On Friday, August 9th we drove 121 miles from Milo McGiver State Park outside Portland to Fort Stevens State Park in Warrenton, Oregon for a 7-night stay. We had been to Fort Stevens a couple of years ago before we started this blog for a short, rainy 2-night stay. We were looking forward to this longer re-visit and getting to explore the surrounding area.
Fort Stevens
Fort Stevens is a former active military defensive installation built in 1864, guarding the mouth of the Columbia River from the Civil War until the conclusion of World War II. It was named for General Isaac Stevens, former governor of the Washington Territory who died in 1862. In the early 1900’s eight concrete gun batteries and Battery Russell (named after Civil War Major General David A. Russell) were built at the fort to defend the Oregon Territory. Battery Russell was located south of the other gun batteries and faced out to the Pacific Ocean.
On Sunday, June 21, 1942 at 11:30 pm, Battery Russell became the only mainland U.S. military base to be attacked since the War of 1812 when a Japanese Navy submarine entered the coastal waters offshore of Oregon and Washington, firing 17 shells at the battery. Fortunately there were no casualties and only minimal property damage.
The fort was deactivated in 1947 and in 1955 the 4,300-acre Fort Stevens State Park opened to the public. Today there are 174 full-hookup sites (36 pull-through), 302 electrical sites with water (11 pull-through), 6 tent sites, 15 yurts (7 pet-friendly), 11 deluxe cabins (5 pet-friendly), 9 primitive hike in sites, and a Hiker/biker camp. Restrooms have flush toilets and hot showers. There are a number of hiking trails throughout the park, though not all of them are well-maintained. You can enjoy salt-water fishing on the oceanfront beach or fresh-water fishing at Coffenbury Lake, both of which we hiked to during our stay.
Wreck of the Peter Iredale
Probably the park’s major claim to fame is the wreckage of the Peter Iredale on Clatsop Beach, one of many ships that fell victim to the treacherous waters along this stretch of coastline. The Iredale was a four-masted steel vessel that left Mexico bound for Portland in 1906. The ship was run aground and the impact was so powerful that three of the four masts snapped. Fortunately no one was seriously injured, but the captain deemed the ship unseaworthy and abandoned it on the beach. Over the years the ship deteriorated until all that remains is the rusted portion of wreckage visible today. There are some photos of it in our album.
Reservation Fun
Our site was level on asphalt with water and electric. It was also right next to the restrooms. It was also a handicapped site, which was NOT what we booked. As she usually does, Cindy checked our upcoming reservation a few weeks before we arrived to make sure everything was still a “go” for our stay. When she did, she discovered that the site we reserved was a handicap site. Except it wasn’t when she reserved it last year. And they have a warning on their website that if you reserve a handicapped site and aren’t handicapped they will make you leave. And this park was booked solid. So, to say the least, we were concerned.
Cindy called the ranger’s office and spoke to a nice lady who confirmed that they had indeed converted our site to a handicapped site in the months since Cindy had first reserved it. She said since it was not our fault that she would make a note of what had happened in their records so that we would not be forced to leave. And that’s how we came to be staying in a handicapped site even though we are not.
For most of our stay the temperatures were in the 60’s, which was a welcome change from the 100-110 temperatures that we had at our previous couple of stops.
Saturday we drove into Warrenton to get our passport photos made and do some grocery shopping. It’s time to renew our passports before they expire next year and we’re going to try and do it online. I also tried taking our photos myself, but just could not meet the requirements of background color, lighting, etc. that they insist upon. So, we’re getting them done by the professionals at Walgreens.
I look worse than I did in my drivers license photo, lol, but they should work.
The Goonies!
Monday we drove to Astoria, about 10 miles away. A good portion of one of my favorite movies, “The Goonies” (1985) was shot in Astoria and we planed to visit some of the shooting locations. Our first stop was the Visitor Center where we had the good fortune to meet Barbi England, a local resident and one of the only extras in “The Goonies” to receive an onscreen credit. She was a delight to meet and gave us a fount of information about the town, the movies shot in Astoria (yes, there were other movies that used the town), and even our campground at Fort Stevens State Park where she sits on one of the boards for the park. We also got to meet “Cooper” her 18 month old long-haired Daschund who had the most beautiful, expressive blue eyes I’ve ever seen on a dog. And I don’t even like Daschunds.
After the Visitor Center we toured the Film Museum where jailhouse scenes with Jake Fratelli (played by Robert Davi) pretending to have hung himself and then escaping with the help of his brother Francis (played by Joe Pantoliano) and Mama Fratelli (played by Anne Ramsey). Then we stopped at the Flavel House Museum next door to the Film Museum, which doubles as the Astoria Historical Museum where Mikey and Brandon’s dad works in the movie.
Then we drove across town to visit the actual “Goonies” house where Mikey and Brandon live and where the adventure begins. For years the real-life owner was not open to people making a trek to his house and visitors were not welcome. But a couple of years ago a person who loves “The Goonies” purchased the home and while you cannot go into the house, they welcome people coming down the driveway and taking photos. So we felt fortunate in our timing.
Remember the other movies shot in Astoria I mentioned earlier? Well, right down the street is the Astoria Elementary School which doubled as the school that Aronold Schwarzenegger played an undercover cop/teacher in for “Kindergarten Cop” (1990).
Then, while walking through the neighborhood to get back to Voyager, Cindy thought she heard dogs barking. We followed the sound to see that, across the four-lane main highway there were a large group of seals sunning themselves on a strip of land in an inlet. They should be in the video that accompanies this post.
Tuesday, August 13th we hiked down to the Peter Iredale wreck on Clatsop Beach. The weather was beautiful, which was in stark contrast to our last visit here in May of 2022 when we had to walk to it in the rain to see it.
Cannon Beach
Wednesday we drove about 20 miles south to Cannon Beach to see the Haystack Rock, the most photographed rock in Oregon they tell me. This is where the pirate ship of One-Eyed Willy sails past at the conclusion of the “The Goonies”, although that was actually shot at Goat Rock Beach in California. It was still fun to stand on the beach with my pirate shirt on and pretend.
Cannon Beach is also where the Fratelli car chase takes place in “The Goonies” after Jake Fratelli escapes from jail. There was an actual annual car race that took place on the beach back then and they worked it into footage of the escape and car chase. AND…. Cannon Beach is also where the final scene from the movie “Point Break” (1991) was shot.
On the way back to the campground we stopped at a roadside store and bought something we had not had before…Marionberry Jam and a slice of Marionberry Pie. According to the proprietor and confirmed by Wikipedia: “The “marionberry” is a cultivar (purposeful breeding) of blackberry released in 1956 by the USDA breeding program in cooperation with Oregon State University. It is named after Marion County, Oregon where the berry was bred and tested extensively in the mid-20th century.” Which is a dry way of saying this tastes delicious!
Finally, Friday morning we were eating breakfast at the dinette when Cindy suddenly shouted, “Oh my God, oh my God! Look out the window!!” She then bolted out the door in her jammies with her cell phone yelling, “It’s elk! There’s elk!”
ROFL! Of course there are photos of them in our album for this post. So our stay ended on a very high note for her.
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