Astoria, Oregon

October 30, 2025

Autumn Leaves

'Dancing Peacock' Someone needs to write a song... :) With an atmospheric river and 30 mph winds predicted this past weekend, I was afraid the ginkgo, which had just started to turn color, would be stripped. We were lucky though and it remains intact. Gingko 'Princeton Sentry' After the storm... The Black Tupelo (Nyssa slyvatica) changes color from the inside out - The above photo was taken last week. Here it is today - 'Wolf Eyes' Dogwood (Cornus kousa) has never had such pink color - Catalpa bignonioides 'Aurea', Crape Myrtle 'Dynamite' ( Lagerstroemia ), and Persian Ironwood ( Parrotia persica ) - Japanese Maple 'Beni Hime' - Serviceberry 'Autumn Brilliance' ( Amelanchier ) with tree peonies - Stewartia pyschocamellia starts the color show early. It has since faded to a much softer color - Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Paul, Cindy and I drove to the coast today. It was a rainy start but cleared up soon and turned out to be a sunny but cold and windy day. Our first stop was Astoria where we stopped at the Maritime Museum then had lunch at Baked Alaska. We regretted that we did not have time to do and see everything. They loved Astoria and hope to return on a future trip and spend a night and an entire day here.

The maritime museum was fascinating and I feel like I learned quite a bit about the shipping trade as well as the geographical features of the Columbia River. I especially enjoyed reading about the trade routes and the items that we ship (and receive) to and from other countries. There was so much to see and read about here that we simply did not have time to view it all. Oh, and the gift shop was pretty fabulous too!