Fort Stevens - Oregon State Parks

Lots of pictures today! First I wanted to show you another shot of our coach in the park.

Around noon, we drove back to Fort Stevens. We were so fascinated yesterday with the little bit that we saw, we had to return. First, let me tell you, we are so impressed with the Oregon State Park system. They are well maintained, very beautiful and reasonable (dollar-wise). When we arrived at Fort Stevens, we were going to purchase a $3 day use pass. But after visiting with the volunteers inside the museum, we purchased an annual pass for every Oregon State Park for only $25. What a bargain!

We spent an hour in the museum and learned a ton about how the west coast was shelled by the Japanese in 1942. The museum had displays of uniforms and weapons, information and brochures and even a video about the attack. Doug took about 100 photos but I just couldn't post them all.

In spite of the cold, windy day, we toured as much of the fort as we could. The batteries are built into the side of the hill and were virtually invisible to the submarines. Visitors are allowed to enter most rooms, climb ladders and steps and photograph anything.

This was the command post. It sat at the top of the tallest hill and has a view of the mouth of the Columbia that is breathtaking.

Looking out from the command station. It's hard to see the water in this picture, but it's spectacular.


The fort depends on donations to repair and restore the facilities. Unfortunately, in many places, the buildings are crumbling and dangerous. I discovered an interesting difference between Doug's idea of exploring and mine. He prefers to go as deep and far as he can inside the buildings.


And, I prefer to climb to the highest points I can find.


After the fort, we took Buddy to the beach for a run. Doug caught this gorgeous picture down the beach with the clouds and mist and grey, grey, grey.


While he was busy taking pictures of me.......

I took pictures of him and Buddy!

When we arrived back at the park, we saw a coach that looked just like ours. As we got closer, someone waved and we discovered our good friends Mike and Charlotte Gamble were here. They have an Alpine Coach that looks almost identical to ours outside. It is a little newer and I'm sure a lot tidier.

We visited for a few minutes, but by then the cold that I have been fighting started to win. I have almost lost my voice (but I can still type) and am coughing like crazy. The only upside to it is Doug gets to take care of me. He fixed a weird combination dinner for me (that I requested) and kept me warm and comfortable all evening. What a guy!