I have been putting this post off for a while. I have known since we got home from our Pacific Coastal cruise in mid-May that I needed to finish my Pacific Coastal story. Here’s a quick synopsis for those who have forgotten where we are. We took Celebrity Millenium from San Diego to Santa Barbara, Catalina, and San Francisco (where Kathleen broke her elbow), and that’s where we left off.

Our next stop was Astoria, Oregon. This was the only stop we had booked a ship’s tour—Shot in Astoria. We (Kathleen and I) had just been in Astoria last summer with the kids and grandkids, so this tour sounded interesting. It was a tour of all the spots in Astoria where they had shot popular films.

You may not know this, but in the mid-eighties, Astoria was a primary filming site for Hollywood movies. The biggest to be filmed there were Kindergarten Cop, The Goonies, parts of Twilight, Point Break and one of the Free Willy movies. So we drove around in a big old bus and saw the sights of the films (the only one I could remember anything from was the hotel in Kindergarten Cop. I will take a lot of abuse for this, but I have never seen The Goonies. Not my kind of movie.

Suffice it to say that the tour was pretty good, the bus was comfortable, and we got to stop at the Astoria Column, where you have great views. Afterward, we hit the Fort George Brewery for lunch, which was outstanding. Then back to the ship, and I was off on a photo walk. My best stuff from Astoria is below. Don’t forget, these pics look much better if you click on one and watch them as a slide show, either on a computer or a tablet.

Early in the morning on our way into Astoria.

Had a great sunrise

In every direction

Framed by the supports for the deck above our verandah.

More sunrise

This is the Columbia Bar…

…where the Columbia River meets the Pacific Ocean.

It is very difficult to cross and the site of many shipwrecks.

The view from the base of the Astoria Tower.

The school from Kindergaren Cop.

Outside the ship. I liked the pattern

The Astoria–Megler Bridge…

…it connects Oregon and Washington.

An interesting, off-shore sculpture.

The Fort George Brewery

I promise (really, I mean it because we are finally settled in) to finish this trip soon. Really.

It’s not a tumor!” —Arnold Schwarzenegger as Kimble in Kindergarten Cop