| Made it to Long Beach! | A few years ago, we’d tried to meet up with Tom and Brenda here, but flooding kept them away | But we had another opportunity to vacation there with them, and this time the floods stayed away | Granted, it still rained plenty | But at least it was windy enough for kites | Plenty of sticks on the beach to play with |
| Flying a kite is easy! | Just let Flynn show you how | Teach a boy to write, and he’ll want his name on everything ☺ | Taking stock | The resort had a hot tub by the pool | Thank goodness we got to use it at least once, before the pool heater broke and we couldn’t swim any more |
| Pizza from a most improbable source, a small pizzeria in the State Park parking lot | Happy Birthday Tom! | Walking the path to the lighthouse at Cape Disappointment | It was very wet | We couldn’t help but notice this snail | The hiking path turns into a road (though vehicles can access it only through the adjacent Coast Guard base) |
| Dead Man’s Cove, just below the lighthouse | Not too close to the edge Innaias! ☺ | Flynn and Innaias pause by a no-longer-used utility building being swallowed by nature | Looking northwest from the lighthouse, the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center can be seen | It started raining even harder by the time we got to the lighthouse itself | The black and white tower is part of navigation guides maintained by the Coast Guard |
| Cape Disappointment Lighthouse | At the top of the hill is the other navigation guide | A slug munches a mushroom | Debra and the boys above Dead Man’s Cove | Small, pretty salmonberry flowers | Innaias and Guinness got new kites at the beach, including this butterfly kite Innaias picked out |
| Guinness’s box kite wasn’t up to the winds, and Innaias didn’t have a kite at all | Pete also brought the biplane kite his parents gave him | The kids keep their kites aloft while Tom and Brenda wrestle with the stunt kite | Unfortunately, the winds were actually a bit too strong for the butterfly kite, and the trailing edges gradually tattered | Kites galore! | Tom’s control over the weather was impressive |
| The rain seemed to show up any time he was on the beach | The view from our balcony | Zoomed in a bit | Zoomed even more | Playing in the surf | Innaias explores the beach |
| Not the prettiest beach around what with vehicles driven on the beach, and the brown surf (presumably due to the close shipping lanes) | Pete and Flynn fly their kites together | Flynn keeps an eye on his kite | Eventually, a brace in the kite broke, causing it to list to the side | The biplane soars | Tide is coming in |
| Shivering in the shelter | Rainy weather does make for some dramatic sunsets | Some nights it was too cloudy for a sunset, but some were very nice | Panoramic view from our balcony, raining out over the water | Later that week we visited the North Beach Lighthouse | A meadow just south of the lighthouse was host to a number of foraging deer |
| Keeping an eye on us | Approaching the lighthouse | Steep rocks just north of the lighthouse | The North Beach Lighthouse | In this slightly wider view, a bit of the buildings where the fuel oil was kept can be seen | The beach and breakwaters south of the lighthouse |
| More steep rocks, just below the lighthouse | The wind blowing up the cliff made for fun for the birds | We check in at the lighthouse base | Climbing the steps | The original oil-fueled lamp has since been replaced | One bulb is lit at a time. A spare is rotated into place automatically should the active one burn out. |
| Looking south | More than a half-dozen cameras provide a real-time view of the conditions by the Columbia River entrance | The last flight to the top | Flynn and Guinness make their way back down to the bottom | Architectural plans | The weather improved a bit as we made our way back to the parking lot |
| Tall ones lined up | One last look | These caretaker buildings are now available to rent for the adventurous vacationer | They are apparently quite popular | Even when vehicles aren’t permitted (after April15), people still drive on the beach | A fishing boat makes its way past |
| Kites over the surf | Debra and the boys caught up with the fellow flying the kites | Flynn’s finally worn out | Coming over the Astoria-Megler Bridge, a cruise ship can be seen | Astoria is apparently a popular destination for cruises | An early Coast Guard boat at the Maritime Museum |
| Conditions on the Columbia here are so challenging, the Coast Guard trains intensively here | The museum includes this very well-done, dramatic full-sized diorama of a rescue at sea | The display conveys quite well the hazard and challenge of the water | A cruise ship ferry boat makes its way back, past a freighter | Models of steam engine pistons, and an early riverboat used on the Columbia | Practicing their knots |
| Innaias captains the tug | Fishing boats | Innaias’s “tug boat” (or at least, its bridge) can be seen in the background | A very early gillnet boat | A Coast Guard pier shared temporarily with the cruise ships made for a slightly confusing security blockade | Two different types of security guards, one public access to the lightship, and of course one private access for this cruise ship ferry |
| Heading back to the ship | Ship’s engine | We toured the “lightship” moored near the museum | Interior passageway | Officer’s bunk | There’s a reason they call them “Navy showers” ☺ |
| Wood-grain in the recreation room makes for a homey touch | Facts about lightships, and No. 604 | The kids learn something new | Mess hall | The family crowds through the mess hall hatch | Galley |
| Crew quarters | Debra and the boys pose on the ship | They are a bit easier to find in the close-up ☺ | The Columbia River Maritime Museum | While we were in Astoria, we went ahead to see (and climb the stairs of) the Astoria Column | Some historical information |
| It’s a bit hard to see the murals in the fog, but they are there | There’s a column in there somewhere ☺ | Back on the beach | Guinness’s kite worked quite well in the wind | Debra takes the butterfly for a spin | Guinness picked out a really fun stylized-sun-on-blue design |
| Innaias hanging on for dear life | Dragging the kite down the beach | Came across this squirrel on our way to the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center | Nice to have such cooperative wildlife ☺ | Shell room | The Interpretive Center is built at the site of an old gun emplacement |
| Inside, we can follow the history of Lewis & Clark’s travels to find the mouth of the Columbia | Guinness and Debra | Loading canoes | One of the lenses from the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse | The display even includes a small optical demonstration of how a Fresnel lens works | There were eventually three gun mounts (the circular concrete structure) at this site, before they were finally decommissioned |
| A grain freight ship makes its way past the cape | Cape Disappointment Lighthouse, from the Interpretive Center | The kids enjoy some jumping games | Innaias finds a really big stick | Then uses said stick to draw on the sand | Flynn runs down the beach |
| Debra chases after | Playing in the surf | For now, the rain is staying off-shore | Carry a big stick | Full speed ahead! | Guinness with his sticks |
