We were up fairly early completing final preparations to leave. Unfortunately because Kelly had to go into work so early she was unable to join us at the MH for coffee before we left.
Washing the MH and cleaning all the windows was an effort in futility. About fifteen minutes before leaving Auburn, the sky opened up and the rain came pouring down. Just enough to mess up our clean MH.
The ride to Forts Stevens State Park took about four hours. During that time we ran into some super heavy traffic, crazy drivers and intermittent downpours.
Since it was Friday we weren’t sure if we would be able to secure a site despite the park being so big (467 sites). We were pretty close to accurate because they had only one site available for the night. We wanted to book three nights but we were told to return in the AM to see if either the site we had was available or if we would have to move – or worse case scenario – we had to leave.
Our site was very nice and somewhat secluded in an otherwise packed park.
After settling in and having dinner we decided to explore the park. We had been here for a day trip about 8 years ago with the Grandkids and Kelly & Patrick. We had done a lot on that trip but didn’t get to see it all.
We decided to head to the beach and explore the Peter Iredale Wreck and to catch a sunset.
Getting sunset pictures with the Iredale was a challenge because there were so many people around and lots of kids climbing on the wreckage. But with some patience and persistence Ron did mange some great shots.
On October 25, 1906, the British sailing ship Peter Iredale was en route to the Columbia River to pick up a shipment of wheat. Around 2 am the crew spotted the Tillamook Rock Lighthouse, just south of the Columbia River’s entrance. The ship’s captain, H. Lawrence, wanted to wait until daylight to cross the dangerous bar. Dense fog made navigation difficult and he mistakenly thought that the ship was 50 miles off shore.
By the time he realized that he was dangerously close to shore, it was too late. Gale force winds blew the Iredale on to a sandbar off Clatsop Beach, where it stuck. No one died and efforts to remove the ship from the sandbar was futile due to severe storms that sunk the ship deeper into the sand. The ship was scrapped for metal and the wreck has become a local attraction and landmark.
Link to Peter Iredale Ship wreck.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Iredale
There is an area on the beach that allows four-wheel drive vehicles. We took a ride over but didn’t make the drive because the sand looked too deep and I was too anxious about getting stuck. We decided we would give it a try on Saturday.
The sunset was spectacular but the beach with the wind blowing was soooo cold.We were dressed pretty warm and still felt cold but there were all kinds of young people in the water BRRRRRRR!!!!!
We weren’t sure what Saturday would bring but we were sure we wanted to spend more time here.
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