The Fourth Corps of Discovery: Great Joy!

"Great joy in camp we are in view of the Ocian . . .

this great Pacific Ociean which we been so long anxious to See."

William Clark, November 7, 1805

(mistakes in original--his reputation as a bad speller was legendary!)

We felt that same great joy as we arrived safely at the beach at the great Pacific Ocean with Sacajawea still in tow behind us. It had been a white knuckle drive for hubby the first half of the trip, with fairly strong winds causing a lot of trailer sway, even with the weight distribution hitch, anti-sway bar and newly installed stiffer shocks on the truck.

Our destination for our second travel trailer adventure was Thousand Trails campground in Seaside. We were looking forward to having a "full hookup" at our site so we could try out our "slinky" and sewer hose set-up (yes, that's "slinky," not "stinky," and I'll spare you the many euphemisms we already have for those hoses and equipment, lol!).

Given that it was only our second TT (travel trailer) adventure, we were bound to have something go wrong. This time we managed to leave our youngest's trip bag at home, and we didn't discover it until we were unloading at the campsite. Too bad the missing bag belonged to the kid who needs the most supplies!

The missing bag (!), safe at home where we left it.

There were still some good spots at the campground when we arrived there in the late afternoon, so we grabbed one with some partial shade and proceeded to set up camp.

Hubby has been experimenting with our GoPro and made a quick video to give you a feel for the scene in camp . . . check it out!

There was a heat wave across most of Oregon that weekend, and we sure didn't escape the heat by being at the beach. The high temp of 97 degrees was about the same as it was in Portland. So glad we have A/C in the travel trailer or we would have melted!

Enjoying a quick game of Rummikub

We had planned some fun north coast excursions for Saturday. Our first stop was Fort Clatsop, which is the historic fort where Lewis and Clark and their Corps of Discovery wintered over after reaching the Pacific Ocean at the end of their journey west.

The Corps of Discovery camped about two miles up the Netul River (now the Lewis & Clark river) and began to build a fort that they named after the local Indian tribe, the Clatsop.

The Corps of Discovery stayed at Fort Clatsop from December 1805 through March 1806, trading with the Indians (mainly the Clatsop, Chinook and Nehalem) and preparing for their long journey home, back to St. Louis, Missouri.

When they left in the Spring to head back east, they gave the fort to the Clatsop leader, Chief Coboway.

We had been to Fort Clatsop when the kids were little, but that was before we began our "Fourth Corps of Discovery" adventures, so we were eager to see it again after following in the footsteps of the original Corps of Discovery and visiting many of their historic sites on our own journey westward last fall.

Visit to Ft. Clatsop in 2003 (pre-Fourth Corps of Discovery!)

The visitor's center at Fort Clatsop is small, but it has some neat artifacts and sculptures, and there are also several different movies that provide some good historical info.

"Arrival" (Lewis, Clark, a Clatsop Indian and their dog Seaman)

Replica of canoe used by the expedition

Sacajawea and Pomp

As you can see from the photo below, being anywhere near the coast is our happy place!

Happy explorers

We used to go to the beach a lot . . . and we used to be tent campers, too. We were pretty adventuresome when the kids were little, but after a while we found ourselves going camping less and less frequently because it was a lot of effort to gather and pack all the equipment and supplies we needed to have on hand to support our youngest's health care needs.

We've been dreaming of having a travel trailer to make camping easier for years now, and with Sacajawea's help, this return to camping thing might just work out!

After enjoying Fort Clatsop, we continued north to Astoria, where we had a delicious seafood lunch down at the marina, did a drive-by of the house where The Goonies was filmed, and then headed south to Warrenton to get some supplies at Fred Meyer.

We also made several excursions to "The Prom" in Seaside, which is a mile and a half long concrete boardwalk that borders the beach. The statue of Lewis & Clark at the turnaround in the middle of the prom is pretty cool!

We used to come to Seaside when I was a kid, and my most vivid memories of those trips is riding a tandem bike up and down the boardwalk with my brother. When he was on the front of the bike, he would terrorize me by driving up on curbs and generally driving like a maniac while I was stuck on the back of the bike, barely able to see where we were going. When I insisted on sitting at the front of the bike and steering, he would take both of his hands and grab me under the armpits while we were riding around, tickling me for all he was worth and saying "sound the horn," knowing I would scream and also knowing I wouldn't let go of the wheel for anything because I didn't want to crash. Love my Bro', bless him, always keeping me on my toes, ha!

The prom has really fancied up since we were last there. Many beautiful homes and yards . . . including this one with the bird scroll fence and elaborate gate that caught our eye: