January 18 - Astoria and Fort George Brewery

What an amazing day of riding. I can’t believe it’s January! Leo Guzman Fernandez and his wife Carmen led us from Latus to the Fort George Brewery in Astoria today. The sun was out almost all the time and the weather was in the 40’s. I was having so much fun I really didn’t want to get off the bike. Talk about scenic! Heading west we drove on Highway 30 through Rainier and Clatskanie with views of both the Columbia River and Mt. St. Helens much of the way. It was my first time at the Brewery. I loved the way I could smell garlic and wood-fired pizzas baking as soon as I walked up. I ordered a carnivore pizza with applewood bacon, Italian sausage, pepperoni, provolone, parmesan, mozzarella, and sun-dried tomatoes. Delicious! They had already sold out of clam chowder so I am planning on coming back for that soon. Going home, we first headed north on highway 101 across the Columbia River into Washington then passed the Fort Columbia Historical State Park on our way to the Willapa National Wildlife Refuge. From there we continued on Highway 101 and then went east on Highway 4 all the way to the I-5 freeway and then back south into Portland. I loved the curves on Highway 101 and Highway 4 – there were plenty of them and they were wide enough to keep the bike in fifth or sixth gear the whole way. This is definitely a ride I will do again.