During winter storms — or cold-season sun breaks — Cape Disappointment State Park offers some of the best viewpoints on the Washington coast.

If you’re a glutton for winter storms, and peering down from cliff tops into chasms of lashing saltwater makes you really feel alive; or if you simply love gazing out on a seascape of dimpled waves and watery blue sky swept clean by a howling nor’wester — Cape Disappointment is plainly misnamed.

“Cape D,” as locals call it, is no disappointment to the winter thrill-seeker.  Keep reading.

Other details of life in Bali include sounds and pictures of gamelan orchestras, displays of batik fabric, the importance of masks, and of course kite making, plus myths about kites – BATS! MYTH AND REALITY, performances – 11:00 am, 1:30 pm & 3:00 pm both days.

SOURCE: WWW.BEACHTOCHOWDER.COM

“According to a variety of studies, a dash in the sand will boost your calorie consumption by about 1.6 times. Harvard University research indicates that while running a 10-minute mile, the average person burns between 300-400 calories per half hour. Smaller people of course (Wait, I have to have to run more and hold the mayo? Life is cruel) will burn less, while larger people will burn more. Running on sand, however, will earn you a 30-minute calorie burn rate of 480-640 calories at a 10-minute pace for the average person!”

“Another awesome calorie blasting beach perfect for running is the very long, very flat, Long Beach, Washington Peninsula, home to the World’s Longest Beach and the World’s Largest Frying Pan! After a 10-mile sand run, you’ll have earned that oyster omelet and fried spuds.”

Keep reading

The Long Beach Arch

The Worlds Largest Frying Pan

Sunrise Over the Snowy Willapa Hills

Winter Weather Wonderland at the Beach photo Contest

Please submit your winter photos taken on the Long Beach Peninsula to photocontest@funbeach.com and we will put them up in an album on the  Visitors Bureau Facebook page. Our fans will decide the winner by the amount of likes each photo gets. Please provide a mailing address in the email so we can get you your prize if your photo is chosen. You have until January 31st to get us your photos; voting closes February 2^nd.

Contest Rules

• By submitting your photo, you are stating that you took and own the photo as well as releasing it for use by the Long Beach Peninsula Visitors Bureau in any manner, without compensation to you as photographer.
• Please note that we reserve the right to enter your photo into competition for a month other than when it was submitted.
• We will not publish your address or email address but will use them to contact you regarding your photo. Please read our Privacy policy.

Prize:  1 vinyl funbeach.com decal and a certificate will be sent to the mailing address provided us when entering the contest. The winner will first be notified by email.

Check out the full story in the Seattle Times.

•  Jan. 20, Friday, 4:28 p.m. (-0.5 feet)  CONFIRMED
•  Jan. 21, Saturday, 5:17 p.m. (-0.8 feet)  CONFIRMED
•  Feb.18, Saturday, 4:13 p.m. (0.0 feet)  TENTATIVE
•  Feb.19, Sunday, 5 p.m. (-0.2 feet)  TENTATIVE

All digs are subject to the results of marine toxin tests.  We’ll post here as they’re confirmed.

• More info on razor clam digging locally.
• Read the full WDFW press release.

Following are the 2012 State Parks “free days”:

• Jan 14 through 16 – Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend
• March 18 and 19 – In honor of Washington State Parks’ 99th birthday on March 19
• June 9 – National Get Outdoors Day
• Sept. 29 – National Public Lands Day
• Nov. 10 through 12 – Veterans Day weekend

Visit Cape Disappointment State Park here on our site, and at http://capedisappointment.org

Free chowder included!

Just show up on any main beach approach between 9:30 and 12:30 on cleanup day.

More info: http://www.ourbeach.org

Chautauqua Lodge is proud to help this event by offering rooms starting at $69 for those assisting in the clean-up. Contact Chautauqua Lodge at 800/869-8401 or http://chautauqualodge.com

PHOTO: Columbia River Maritime Museum

Irene Martin likes to spring this word association game on people: She’ll say “tuna” and ask them to utter the first words that come to mind. “Seventy percent of the time it’s ‘Bumble Bee,’” Martin said.

The percentage would likely be higher in Astoria, which for 81 years was the headquarters of the Bumble Bee brand and its predecessor, The Columbia River Packers Association. The company that started out as a salmon packing outfit and later expanded to tuna was the city’s major employer, and its departure in 1980 sent economic shudders through Astoria.

“Bumble Bee really was the heart of the place for so many years,” Martin said. “At least part of the heart went out when Bumble Bee left.”

A century (and two years) after the firm’s beginnings, Martin and the late Roger Tetlow have provided a thorough history of the company. “Flight of the Bumble Bee: The Columbia River Packers Association & a Century in the Pursuit of Fish” has more facts and figures than the armchair historian needs, but people who worked in the fishing industry will appreciate all the details.