FTJ, Entry 105: The Longest Beach -- and the Biggest Fry Pan

For this stop, we stayed with the lovely people at Andersen's on the Ocean RV Park. "The end of the world," as they described it. And it seemed like it. No cell service, no internet service, some cable TV. And the longest beach in the world. With a boardwalk to match.

We stayed two nights, and fully enjoyed our trek out to Cape Disappointment (the Columbia River Bar is off this point), and to Astoria, OR, to visit the Columbia River Maritime Museum. Still, the sooner we leave the PacWest area, the better for me. Talk about remote.

The path to the beach from Andersen's RV Park. Beau said I should make sure the caption said he was holding a plastic bag of dog poop here.

The beach lived up to its billing. Big, wide, and long long long. Twenty-eight miles of it.

 

Check out the boardwalk. It is huge.

I was surprised to learn that Lewis and Clark explored Long Beach, in November 1805 -- the northernmost point the excursion traveled while in Washington. 

A trip out to Cape Disappointment was on Beau's wish list, so off we went. And while we did not get to the tip of the cape, we viewed the famous light from Waikiki Beach (the name? don't ask me why -- have no clue). The light stands watch over one of the most treacherous areas for ship navigation in the world -- the Columbia River Bar. Known as the "graveyard of the Pacific," it is estimated that more than 2,000 ships have been lost there.

"Mere description can give but little idea of the terrors of the bar of the Columbia; all who have seen it have spoken of the wilderness of the ocean and the incessant roar of the waters, representing it as one of the most fearful sights that can possibly meet the eye of the sailor." -- Commander Wilkes, U.S. Navy, c. 1860

The Cape Disappointment Light is in the background.

This odd bug thought Beau was a big flower, perhaps.

To help ships navigate the hazards of the bar, specially trained pilots are taken out to meet incoming vessels. Transported in good weather and bad, the pilots have to make a dangerous transfer from one small rocking boat via a ladder sent down the side of a much larger rocking ship. Yikes.

We learned a lot about the Bar, these pilots, and shipwrecks when we went to Astoria, OR, to visit the Columbia River Maritime Museum. I was not all that excited about the museum -- until I got there. I have to admit it is one of the most elegant, beautiful, and informative museums I have ever seen.

The first thing you notice when you enter the museum is an entire wall map dedicated to showing the myriad shipwrecks all along the bar. Some 700 people who have lost their lives in these are memorialized on the opposite wall.

Then an introductory film shows you frightening images of the fierce wind and waves, and clips showing how pilots risk their lives during incredible winter storms to help guide ships safely through the bar.

This bridge took us over to Astoria. It was immense. Washington is on the right.

The museum includes the lightship (a floating light house) Columbia. We did a tour of her. The quarters were not half bad, actually. Men lived aboard two weeks at a time.

A 41-foot Coast Guard rescue boat in action at the museum.
It is mounted at a 40-degree angle for dramatic effect.

This display is the actual very first 41-footer ever manufactured. It served on active duty for 34 years. In one incident in the harbor, a huge oil tanker had broken loose from its moorings during a storm, and drifted into the dock where ol' # 43000 was tied up, and ran right over it, submerging it completely under the tanker's hull, dock wreckage, etc. Once the tanker was hauled off it, the Coast Guard ship popped up and righted itself, none the worse off except for a few dents, dings, and scrapes. It served another 14 years before being retired.

And of Course, the Oddities...

A roadside oddity -- downtown Long Beach's Marsh's Museum.

Laura in five years. One year? Now?

Jake the Alligator Man, a shrunken head,  a two-headed calf, all the usual unusuals.

Then there was the fry pan in the middle of town. YAY. I never found the biggest ball of string (that's in Missouri), but this assuages my disappointment a bit.

Our next stop, Forks, Washington. (That one was quite a surprise. Makes Long Beach look like New York City.) This stop resulted in the creation of a new acronym: GMOOH, standing for "get me out of here."  More to come.

Tanks, Panky

PS - I am trying to cut back on the overuse of explanation marks. My new pal Lori hates them and she is so right. I reviewed some of the old postings and the !!! all over are so annoying. Gads. You always need an editor. Now I have to work on cutting back the boldface and italics. Who said you can't teach and old dog new tricks? Woof.