History

Blogger is giving me a bad time. Yesterday I couldn't get photos to upload at all. Today I can get them on the blog, but can't place them where I'd like to. So--first you see Foxgloves blooming on a hillside.
Second you see the "World" cruise ship.
Third is one of the batteries at Fort Stevens with Gary standing on top as he toured the battery.

Foxgloves are blooming all over the Pacific NorthWest. Lots of colors everywhere.


Today was full of history. We went to the Scandinavian Festival in Astoria--lots of history there--ancestry, etc. While we were there we ran into some of Gary's relatives and some people who graduated from HS with him. Then Gary drove me around Astoria showing me where he and other family members lived when they were kids.

Mike and Julie are volunteers that greet ships that come into Astoria. Today was a big day--the "World" cruise ship docked in Astoria and they spent 3 hours greeting the people on board and directing them to sights to see in Astoria. The "World" is the cruise ship that is a floating condo with VERY expensive suites. People buy their condo on board and can live there year round if they'd like. It sounds like many of them have homes elsewhere, too (plural--"homes" not "a home"). Mike and Julie learned a lot while they were on board today.

It was really interesting to hear their adventures with greeting cruise ships. It boggles the mind to hear that around 3000 passengers and 2000 crew come ashore each time a cruise ship docks here. The population of Astoria is only 10,000.

After the Astoria segment of our day, we stopped at Fort Stevens and toured some of the military batteries which were manned in WWI and WWII. The biggest historical event that happened at Fort Stevens is that it was the only place in the continental USA that was hit by a Japanese shell during WWII. Fort Stevens is very close to the KOA park where we are staying in Warrenton.

The grand finale of the day was pizza at Fultano's Pizza. You get more toppings on your pizza at Fultano's than any other place where we've eaten pizza. Very yummy and on our list as a "must stop" place whenever we come to Astoria.

Last day of fishing is Sunday. Here's hoping!