Follow me up this trail here in Astoria called Cathedral Tree Trail.
A trail through a lush and beautiful forest, it goes up to Cathedral Tree and/or the Astoria Column.
Take a right to the column. The pictures on the column tells the story of the history of this region.
Continue up to the observation deck, the view up there is great. The only option there.......stairs.
Don't forget to take a left and go see Cathedral Tree, a 300 plus year old Sitka spruce.
A person I met when I went here said that you can ask the tree a question. So go inside/under the tree, there is plenty of room and ask a question. I did not ask anything at that time but I will go back and if the timing is right then I will.
This is a great little hike.
A few days a year a private residence here is Astoria turns into a Doll Asylum. Check this out!
This is the beautiful house where you can find the fun.
The bridge you see in the background is called the Astoria-Megler Bridge and goes from Oregon to Washington, it is all of four miles long.
Let's take a look inside......
That little girl with the long blonde hair walking in between the trolls in Princess Tuvstarr.
The two illustrations on the piano are by John Bauer (Sweden) and I grew up reading these stories.
The Astoria Doll Asylum is a must visit if you are ever here during the time it is happening.
www.dollasylum.com
October 31 today - Halloween. I love Halloween - all the decorations and all the spooky scary stuff. No haunted houses for me this year (a bit disappointed over that) and back in the day my number one thing to do for Halloween was to go to a rave in Los Angeles called Monster Massive. Those were the days, anyhow......what a bittersweet feeling. I loooooved me some Monster Massive. Read up on it on Wiki. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_Massive
So.....let me tell you about what I did a couple of days ago. I took an underground ghost tour. Here in Astoria Oregon, there is an Astoria on the East Coast too, it is a neighborhood in Queens.
Years ago one of the times I went to New York City to dance I lived in Queens for about three weeks, if I remember it correctly I stayed in Greenpoint.
Back to the point......the ghost tour. You commence at a butcher shop called Gulleys. A group of us gathered at the butcher shop and the tour started at 7 pm. The owner (?) Diana began by talking about some of the rich and colorful history of Astoria.
There are undergound tunnels under the town covering about 30 city blocks. There has been two major fires during the years here, in 1883 and 1922. And up until about the 1940s people were being shanghaided here, Astoria was not a safe place. You were basically kidnapped and taken out to sea, put on a ship and forced to work.
The rooms underneath Gulleys are supposedly haunted and were featured on a show called Ghost Adventures (on the Travel Channel). According to what I was told, you can find the ghosts Abigail, Hatchet Harry, Adam and Sara down there.
But first a picture of Tati, not a ghost.
Everybody was given a device with lights that went from green to orange then red depending on if a spirit or ghost was present. And you also got a metal stick that would rotate towards the ghosts.
A lot of old furniture down there, you get to walk through several rooms, explore undisturbed and look for the ghosts on your own. It is amazing how much space there is under the town of Astoria.
Sit down in that chair and ask to speak to Sara.
I highly recommed the Gulley's ghost tour if you ever happen to find yourself in Astoria.
Fall has arrived here in Oregon. Mushrooms have popped up all over, they are so cute! I do not pick any mushrooms and I do not eat mushrooms either. With a few exceptions (psychedelic mushrooms) but that is not often. The psilocybe azurerescens grows around here, fruiting now and people show up from far away trying to find it.
Please do not pick mushrooms and just leave them after you pick them, respect nature. I do not get why some idiots just trample through the forest with zero consideration and respect.
Here are some cute mushrooms.
These are growing out of stone.
These look like little faerie hats. So delicate.
And there is a little snail next to these. Cuuuuuute!
Pumpkins everywhere. I am not a pumpkin person, I like looking at them but I do not eat anything pumpkin. No pumpkin spice lattes for me.
And some Halloween stuff. A purple outfit on for the club Halloween pic. I do not have a costume this year (not in the mood), so no dressing up for me. I actually thought of wrapping myself in toilet paper and be a roll of toilet paper. Angel Soft 2-ply perhaps?
Hmmmmm......I might muster up some energy later for that.
Hurricanes and tornadoes have ravaged through parts of the US. Many people dead and missing.
A dog was found standing in water, tied to a fence. It probably would not had made it had a highway patrol trooper not seen and rescued the dog. The dog is now safe. The "owner" has been located AND will face prosecution for aggrevated animal cruelty. Florida Governor De Santis said, "Totally unacceptable, and we're going to hold you accountable." And state Attorney Suzy Lopez said, "We take animal cruelty very, very seriously in Hillsborough County. We protect our most vulnerable citizens: elderly, children and our four-legged friends. You don't get away with doing what this man did in Hillsborough County, not under my watch."
Those are some of the best words I have heard in a long time. Thank You for rescuing that dog. And Thank You for taking animal cruelty seriously. That is all I wanted to say before I try to sleep.
