Oregon

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Geo: 46.1881, -123.83

This morning we both slept-in a bit. It was great. I laid in bed awake but watching the ocean roll by for a long time. I finally got-up around 8:00am but Kamie refused so I left him sleeping while I went to check-out more of the ship. I decided to walk the outer deck 3 which goes all the way round the ship – 3 laps is a mile I think. There were several others walking and it was windy and cool and fantastic. It was a great way to start the day. The shops opened at 9am and I decided to see if there were any sales. I still haven't decided whether I'm going to get that "I wish I was on a dam ship" mug or not. It would be a pain in the arss to get home safely and I'm not sure I can have it at work which is where I would probably drink hot chocolate from it and I don't need it and really… do I NEED any of the junk I lug home on vacation?? I'm pretty sure the “Sea Lion Poop” I purchased today is a necessity. I browsed the photo deck for our embarkation photo but it was MIA. I finally went to back to our cabin and Kamie was still snoring so I snuggled in next to him for another hour. Gosh it's great being lazy on vacation. We finally got presentable as we were getting ready to sail into Astoria, Oregon. It was sunny and beautiful outside. We sat on our balcony and watched our boat slowly slide into Astoria and do a complete docking, then we grabbed our ship cards and walked down to the debarkation deck. Can you believe there was hardly anyone down there?? We were the fifth and sixth people off the boat today! That's so insane. Holland America offered three excursions in Astoria, Oregon and they all seemed boring. We decided to walk through their local tiny market, then we hopped on an open-air trolley which took us to their maritime museum and downtown. The trolley was fun and gave us some good Astoria history. It was gorgeous out today – probably high-60s and sunny. The Maritime Museum is a good way to spend an hour or two. The Coast Guard trains here in Astoria -- it is where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean which is nicknamed the Pacific Graveyard -- the deadliest place on Earth for ships. We also learned the Coast Guard saves approximately 600 lives per year. Visiting the Maritime Museum was interesting and we both enjoyed the interactive exhibits and videos. Maybe we are the old ones now? After the museum visit we walked down the main area of town and through some of the outdoor markets. Astoria, from a distance, is a beautiful coastal town but up close it's just an old small town with a slow economy. Kamie said it was like Willow Springs but really it's closer to the size of Houston, MO. The locals were incredibly nice and had setup “Cruise Hosts” all around town – wearing blue jackets – thanking us for visiting their town and offering directions, etc. I get the feeling that not many ships stop in Astoria very often. It's no wonder. There really isn't a lot to do but the maritime museum made it worth it for us. I'm glad we stopped here as we both can now say we have visited Oregon but Astoria really doesn't have much to offer and if we had a longer day in port, I would have preferred a trip inland to Portland.

Many people will ask if we went to see the Goonies house. This is a sad subject with locals. The thing is, we met a couple from Kansas City, Missouri while we were in Vancouver and had a nice chat with them one evening. They had visited Portland the week prior and had driven an hour out of their way just to see the Goonies house and they were not allowed to see it. Today, we again mentioned it to one of the Cruise Hosts in Astoria and she said “that poor woman who lives there.” Apparently, after the Goonies movie people from all over started coming to see the house and tore-up the road and there is an old woman who lives there alone and the house is practically condemned now and half-tented. Frankly, someone just needs to pay her to move to a good home and turn that house into a tourist attraction because so many people keep wanting to see The Goonies House. I have to admit, Kamie had a long talk with our fellow Missourians about Goonies and I just smiled. I have no idea what Goonies are and I don't care. lol

So, we purchased our obligatory t-shirt from Oregon, got some homemade toffee i.e. “squirrel food” they were selling at the dock, took a few pictures of our beautiful ship – the Holland America Oosterdam – and we were back onboard before the 6:30pm leave time. We walked around the ship, checked-out the dinner menu (I was not impressed but I don't necessarily like fru-fru food), and we decided to order room service. We were asleep by 9pm probably. Maybe these old people are on to something…

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Photos

An old lighthouse reflector
This looks like something that would be on an episode of Dr. Who

Dinner
Dessert tonight was blueberry crisp with ice cream for me and "Alaska Fudge Sundae" for Kamie which was butter pecan ice cream, nuts, whip cream and butterscotch

Comments

[kari]

Whoa I started to get nervous when u said u snuggled up to Kamie....I was afraid I would blush...u r blogs r always a hoot...

[i.d.k.]

You crack me up Kari! I have loved all your comments!! :-)