Glacier National Park - Day Three - June 26, 2006

Departing Corvallis mid-morning, I took a leisurely drive up 99W through Willamette Valley, Oregon's wine country. Unfortunately, Monday is not the day to drop into tasting rooms for a visit. Several tries ended up with locked doors despite the "Open" signs in the windows. With the temperature hovering at 105 degrees, I finally gave up and headed towards Portland and then west on route 30 to my destination for the evening - Astoria - hoping for cooler temperatures. After checking in at the early hour of 4 pm, I decided to head over to Fort Clatsop National Historic Park where Lewis and Clark resided. I had been there back in the mid-'90's on a bike trip along the Oregon Coast. However, in October 2004, the fort succumbed to a fire and burned to the ground. It ended up that the cause of the fire was a stray ember from the chimney within the fort. They are now in the process of rebuilding which was interesting to see.

Back at water's edge, the temperatures are beginning to drop, along with the sun. My hotel for the night is just under the bridge leading to Washington which I will take tomorrow morning as I continue my trek north.