Fort Stevens

We arrived at the bridge crossing the Columbia River with rain so thick it seemed quite dark and late at night although I think it was only about 6 pm. Headed from Astoria over a second bridge out to the Fort Stevens State Park and found a great campsite there. By now it was very dark. Settled in, again tarping our leaky skylight, and had a late supper of, you guessed it! Delicious halibut!

Fort Stevens  - Saturday, Sept.18

What a wonderful state park. $27 per day gets you a very large campsite, with washrooms and fine showers. I unloaded the scooter and the bike and headed out to explore a bit while the sun was poking through the endless sky of cloud cover. The ocean-beach adjacent to the park seems endless. The endless sands make it a most beautiful place to walk, bike and run. However, we made the mistake of having a late breakfast. By the time breakfast was over, the rain had started again.

The rain here seems to come in waves. There will be moments when it is coming down in sheets and then it almost stops for a period and then starts pouring all over again. During one of these “dry” interludes, I decided to head out and purchase a few groceries. After taking shelter at a garage sale, I made the 8 mile trip to Fred Meyer. My visit there was somewhat extended by another tropical downpour, but within ½ hour I was on my way back to Rita and Ade.

Ade had taken a small rain respite to take her bike for a ride to the seaside. She was also impressed by the beautiful beach, and the remains of a 100 year old British shipwreck that lay on the beach area.  Although any resemblance to a ship had long since disappeared, the 20 x 30 ft section of metal hull pieces certainly commanded a presence on the pristine beach area.

After a late lunch, we spent the rest of the day cocooned up in Rita, each reading a book and listening to music—although not exciting, it was a relaxing and restful day where we could charge up our batteries for our adventure ahead.

Before we left, we visited the fort which has the distinction of being well over one hundred years old and never having fired a shoot at an enemy vessel.  However, in 1944 it was fired on by a Japanese submarine.  The Japanese fired a numbered of rounds, but since the fort never returned a volley (perhaps due to the fact that this was such a new experience, they really were not prepared for it!), the Japanese decided to leave the area and continue on their way.  It is thought that because the Americans did not return their fire, the Japanese may have thought that the fort was abandoned, so they moved on!