Don't believe I devoted a post to the Astoria Column. Wow. This one was a whirlwind stop on today's tour. After talking with a couple from Sacramento I decided to head north from Canon and check out the Column. It didn't disappoint
This column is at the top of Astoria as you'll see in a second. Or longer depending on how slowly your Intel Pentium processor works. Remember those? Yeah me neither.
Pano 1:
Pano 2:
Ok so the elderly volunteer told me that the tradition was to throw planes off the top of the column. Me not being one to skimp on tradition, yes I did say that to her, ponied up the $1 to purchase a plane:
....and proceeded to toss it like so:
It was pretty cool watching it float away like that. Being on top of the column produced both fear and exileration. It wasn't as though I thought the tower was going to topple, it was probably more that I would toss my phone instead of the plane or that the wind would catch it and take it over the rail. Oh here are some shots of the spiral staircase. 164 steps I think I heard a kid count...was that kid me?
Another part of the fun was riding to Astoria and leaving Astoria heading back to Portland. Here are some shots of that ride:
Hard to see this one but there are piles and piles of logs. Logging is huge up here
Another great day in Oregon. The landscape and the people didn't disappoint again. I ended up speaking with a guy seemingly in his 30s before the Blazers game. He wasn't going to the game and was just hanging out in the food area the organization had set up. He is from Illinois and moved to Seattle to get away from the business and found seattle to be as busy as Chicago so he moved to Portland. He likes the big city feel and yet the laid back nature of everyone here. I agree with him. I haven't met anyone here that I would characterize as rude or in a hurry. Even driving was a pleasure around the state. I can't help but wonder that people here are a little more laid back because of the natural beauty that surrounds them. I know, for me, when I got back to the hotel, I was on a high from all of the things I had seen and done. Starting with The Falls yesterday and culminating with a whirlwind trip up the coast and back, I saw a TON of natural beauty and experienced wonderful sensations through sight, sound, touch, and smell all the way down in my soul while traversing the Oregon coast and countryside. I'm very thankful for this swing of Tripapalooza 2015. I don't know how Seattle will compete and I'm willing to give it a try.
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