Deferred Glory and A Playful Pod

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July 25, 2024, Yachats, OR- As I awoke this morning, up in Kent, WA, and pondered my route for the day, I got a message: Astoria is calling, and you should spend the night in Yachats. The route to the tip of Oregon was easily set, and by 12:30 p.m., I was parked near Flavel House Museum. The place looked interesting, but I had limited time and there was a set of hoops to jump, just to purchase a ticket. I was more drawn towards walking downtown. Besides, my camera was acting up and I couldn’t get a clear shot of the house.

This lovely little park would not be denied, by a brief issue with a camera lens. It was established in 2011, on the occasion of Astoria’s bicentenary, to honour the contributions of the Chinese community in Astoria and the Columbia Valley. Text and art tell the story in a delicate and fitting manner.
Astoria thus bookends with Lewiston, Idaho, in giving the Chinese immigrant community its due as builders of railroads, jetties, canneries and, in Astoria’s case, the sewer system. Lewiston has the Beuk Aie Temple. Astoria has placed its tribute outside.

Astoria also has its funky side, as seen at this Mexican restaurant, near the Cambium Gallery.

At Cambium, I sat and observed a potter at work, for several minutes, purchasing a lovely bowl as a gift for a couple who I plan to revisit tomorrow. As this is a working studio, I refrained from photographing her work.

The last stop in Astoria was at its Column. High atop a promontory, on the city’s east side, is the tower erected in honour of John Jacob Astor, the community’s founder. Along with two dozen other people, ranging in age from 4-86, I made it up 164 steps and saw these views:

Northward
Westward

After descending the stairs, it was time to leave Astoria. Cannon Beach was the next brief stop, and afforded the day’s most heart-warming surprise.

View of Cannon Beach, from overlook to the south.
There, in a deeper cove to the south of Cannon Beach, was a pod of gray whales at play. I was able to gather a group of about twelve people to watch the festivities, so there were a number of photos taken, in the ensuing ten minutes. The cetaceans kept jumping about, during that time of astonishment on the beach.

My last wonder of the day was of a mechanical type: Tillamook Creamery’s cheese factory. The second floor of the creamery offers a viewing of the machines that are used in cheese-making and an explanation of what the human workers, and a few robots, do at each step of the process.

Vats, where fresh milk is heated. Curds are then separated from whey.
Salt is then added to the coagulating mix.
Finally, once the cheese has been cooled and is formed into blocks, it can be cut into smaller blocks or sliced into sheets and packaged. The Blue Octopus is a machine that packages and seals the finished cheese products.
After the self-guided tour, it was time to get to my lodging, so back to Yatel it was. Dinner was down the street, at Sea Note- a relaxed repast of clam chowder, followed by baked oysters and spinach, at bar side. I couldn’t ask for a more comforting end to a great day on the coast.

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