Killian was learning a lot about Lewis and Clark and the Oregon trail at the end of the school year, and one of the places they talked about was Fort Clatsop. Killian excitedly told me it was here in Oregon, and when we looked it up online I realized that I had gone there years ago on a school field trip, I was probably about the same age as Killian when I went. I remembered it as a really neat place, so Killian and I made a deal that we would take a trip there this summer.
About a week ago I realized that summer was quickly coming to an end, and that we still hadn't made it out to the coast to check the fort out. Shoot! Luckily, Matthew arranged to take today off so I could make good on my promise of getting there before school started again.
We decided to make a long day of it and stop at a couple other places along the way. Neither the kids nor Matthew had ever been to Astoria Column before, so that was our first stop. I don't really know the history of the place or why it was built, but its basically a huge 125 foot tall column up on a hill overlooking the little coast town of Astoria:
It is painted with really intricate pictures of the history of Oregon and its settlers, and it's really very pretty:
Its also very high up at the top! There are 164 steps from the bottom to the top in a very tight and narrow little stairway. I started to get a tiny bit claustrophobic, but luckily we made it to the top pretty quickly. It was beautiful up there - we could see for miles!
The town of Astoria is behind Matthew and the kids in this picture:
Me and the kids:
If its a long way up, it must be a long way down!
We realized too late that they sell little glider airplanes in the gift shop for kids to toss off from the top of the column. We watched a couple people send theirs down, and when it started to get crowded up there we made the 164 step trek back to solid ground.
Our second stop was Fort Clatsop, and what a neat little place it was. The Fort is a replica of the one that the Lewis and Clark expedition built and lived in from December 7, 1805 to March 23rd, 1806.
I have always found history from this time period to be really interesting, especially if its about Lewis and Clark (you can read more about this forts history here) so I really enjoyed wandering around checking out how things might have been.
This was the storage room (I bet they loved their cast iron pots just as much as I love mine!):
The beds:
And the kitchen/work area:
A papoose board (this was in the room that Sacajawea stayed in):
They had some guides that were dressed the part:
And costumes for the kids to wear:
We also watched a presentation from this guy, who told us all about the weapons that the Lewis and Clark expedition carried with them, and demonstrated how much work was required to shoot off just one bullet in those old guns:
When that was done we headed back to the museum building for the kids to finish filling out their junior ranger booklets (Matthew even had a grown up one he was working on!) so that they could earn ranger patches from the park guides:
After we left the fort we headed into town for a quick picnic lunch, and then off to the beach for a little sand and ocean time. It was just what the kids needed after a day of car rides and education!
There were a lot of people flying kites that afternoon, this one was my favorite:
As we were packing up to leave, Matthew pointed out a flock of big birds in the sky and said "I think those might be pelicans". I, of course, scoffed and said "No way, we don't have pelicans here"! I whipped out my camera to zoom in and prove my rightness, and what do you know...it was a flock of pelicans. Matthew just gave me a smug little smile, and I shook my head. Don't I know by now that Matthew is always right?*
Being at the beach had me craving some saltwater taffy, so we found ourselves a little candy store a few blocks from the beach to pick some up at. We even got to watch some being made on this little machine that cuts it, wraps it and chucks it into a bucket:
We reminisced about the day on the way home, with teeth full of taffy and hearts full of happiness. It was our last adventure of the summer, and while everyone is excited for school to start so we can get back to a normal routine, I am going to miss the free wheeling days of summer too. We had a lot of great adventures this summer, made some new friends, had fun with our old ones, saw a bunch of places we had never seen before, and enjoyed our time together immensely. I am so grateful that I get to stay home with my kids and watch them grow up, and to have these sorts of adventures together. We are so blessed. :)
*Except in situations were he is wrong. Because those do still occur sometimes. Not often, rarely, and hardly ever, but still....sometimes. A girl can hope anyways.
About a week ago I realized that summer was quickly coming to an end, and that we still hadn't made it out to the coast to check the fort out. Shoot! Luckily, Matthew arranged to take today off so I could make good on my promise of getting there before school started again.
We decided to make a long day of it and stop at a couple other places along the way. Neither the kids nor Matthew had ever been to Astoria Column before, so that was our first stop. I don't really know the history of the place or why it was built, but its basically a huge 125 foot tall column up on a hill overlooking the little coast town of Astoria:
It is painted with really intricate pictures of the history of Oregon and its settlers, and it's really very pretty:
Its also very high up at the top! There are 164 steps from the bottom to the top in a very tight and narrow little stairway. I started to get a tiny bit claustrophobic, but luckily we made it to the top pretty quickly. It was beautiful up there - we could see for miles!
The town of Astoria is behind Matthew and the kids in this picture:
Me and the kids:
If its a long way up, it must be a long way down!
We realized too late that they sell little glider airplanes in the gift shop for kids to toss off from the top of the column. We watched a couple people send theirs down, and when it started to get crowded up there we made the 164 step trek back to solid ground.
Our second stop was Fort Clatsop, and what a neat little place it was. The Fort is a replica of the one that the Lewis and Clark expedition built and lived in from December 7, 1805 to March 23rd, 1806.
I have always found history from this time period to be really interesting, especially if its about Lewis and Clark (you can read more about this forts history here) so I really enjoyed wandering around checking out how things might have been.
This was the storage room (I bet they loved their cast iron pots just as much as I love mine!):
The beds:
And the kitchen/work area:
A papoose board (this was in the room that Sacajawea stayed in):
They had some guides that were dressed the part:
And costumes for the kids to wear:
We also watched a presentation from this guy, who told us all about the weapons that the Lewis and Clark expedition carried with them, and demonstrated how much work was required to shoot off just one bullet in those old guns:
When that was done we headed back to the museum building for the kids to finish filling out their junior ranger booklets (Matthew even had a grown up one he was working on!) so that they could earn ranger patches from the park guides:
After we left the fort we headed into town for a quick picnic lunch, and then off to the beach for a little sand and ocean time. It was just what the kids needed after a day of car rides and education!
There were a lot of people flying kites that afternoon, this one was my favorite:
As we were packing up to leave, Matthew pointed out a flock of big birds in the sky and said "I think those might be pelicans". I, of course, scoffed and said "No way, we don't have pelicans here"! I whipped out my camera to zoom in and prove my rightness, and what do you know...it was a flock of pelicans. Matthew just gave me a smug little smile, and I shook my head. Don't I know by now that Matthew is always right?*
Being at the beach had me craving some saltwater taffy, so we found ourselves a little candy store a few blocks from the beach to pick some up at. We even got to watch some being made on this little machine that cuts it, wraps it and chucks it into a bucket:
We reminisced about the day on the way home, with teeth full of taffy and hearts full of happiness. It was our last adventure of the summer, and while everyone is excited for school to start so we can get back to a normal routine, I am going to miss the free wheeling days of summer too. We had a lot of great adventures this summer, made some new friends, had fun with our old ones, saw a bunch of places we had never seen before, and enjoyed our time together immensely. I am so grateful that I get to stay home with my kids and watch them grow up, and to have these sorts of adventures together. We are so blessed. :)
*Except in situations were he is wrong. Because those do still occur sometimes. Not often, rarely, and hardly ever, but still....sometimes. A girl can hope anyways.