Fortunately, the trip is much faster with Highway 30 on the Oregon side and the Astoria-Megler bridge.
It used to be- you would travel by steamship to get down river. Once people were driving cars- you would ferry over the river.
While I am in the big city of Longview (it isn't big- trust me) we will make the trip to Wal-Mart, Target and load up on supplies.