Astoria

We had a cold and very wet day to visit Astoria, but most of our 4-hour excursion time was spent on the bus which was good. Our excursion headed down the coast to two resort towns, SeaSide and Cannon beach.  So we did not see much of Astoria.  We had a very good tour guide who kept it interesting during the 30 minute bus rides. 

Our first stop was the town of SeaSide, OR. We had 45 minutes to walk around so we headed for the Promenade (a 3 mile along walkway along the beach) and took a few pictures of the very wide beach (see picture on the left).  The sand on the beach was extremely firm so I hardly left a footprint as I walked on it. The beach was so hard that our guide said it was quite safe to drive cars on it!  You can also see the large waves that were crashing onto the beach on the picture on the right.  We then did some shopping before heading back to the bus.  

Next was Cannon Beach, where we had a short stop to take pictures of Haystack Rock, a large volcanic rock that was pushed up from under the earth. It is accompanied by two smaller rocks known locally as the Needles. If you zoom into the picture on then right you can see some very tiny people to show how big this object really is! We then moved into town where we were dropped off for lunch and shopping.  By this time, the rain had pretty much stopped.  Mary and I enjoyed delicious bowls of clam chowder at a local restaurant, followed by a chocolate and marshmallow dessert crepe. The bus ride back to the ship was uneventful. 

Mary had a special treat at dinner this evening!  Floating Islands, her favorite princess dessert was on the menu!

Tomorrow we sail to Victoria.  No special activities planned, but since we are the first cruise ship to visit Canada (Victoria or Vancouver) we are being treated to a special indigenous peoples welcome.