The Goon Docks

The Goonies has always been one of my favorite movies. My friends and I would disappear for the day and mimic their adventures in the woods and marshes behind our house. Of course we never found any pirate treasure since we lived on the Jersey Shore.

As we approached the west coast I started bugging Jean to go to Astoria, Oregon. We left Vancouver and headed back through Washington on our way to Oregon. However this trip down the coast didn't go as smoothly as we wished. We were driving down Route 5 in Washington when the traffic ahead of us suddenly stopped. I slammed on the brakes, the tires locked up on the truck as well on the trailer. It was all in slow motion as we slid down the highway. There was nothing we could do but lean forward and watch as we smashed into the car in front of us. 

The lady we slammed into was very nice considering I just trashed her car. We exchanged our information and called the police. My front bumper is collapsed and the two driving lights I just installed no longer work. Her rear bumper, trunk and tail light are trashed. I think some of the damage was caused by the steer horns, which we had to remove because the front grill is cracked and the zip-ties holding them on snapped. The police helped us back onto the road and we continued on to Oregon.

The Goon Docks

By the time we arrived in Oregon it was late as that is our style on this trip. We stayed right on the coast while a huge storm was rolling in. The whole night the camper was shaking and trembling from the wind and rain. The next morning we awoke to a sliver of sunshine but the wind was still strong. We stopped and got some coffee and headed west to Astoria. As soon as we pulled into town we spotted the bowling ally from the beginning of the movie where Chunk smashed his pizza and strawberry milkshake against the glass. We made a couple random turns and came across the county jail.

After driving through town we followed the boys bike route from the movie and headed towards Ecola State Park which was about 20 miles away. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot we could pick out scenes from the movie. One of the most memorable features is Haystack Rock. The Lighthouse Lounge from the movie was a mock-up and was torn down after they completed filming. There is a shelter in its place and that is where Jean and I found the fireplace that lead us on our underground adventure for One Eyed Willies gold.