Since we moved to Oregon over 4 years ago- we have been wanting to see the Column in Astoria, and for some reason never got there until a few Sundays ago. Kasey didn't have any meetings after church so we headed off to see Astoria and specifically the Column. Patterned after the Trajan Column in Rome, the Astoria Column is truly unique. It's the world's only large piece of memorial architecture made of reinforced concrete with a pictorial frieze in sgraffito technique. The column presents a fascinating illustration of the discovery of the Columbia River by Captain Robert Gray in 1792, the establishment of American claims to the Northwest Territory, the winning of the West and the arrival of the Great Northern Railway ( bet ya couldn't tell I copied and pasted :). It's just under a 2 hour drive, kind of long if you aren't planning on being there long. But it's very beautiful and well worth the drive. We were a little bummed when we got there because usually you can go all the way up inside the column and they sell little 50 cent airplanes you can fly of the top, but the stairs are under repair so we could not. we got a bunch of planes anyway and the kids flew them down the long grass hill. The views were beautiful in all directions, we were there for sunset then headed home. The kids listened to kids pod casts the whole way there and back- which made for no fighting and one happy mommy.
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