Astoria Column

New-to-us port #65.

After the pilot was air-dropped onto Insignia this morning, we made our way up the Columbia River to our last port of call before the world cruise comes to an end in San Francisco. The river was socked in by fog, so no scenic views to enjoy.

The day was, in fact, mostly overcast with on and off drizzly rain … especially when we gained some elevation in our quest to see the Astoria Column. Around mid-afternoon the skies brightened quite a bit while we were walking back to Insignia.

The first item on our agenda today was to go to the post office to ship a few odd-shaped boxes instead of dealing with them ourselves on the flight back home. To that end, as soon as we completed the immigration process by meeting with the US CBP officials who came aboard the ship, we hopped on the shuttle and went into town. As luck would have it, the post office was just two short blocks from the shuttle drop off location. Even better, we were the only ones at the post office so we didn’t have to queue up.

Then we went off to do a little exploring. Although this is a new-to-us port, we had already decided to leave the real sightseeing for when we return to Oregon in our RV. That’s not to say we did nothing. We walked along the riverfront for a bit, then climbed up to the top of the hill where the Astoria Column sits.

The concrete column was built in 1926 to “celebrate the discovery, exploration, and settlement of the West.” Over the years, it has been painted with scenes depicting the history of the area from before the explorers arrived to when the railroad was built. It is 125 feet high. Climbing to the top is free if you are willing to tackle the 164 steps it takes to do so. We were willing, but the scenery lay below the cloud layer, and everything was shrouded, so we decided to leave that for next time.

12,000 steps later, we were back down at the river level. We were starving after all the cardio exercise we got climbing up to the top of the hill. We figured we had earned a meal at the all-day breakfast place — Pig ‘n Pancake — which came highly recommended by our friend CD Ray. Mui was delighted with his Dungeness crab omelette and I enjoyed the sourdough pecan pancakes … the fluffiest I have ever eaten.

We returned to the ship on foot to burn off some of the calories 😉Read more