Salmon Season

Sunday and Monday, August 21 and 22, 2011

We left the Aberdeen WalMart  after getting a couple things we needed at the store. It is not a super WalMart, so limited groceries.

Heading on down 101, we stopped here and there just looking around. A couple of hours later found us at a rest area near the Astoria bridge. We ate breakfast there, and enjoyed watching all the boats on the river. Salmon season was evident because there were hundreds of boats in the river, each loaded with fisher people.

Wilma and Betty are fixing another
great meal so we can "eat out" again.

A picture of a just a few of the many
boats on the river.

We went across the bridge and stopped at Freddies (Fred Meyer) in Warrenton to get Oregon fishing licenses. That all taken care of, we headed on out to the park. It was still too early to see if we could get a camping site, but after a few tries, we did land sites next to each other.

We are side by side for our first night at Fort Stevens.

  Reservations had not been available when we checked before leaving home, so we are just hoping to get in for a few days. There are 560 sites here, but almost all are reserved, with the proximity of salmon fishing, and since school won’t start here until after Labor Day.

Betty had picked up a local area happenings paper, and found an article about a new Mexican restaurant in Astoria. It was open 10 to 7 on Sunday according to the paper, but after finding the place, it was closed.

On Monday Barney and Fred headed out to fish while Betty and Wilma went to the Laundromat. That chore out of the way, we went back out to the river, made the guys sandwiches, and walked out to see what was happening. As we approached, Barney hopped up and grabbed his rod while Fred got the net. A nice salmon was landed, but was one inch too short, so had to be put back in. Barney had earlier pulled in another nice one, but it was wild, so couldn’t keep it either. That was the only fish action for the day. 

It wasn’t great weather for golfing, and Betty and Wilma had already gotten us a site for the night, so we headed up to the beach overlook. It was far too foggy and windy, so we headed back to a small park on the river where we planned to have our supper.  On the way to the park Barney and Wilma had each thought we ought to try the Mexican place again. So off we went. We parked Fred and Wilma’s cavemobile at Freddies and they hopped in with Barney and Betty. It was open, and a great meal was had by all. They make everything fresh, and have a somewhat limited menu, but each of us ordered something different. They were all yummy.

We headed back to our campsites, and just crashed. Another great day. 

We have site reservations for Wednesday and Thursday nights, but may have to go to the rest area for Tuesday night. So far they only have one site open for Friday and Saturday, so if nothing else comes up, we may hit the road. Would be nice to go up to Mt. St. Helens, so we’ll see.
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