Astoria, Oregon

When I was a little kid the Astoria Clowns would always march (aka ride bikes and drive clown cars) in our local parade. The clowns were a bit on the creepy looking side but they always intrigued me-- maybe that is why I went to clown school as a teenager. Cool creepy clowns and The Goonies naturally made me want to visit Astoria, Oregon.

On our way back from climbing Mount St. Helens we decided to take a little bit of a scenic route back so we could make a special stop to...drum roll...Astoria!

Our first stop was a church yard sale and barbeque. We didn't find anything at the yard sale but we did manage to snag ourselves some lunch and directions to The Goonies house.

We also saw the school where the movie Kindergarten Cop was filmed. I've never seen the movie, but Andy has-- he was excited!

We talked with some locals and they suggested we see the Astoria Column and Fort Clatsop.

We didn't have the slightest idea what the Astoria Column was but decided that since multiple people recommended it we better check it out, boy were we in for a treat. The Astoria Column is a 125 foot column. We learned very quickly that climbing up and down a flight of 164 stairs is a painful process after climbing a mountain.

On top of the Astoria Column-- we look pretty good having not showered in 4 days.

Inside the column is a spiral staircase that takes you up to the top. From the top you get a 360 degree view and you can throw planes off the top. Andy enjoyed throwing his plane off the top and watching it sail across the street. I made the mistake of looking straight down, that fear of falling gets me every time.

Our final stop was Fort Clatsop, this is where Lewis and Clark were said to have wintered. We really enjoyed walking on the trails and learning a little bit more about history.

We hope to make another trip to Astoria someday so we can visit some of the museums, there are a lot of museums in Astoria.