CAMPING AT FORT STEVENS

In July we went camping at Fort Stevens, up by Astoria, Oregon.  The old fort has a long history in Oregon dating back to the Civil War era.  This is also an area where Lewis and Clark made a stop as well.  It was added upon during WW1 and WW2 for protection on the upper coast.  Growing up in Oregon my family would often come here for our camping vacations.  Now I still love coming here - so many hiking/cycling trails, the beach and the camping area is just beautiful.  I also love Astoria - a very old, lovely town built on the hillside.  We went camping with our friends the Bakers.

View of Astoria.  Bridge crosses the Columbia River to Washington.

The Bakers - Larry and Chris.  There is this tower in Astoria that is located on top of the hill that Astoria is built upon,  After the long climb to get to the top, there is just a beautiful view of the ocean, the Columbia River, Astoria and East.  Just gorgeous.  At the gift shop you can purchase these really inexpensive cardboard-like airplanes that you take to the top of the tower and toss off to see how far your airplace can fly!  It is really fun and amazing how far some of these planes can go if the air current is just right.  Yes, I guess is does pollute in some ways, but unless the plane goes into the woods, people below are always picking up the planes they find and using them themselves - so there is a form of recycling!!  Besides, they are biodegradable !!

It's a bit windy at the top!!

The stairwell to the top of the tower

Fort Stevens will often have civil war re-enactments and they are quite popular.  This weekend, there was a small camp of people representing the Revolutionary War.  I just love it ... they demonstrate the type of rifles used, how they cooked, camped, and a little history.  Recognize the "Don't Tread On Me" flag???  This flag is often used as a symbol for the Project 912 organization today.  If you don't know what the 912 is then go to Project912.com and read more about it!!