
This morning we are off to Tillamook.
First Stop the Cheese Factory.
The story of the ‘Morning Star Logo’
In 1855, Tillamook pioneers launched their own ship, Morning Star of Tillamook. It was used to help establish a market in Portland and Astoria for goods from Tillamook County, Including butter. In 1966, TCCA redesigned its packaging to incorporate a rendition of the Morning Star. This made it easier for customers to identify genuine Tillamook cheese. Today, the Morning Star logo is tll on the package and a replica stands in the front of the plant.
Production line busy cutting the cheese and vacuum sealing.
We sampled cheese then had lunch at the factory.
Next stop the Air Museum.
After Cannon Beach we are off to Ecola State Park just north of the town.
Rain and fog was most of what we saw.
We hoped to walk to Tillamook Rock Lighthouse viewpoint but it was too cold and too windy!!!!!
Photo of the lighthouse from the web.
Today the lighthouse is converted into the Eternity at Sea Columbarium.
First Blue and I started the day with a walk to the river side of Nehalem Bay State park for the morning walk and a view of the Bay and Nehalem River.
Still raining we take a trip to Cannon Beach. ( 5th day of rain)
Views on the way.
Cannon Beach photos.
We walked the main street at Cannon Beach for a few hours then had a seafood lunch at a local café.
How Cannon Beach got its name:
In 1846, a cannon from the US Navy schooner Shark washed ashore just north of Arch Cape, a few miles to the south of the community. The schooner hit land while attempting to cross the Columbia Bar, also known as the "Graveyard of the Pacific." The cannon, rediscovered in 1898, eventually inspired a name change for the growing community. In 1922, Elk Creek was redubbed Cannon Beach (after the name of the beach that extends south of Ecola creek for eight miles, ending at Arch Cape) at the insistence of the Post Office Department because the name was frequently confused with Eola. Elk Creek itself was renamed Ecola Creek to honor William Clark's original name.[8]
The forecast is for rain and more rain for the next few days so we decided to move 40 miles south for a change of scenery.
The road trip was uneventful with beautiful views.
We arived at Nehelem Bay State park just before the heavy rain started.
On the way to the beach Blue and I came across a deer.
The ocean is just over the sand on one side and river is on the other side.
Ocean views.
The Captain George Flavel House Museum, known also as Capt. George Flavel House and Carriage House[2] or the Flavel Mansion,[3][4] is now a house museum in Astoria, Oregon, United States. It was built in 1885 in the Queen Anne architectural style, by George Flavel, a Columbia River bar pilot who was one of the area's first millionaires.[5]
The house and its carriage house were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.[1] The house is owned and operated by the Clatsop County Historical Society.
The museum is well known to fans of the film The Goonies, which was filmed in Astoria. It is featured as the museum where Mikey's father works as a curator
This is a great old Victorian home. The house is the retirement home and is huge, 11,000 square feet.
The house was very dark inside so the photos are few and poor.
The music room.
This morning we are off to the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria.
From Wikipedia:
The Columbia River Maritime Museum is a museum of maritime history located about ten miles (16 km) from the mouth of the Columbia River in Astoria, Oregon
The museum's 40th anniversary and a $6 million remodeling and expansion project were celebrated May 11, 2002. The renovation increased exhibit space to 44,200 square feet (4,110 m2) and now houses interactive historical exhibits and museum acquisitions. Visitors may experience what it is like to pilot a tugboat, participate in a Coast Guard rescue on the Columbia River Bar, and live in Astoria during the height of salmon fishing. Huge windows make the Columbia River a living backdrop for exhibits that are interactive and touchable, many accompanied by interviews with people involved in the events depicted.
The Columbia River Maritime Museum collects and exhibits maritime artifacts from the Columbia River and the Pacific Northwest. The Museum’s all-donation collection exceeds 30,000 objects, 20,000 photographs, and a 10,000-volume research library
The museum started off with all the shipwrecks at the mouth of the Columbia.
Then displays of the boats that fished the Columbia River.
The traditional Native log canoe.
Coast Guard ships.
The steamboat era.
From the museum’s view of the river.
A 70 hp Marine engine.
Many examples of scrimshaw.
This is a great museum, very well done!!!!
