This time we are just across the Columbia River from Astoria, Oregon. This is our first time at Long Beach Preserve. It is just a few miles from Ocean Shores and Seaview, WA, and is on Long Beach Peninsula.
The park is pretty small, with lots of trees. I rains a lot in this part of Washington, but we had a few nice days of weather while we were here. There is a trail down to the beach that we were able to walk or ride our bikes on.
They tore down their clubhouse a year ago and are improvising with this little trailer. We went and watched a move there one night.
They have a really nice pool. It was actually warm enough to swim in, if you didn't get in the hot tub first! The weather was pretty cool--in the 60's--but we hit the hot tub several nights at about 9:00 pm and really enjoyed it It was pretty dark by that time and usually we were the only ones there. Sometimes the stars would be out and sometimes it would be kind of rainy or foggy.
The beach was very close by and we walked on it several times. I went ahead of Terry one day and walked over to this big hill. He stayed behind to look for treasures. Well, I found this lady's purse in the sand. It had been there a while and I noticed that it had a zippered pocket. I was hoping there would be a treasure in it, but it was empty.
Well, I used it to carry my collected seashells in. (The larger brown shells are razor clams that are supposed to taste really good.) I decided to lead Terry on a little. By the time I finished my story, he was convinced there was between $300 and $500 in the zippered pocket. He was really excited, until I finally told him the truth! I am sure he will get even with me!
We thoroughly enjoyed this park because of a wonderful paved path, Discovery Trail, that was about eight miles long. It even went on further on one end, but it was quite a climb and we never made it up the mountain side. Our park was right about in the middle of the trail--three miles one way and five miles the other.
The trail, on one end ,went along the beach and then into the woods. There were trees with leaves and also pine trees on further.
Just on the other side of this bridge there was a very steep hill. We make it up the hill to the highway, but didn't go any further. The trail ended up in the bay town of Ilwaco, where we went through several times on our way to shop and get mail in Astoria.
The other trail (5 miles one way) went the whole way along the beach, past the town of Seaview and to the other side of the town of Long Beach.
It was so nice to ride right along the beach. You could see the ocean most of the time, but sometimes the dunes and seagrass was too high.
When we got closer to Long Beach, there was a boardwalk that was up higher off the ground, so you could walk the 1/4 mile and see the ocean the whole time. We got off the bikes and walked it one day and then turned around and walked back to the bikes.
Along the bike trail there were these unusual bike racks. They would be kind of fun to have in the back yard!
There were several monuments to Lewis and Clark. This one is where they saw and caught their first sturgeon. The statues were all really nice.
This is where a road comes down and crosses over the trail and there is public beach access. There were some nice wind-blocked picnic areas. We saw people there quite often--lots of times flying kites. The wind is usually blowing. They allow vehicles on the beach. One day we saw a pretty good-sized motorhome parked down there. I went and asked the kid in it if he had dug a hole for his back tires to make it level, or if he was stuck! Well, he was waiting for the tow truck! He proceeded to tell me that "she" drove off of the hard sand where "she" shouldn't have! We saw "her" talking on a cell phone on the other side of the road. That is where she stayed the whole time the tow truck was getting them out. It looked like maybe there was a "little problem" there!
While we were at Long Beach, we came up with a brilliant idea to display our Scentsy bars when we sell them. We got peg board from Home Depot, who cut them just the size we wanted, and because they were scrap pieces they gave it to us for $.50! The peg board hangers were $.77 apiece and we needed about 80 of them, so we just used bolts and nuts as hangers. They turned out pretty good!
Then we bought an inexpensive little canopy to help protect from the rain (or sun, if needed) and had a couple of times we set up our wares at the resort. It was lots of fun and we met some really nice people. We even sold some Scentsy products!
One day we took off to look for some lighthouses. Here is the summit close to where the bike path crosses the highway. It would have been quite a climb to get there on our bikes. We did make it up about half way up one day, but decided we didn't want to hurt that much so we turned around!
We could see the bike trial in the grass down below us. Quite a view!
The first lighthouse we found was the North Head Lighthouse. It no longer has a lightkeeper because it is automatic. There is another lighthouse, Cape Disappointment, around the south end of the peninsula, on the mouth of the Columbia River. After Cape Disappointment Lightstation was established in 1856 to mark the entrance to the Columbia River, mariners approaching the river from the north complained they could not see the light until they had nearly reached the river. Their cry for an additional lighthouse was supported by the many shipwrecks, which occurred along the Long Beach Peninsula, just north of the cape. It was lit for the first time on May 16, 1898. Since the light is only two miles north of Cape Disappointment, North Head needed a distinct signature. North Head shone a fixed white light, while Cape Disappointment alternated red and white flashes. North Head is one of the windiest places in the United States. On January 29, 1921, winds were clocked at 126 mph before the instrument blew away. They have frequently been measured at over 100 mph. Perhaps it was the wind, or the long gloomy winter that drove one keeper's wife to her death in 1923. Not being able to take it any more she committed suicide by flinging herself over the precipitous cliffs. On April 19, 1932, the ferocious winds forced a wild duck to fly out of control into the lantern room, crashing through the plate glass and taking out a chip of the lens. The light was automated in 1961 and the last keeper left on July 1, 1961.
So, there is some history I am sure you wanted to know!
At the lighthouse keepers' residence below the North Lighthouse, which are rented out for weekend stays now, we found this friendly porcupine. When I got too close, he backed towards me with all of his quills pointing out!
As we were driving along, we spotted Cape Disappointment Lighthouse. When we stopped at the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center, we found the trail, and after quite a hike, made it to the lighthouse. There was a road leading up part way, but only the Coast Guard could travel on it. It was part of the hike for us.
The Cape Disappointment Lighthouse is still run by a members of the Coast Guard, and there are no tours given. This lighthouse helps prevent many ship wrecks at the mouth of the Columbia River. The lighthouse has continued to watch over the entrance of the Columbia River since it was first lit on October 15, 1856 .
It has a beautiful view of the Pacific Ocean.We had a great time at the Long Beach Preserve. We met some nice Church members, at Church and in the park, and ended up going to a potluck dinner one night and I went to a Women's Conference with some of them in Astoria. We will look forward to going back some day.
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