A pilgrimage of sorts.....

If you were anywhere from 6 years old to 36 in 1985 and self aware you will more than likely  remember this iconic film location.  What film was this home featured in?  The answer will follow later in this post.

After a couple of days of just watching the Olympics (Sunday and Monday), and generally taking it easy we decided to do a short 100 mile loop up to Astoria on HWY 202 to HWY 30 along the Columbia River to HWY 47 and back to HWY 202.  We had the wheels of the T'Bird rolling by 10am, and enjoyed a nice drive up 202 into Astoria.....except for the 15 minute wait we had while a flat bed tow truck pulled a GMC truck back on to the road where it had gone offroad down the hillside a short distance.  Ultimately it took a second vehicle, a Ford F250 4X4 to assist the tow truck and the deed was finally done.  

 You can see the miscreant truck on the left

The traffic backup

Our first stop in Astoria was Bikes and Beyond.....a very nice local bike shop (LBS) that we had occasion to use about 4 years ago when we were up in this area with our tandem.  Driving through a parking lot in our old Class C motorhome wiith the tandem on the back the rear wheel had caught the bumper of a pickup and had been, as they say, taco'd.....it literally looked like a taco shell.  I took the rear wheel to this amazing bike shop thinking they would have to build me a new wheel, but, to my amazement, they resurrected it from near death....in fact it was truer than it had been prior to my unfortunate parking lot navigational endeavor.  Today we wanted to look at bike racks that might fit on the trunk of our car, but after trying several we determined none would work.  We agreed along with the bike guy that we need to have a class 2 receiver hitch installed on the T'Bird so we can carry the bikes using a bike rack that will slip into the receiver hitch.

As we were leaving the bike shop Elaine noticed a cool little coffee shop called Astoria Coffeehouse and Bistro right next door and we decided to get a cup and decide where to go next.  

A side note.....you have noticed by now that TLE has changed her hair length considerably.  I like it, and I know it will be much easier for her to take care of it, especially when we start our season of labor at Amazon.com in a couple of months.

TLE's new hairdo

Any way, we decided to continue east on HWY 30, and that is what we started to do when we saw the Columbia River Maritime Museum, and decided on a whim to stop and take a look.  Talk about serendipity!  We spent and hour and a half there, and loved every minute of the experience.

 Coast Guard rescue vessel in use until the 70's

 Old style fishing boat

After taking a tour of the maritime musuem ($12 per adult under 65) we again attempted to escape the vortex of Astoria and head east on HWY 30 when I saw a sign for the Rogue Public House.  We have been to the Rogue Brewery in Newport, OR a couple of times, and love their beer and food, so after looking at the time and seeing that it was after 1pm I once again decided to take advantage of serendipity.  The Rogue Public House is in an old cannery building, which houses several other eating establishments, and you must drive out to the old cannery on an old wood planked pier.....very, very cool.

That is Washington across the Columbia River

I had a pint (I was the driver this day) of Shakespear Oatmeal Stout (chased with a Kobe beef 1/2 bleu cheese burger) and TLE had a couple of pints of Chatoe Rogue Dirtoir Black Lager (chased with a Ruben).  A great lunch with great views of the Columbia River.

Now, one more time we set out to escape the gravitational pull of this cool little town when we see a sign for the "Goonies" house......Goonies was a 1985 film about young kids who discover treasure and have an unlikely adventure.  My kids love, and I use the present tense, and so do we, so how could we not go and visit this iconic house?  Surprisingly we were only two of dozens of people paying homage to this famous house on the hill.  As we walked up the short driveway we exchanged knowing glances with other adults walking back down the hill.  This is the view of the Astoria-Megler Bridge from the Goonie house.  Ironically, most of the movie's later scenes were filmed in, and around Cannon Beach.....about 30 miles south of Astoria.

At last we headed east on HWY 30, and just kept going this time....lol.  The drive out to Clatskanie where we turned on to HWY 47 and began an immediate climb into the Clatsop State Forest.

The drive gave up great views at every turn.  Before we knew it we were back in Jewell, where we started, and had big grins on our collective faces.  What a great day of site seeing, and serendipity.

Thanks for stopping by!