Our drive to Fort Stevens was nice and uneventful, which are the best drives. We stopped for fuel in Astoria as the price of diesel was a very low $3.35. In Oregon they pump the fuel for you, so I got to talking to the attendant and asked him about the cruise ships stopping here. He told me they only come in the beginning of the summer and at the end of summer, making me think it’s only during a repositioning cruise for the beginning and ending of the Alaska season.
We arrived at Fort Stevens State Park around check-in time Saturday afternoon. To my delight the signs were clear and led you directly to the registration parking. (Pretty much a first) We got checked in and headed further into the park to find Loop D, Site 128. As we drove toward the center of the park, you could see this place was well maintained and a gorgeous place to camp.
We found our site easily and backed into the fully paved spot for the RV. There was 50amp and water, but no sewer hookup. As we were only there for a couple of days, I wouldn’t have hooked the sewer up anyway, preferring to have it at least 2/3 full prior to dumping. We deployed the coach and then took a walk
around a couple of the loops near us. There were a lot of Airstreams, just arriving from the Salem rally was my guess. There were even a few Airstream motorhomes. I had to take a picture of one that was polished so highly it looked like it was made of chrome instead of aluminum.
I wonder if all the Oregon State parks are similar to this place? If so, I really wonder what California spends all its tax dollars on? It isn’t its state parks. Oh, and Oregon has no sales tax, although every receipt has that line item with Tax 0.00 on it. I wonder if they are planning to change that in the future or is it just there to remind you there is no tax…
While we staying in the park, we headed out to lands end where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean in the park. There was a fairly rickety platform held up by four
logs and some lam beams that appeared to be “delaminating” out in this harsh weather. This spit of land is just across from Cape Disappointment on the Washington side of the river.
After the river mouth, we drove out to the wreck of the Peter Irldale on one of the beaches near the river mouth. I was surprised that you can drive on all the beaches here. What was left of the wreak was just bits of its skeleton. After seeing it I was shocked this thing had run aground in 1909, a hundred and nine years ago. That steel left must have been really thick to last this long.
On Monday afternoon we headed the 9 miles to our next campground. 🙂
Shortest trip ever!!!