Jan 13 day 4 clear, sunny still cold

We got up to heavy frost & cold but were warm thanks to the furnace & electric heater on all night. Out of Kelso by 10:20 @ 154960.  Saw a municipal public dump site just before the Lewis & Clark Bridge but the RV dump valve is frozen, lost about 10 minutes. We arrived at the Maritime Museum at 11:40 @ 155042 and left when they closed. They didn’t have any food inside so we did have to go out to RV for our lunch. In the museum they had some great displays and it was well laid out.  On the entrance lobby wall was a map of the Columbia River mouth & Astoria harbour with models on locations some of the over 2000 ships wrecked since the 1800’s with their names. Some had a write-up on what happened, crew lost/saved, cargo etc. Since 1882 the Coast Guard station at the mouth of the Columbia River has rescued an average of 600 people a year! At the Coast Guard display, there was a retired USCG 44 ft cutter on display set to look as if it was going over a big (40 ft.) wave and also a video of some of the “44’s” in action, plus audio first-hand accounts by crew of what it was like being bounced around by huge waves & much, much more. It was fascinating!  We also learned why the waters at the mouth of the Columbia River are some of the roughest in the world.  Apparently  Columbia River water does not ‘glide’ out into the open ocean like many rivers—it rushes out and when it meets the incoming waves of the Pacific it causes 30 - 40 ft. waves, strong currents & lots of turbulence.  Combine that with a rocky shoreline and the result is lots & lots of shipwrecks over the years.  At one time, 1840’s–1920’s Astoria was called the ‘Salmon Capital of the World” because of the salmon, (mainly Chinook) caught & canned there. At one point there were 55 canneries in & near Astoria which produced almost a ½ million cases of canned salmon a year!  Due to over-fishing, pollution and the building of dams blocking the salmon spawning grounds, the salmon industry died in the 1930’s, but the Columbia River still remains a very important waterway for freighters supplying Portland.  Other interesting exhibits were the history of the steam sternwheelers, and the fur-trading & settlement of the area.  It is a very informative & interesting museum.

Finally finished the Museum and checked out a take-out fish & chip place called Bowrider recommended by one of the Elks members we met last night.  It’s set up in an old boat across the street but is closed Sundays. We left the Museum lot @ 5:20 pm.  We were at Fred Meyer’s by 5:25 @ 155050 km, with the gas gauge sitting on the middle of the big “E”.  I took almost 48 gallons which means I had about 50 miles in the tank at that point which matches a previous time I ran low so I now know how low I can go and have a 50 mile reserve.  We drove around to the back lot & were parked by 5:45.  Fred Meyer said they don’t give permission to park overnight but neither do they have you towed nor have security ask you to leave..  I set up the generator and we started on supper, but now the furnace comes on, runs a minute & shuts down, no heat comes out.  I have the gen running the electric heater and it is supposed to ONLY go down to 31F tonight, barely below freezing. We have the name of a local RV Repair shop thanks to Sheila talking to a Fred Meyer Customer service girl so that’s tomorrow’s first destination. I filled the gen tank late in the eve & left it running all night to power an electric heater.

Travelled 90 km