Astoria

After a lovely weekend in Salem visiting Grandma and Grandpa, we headed back to Astoria, just in time to catch fresh fish and chips at the "Bow Picker," a tiny outdoor restaurant that everyone raves about. Yum! They were right!

We were driving in circles in our car, even though we have been all over Astoria on foot, it looks completely different by car! And, we had no sense of one-way streets or parking on foot; pretty funny to see us not being able to drive to the post office after walking there many times.

Speaking of perspective, I got out my camera to take a picture of the marina, bridge, and "painted lady" Victorian houses nestled up on the hill ... but through the lens all I got was the side of a large, ugly fishing boat, and the squat 70's architecture of the Red Lion Inn. It is nice to see things up close and in person.

There is a mud flat that is exposed at low tide next to the marina, and a mama raccoon and her three babies venture out, looking under rocks and rolling things over checking for the fish that had the misfortune of not catching the last wave out. They are so very cute! I saw them last week and watched them for a long time, and Aaron saw them this morning.

We are on the river, an hour away from crossing the bar! A little nerve racking! For 48 consecutive hours, we will be at sea.

Skeet has decided living on a boat is "the worst thing a kid could ask for." Our friend Dan Pence wanted to make sure he knew about gulags, Siberia, and having a mother-in-law that moves in with you! Skeet has been the most homesick, after living in one house and having the same routine his whole life. The other three seem to really enjoy it, with Jake saying he would like to live on a boat his whole life! Hard to keep everyone happy all the time, I suppose!