Last Journey of Summertime

It was a very busy end to summer

and autumn is off to a busy start too--

thanks to a dream of mine that came true not too long ago:)

(thank you God)

 

But that dream-come-true is not the subject of today's post.

Instead the last crazy, busy days of summer--

or at least ONE of those last crazy, busy days of summer is!

 

It all started with a busy evening and early morning on the Internet-

which was followed by a wonderful, but sometimes chilly day in one of my favorite coastal areas

where we enjoyed the best fish and chips EVER at Bowpicker

(nom, nom--yum, yum)

and found this little guy:)

 

 

We ate it (no, not the little guy) on a bench overlooking the Columbia River

from where we could see the huge Astoria-Megler Bridge

(I have a love-hate relationship with this bridge.

Love to take photos of it; HATE to cross it--so I don't anymore)

 

 

the state of Washington

(right across the river from us),

the river traffic

(always fun to watch)

and more!

I ADORE Astoria!!!

 

 And, of course, since we were so close--

we had to make one of my favorite side trips a bit to the east to the island....

 

There is just something about this place that draws me in and captivates me--

and being the very determined genealogist I am,

 led me to hours and hours of research on the Internet till I solved the mystery of how it came to be.

 

Of course, since we were already in the area another stop was called for...

unfortunately no eagles were in sight though!

However, further west we found lots of singing sea lions

(I have the video to prove it).

And, we did have to stop at my favorite Scandinavian bakery to get some

fattigmann and Finnish pinwheels (tarts)--Mmm!

They were yummy--down to the very last one:)

 

Out to Fort Stevens where my granddaughter and a my best friend's grandson took some time to run

and play in and around the wreck of the Peter Iredale.

(grounded in 1906 with NO lost of lives thankfully--although I found out from the Park Ranger two lives were lost later on from people who were trying to do salvage work there).

 

The beach was actually warmer then the place we had lunch at,

and I had a great time talking to the Park Ranger and seeing some AWESOME photos of the ship after a storm that unearthed a huge amount of the ship. I had no idea how much of the ship is buried under the sand--amazing!

I have such good memories from time spent on this very same beach and it is so much fun to see my grandkids playing in the same area my family once played at:)

 

Life is such a precious gift don't you think?

 

 

What a beautiful world we live in!

 

 

And we're just at the beginning of autumn--

one of my favorite times to explore that beautiful world!

 

What's happening at your place?

 

Blessings,

Aimee

 

Photos:

September 2013.

Taken at various locations in and around Astoria, Oregon and the northern coast range.

 

Notes:

Just getting back into a semi-normal routine (LOL) so am still playing catch up.

Wish me luck:)