Stepping Away

Dear Liza,

It has been hot in Portland lately (though not as hot as some parts of the country). Also, Auntie Bridgett has been working very hard on her art fairs, an upcoming show at the SideStreet Arts Gallery, and her new Zine. We decided to take a few days away to cool off and re-charge.

So we took a road trip! Driving north along the Willamette and then west along the Columbia, we came to Astoria. This still-busy port town was founded in 1811 as a fishing and shipping port, the gateway between the US northwest and the rest of the world.

We had a nice lunch at the Fort George brew pub, enjoying sandwiches, cider, and other people’s kids and dogs, and then walked down to the wharfs.

We found an interesting installation showing the history and culture of the people from Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Denmark who came to Astoria in the 1800s as farmers, lumbermen and fishermen. It included images of the maypole, viking ships, flags of the countries, weird and funny trolls, birch trees, and other iconic images.

This piece of advice was given by recent Astorians and can apply to all of us.

“As your ancestors’ sole reason for being, embrace the virtuous and use your gifts with purpose and generosity.”

We wandered some more along the shore and then decided it was time to cross the Columbia River for the next part of our adventure.

We drove up and up to the high point of the Astoria-Megler Bridge, then swooped down like a rollercoaster to the lowest part, just skimming the white capped waves. Whoosh!

I will tell you what we found over there tomorrow.

Love,

Grandma Judy