I drove into Seaside, and saw a glimpse of my ultimate destination. The Pacific Ocean. Mountains surrounded the tiny hamlet. "You are now entering a tsunami danger zone. If you feel rumbling or shaking, please seek higher ground immediately." That sounded grave. But I enjoyed the ocean none the less. Even if the water temperature was freezing cold.
Here I also had reached the end of a long journey out west to the Columbia. I drove onward to Astoria, and cresting over the hill, I saw the huge and magnificent Astoria Bridge.
Here was a bridge that spanned the Columbia River at the mouth of the Pacific Ocean. It was so huge, it required a spiral ramp to reach the top from the town. Such a feat of engineering and design. A huge truss and a remaining span that stretched over 4 miles of water. And then the massive Columbia flowing from the distance, a huge waterway that sliced through the Pacific Northwest.
I found myself once again as I had been on much of my journey thus far: Gawking and awestruck by the landscape. The sun began to set and reflect off the Columbia, and illuminated the Cascades in front of me. It was as though I was headed back from the western edge of our continental nation, only if it was for 50 miles.
My journey began to close, as the sun set, and I drew ever closer to Vancouver. I did manage to snap this shot though before it became dark. That large mountain off in the distance is Mt. Saint Helens, over 80 miles away.
What a magnificent and wonderful place this is. Massiveness abounds in scales I have never even imagined.
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