Oh joy in camp! Ocean in view. On this day in 1805, the Lewis and Clark expedition saw the ocean, as did we. Their journey, for the time being, was coming to an end, as was ours.

It was the year 1792 that John Gray sailed into the mouth of the treacherous Great River of the West, which he named after his ship, Columbia.

These scenes and others of the discovery and settlement of the Columbia River are depicted on the 125-foot high Astoria Column in Astoria, Oregon. Established in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city west of the Mississippi. The column, dedicated in 1926, has 164 steps and the pictures are carved in cement, an art form known as sgraffito.

Also of note in Astoria is the excellent Columbia River Maritime Museum, which we had a chance to visit in the morning.

As a culmination to the voyage, we cruised out to take a look at the Columbia River Bar -- Graveyard of the Pacific -- now tamed by jetties, dredging, buoys, radar and bar pilots, but impressive nonetheless.