Day 2 of camping

Looking out towards the coast

We did not sleep well on the first night, so naps were a must. But afterwards, the sun was shining, and the bicycle path was calling. We biked out to an historic site - the military battery. This is the only area in the continental US that was fired upon in WWII. (I had no idea!)

It was a lovely bike ride with the family. After a little snack time (we are a family big on snacking!) we explored the battery - plenty of history and learning. I was in the dark about Oregon history .. either I missed that day in school, or we never went over it. Fort Stevens was created back in the Civil War area to protect the north from a British invasion from Canada. Thankfully, it never needed to fire its guns in defense.

So we saw some Army trucks - we didn't take the tour ride, but I suppose that would be interesting to do.

We saw - and heard - cannons. (No, the one pictured did not go off, that would have been a bit loud.)

And there were some re-enactors set up, explaining how things worked back in the day.

We got to clamber all over the batteries and explore the area. The surrounding vegetation has grown up so much that we couldn't see the Columbia River, nor the coastline from the battery; but I bet back when it was made, they were pretty clear.

After lunch, a walk down to the beach was in order. We saw the last remains of the shipwreck Peter Iredale. More fascinating history. It ran aground back in 1906, and we could just see a bit of it sticking out of the sand. Supper and games around the campfire rounded out the night. --- more tomorrow ---