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Because I do get international readers who may not know about Lewis & Clark...

Back in 1804, when Thomas Jefferson was President and the US was a new country with roughly 15 states, Merriwether Lewis and William Clark, who were Army captains, were asked to lead an expedition of peaceful exploration and discovery. Their mission was to leave from St. Louis, Missouri, then travel west until they reached the ocean. (Missouri is somewhat east of middle of the US.) Along the way, Jefferson instructed them to catalog the plants and animals they encountered, make a map of the area they explored, and take careful notes about the Native Americans they encountered along the way, including where and how they lived, the languages spoken, and their culture.

Lewis & Clark set out with 33 men, traveling the Missouri River until they hit the Rocky Mountains. They they bartered for horses, and rejoined the Snake River, which then lead to the Columbia River and the ocean.

Along the way, Lewis & Clark encountered dozens of Native American tribes, and had peaceful encounters with nearly all of them. Apparently they killed two Blackfeet warriors in self-defense, but other than that, their trip was peaceful. Lewis & Clark lost only one man on their side, shortly after they departed. It's likely this man died of appendicitis, for which there was no cure at that time.

In the winter of 1805, they reached the Pacific Ocean, and wintered at Fort Clatsop, named for the Clatop Indians in the area. A replica of the fort has been built, based on Lewis's notes.

There is a network of parks in the area, on both the Oregon and Washington sides of the Columbia River (the river divides the states), dedicated to various parts of Lewis & Clark's visit to the area.

I started the day at Ft. Steven State Park, which is an Oregon park on the south side of the Columbia River. It's the very upper left corner of the state. Ft. Steven was the location of a military installation used in both the Civil War and in World War Two. The station didn't see any action in either war, but it was there in case it was required, as the defense against incursion up the Columbia River.

They offered a lovely viewing platform at one end of the park.

From here, you could look to the west and see the jetty running out into the Pacific, just at the mouth of the Columbia River.

In the other direction, you could look down the beach to the south, with the rest of the Oregon coastline. You can see it was overcast -- actually, you can see a bit of blue sky, which is unusual for this area. It's almost always rainy and/or grey and overcast in this area, and the weather can be quite awful, particularly in the winter.

I'd also like to point out Oregon's fabulous beach law. All beaches are public, from the water line to the vegetation line. There are no private beaches in Oregon. I think that's very cool and forward-thinking of the state. But then, Oregon is a fairly progressive state, one of many reasons I love it!

Finally, with my back to the ocean, I looked across the river to the state of Washington:

Lastly, a bit to the east of this overlook, I was able to get this photo. This is looking east, toward the Cascade Mountains (where Mt. Rainier and Mt. St. Helens are located). Washington is on the left side, and Oregon is on the right, with the Columbia River in between.

Having seen a bit of the Oregon side of the Columbia River, I headed over the big bridge in Astoria, Oregon, to the Washington side of the river. I went out to Cape Disappointment, which is the very farthest bottom left corner of the state.

They offered a lovely lighthouse, directly on the Pacific Ocean:

From the side of the lighthouse, there was a lovely view down the cliff to the ocean:

The white stuff on the rocks is cormorant poop. Apparently it's quite sticky, and they use it to hold their nests to the rocks. Also, the smell gets quite pungent in the summertime.

Continuing around Cape Disappointment, I wound up on the river side, where there is a second lighthouse.

And from here, you can see the south jetty, from the Columbia River to the Pacific Ocean.

Tomorrow, I'm headed back north for the WebMatrixFest conference at Microsoft, so this is likely my last day of sight-seeing.