Cape Blanco Lighthouse

After leaving the lifeboat station, we went to the Cape Blanco State Park. Our main goal was to visit the Cape Blanco Lighthouse. The lighthouse, Oregon's oldest continually operating one, is located at Oregon's westernmost point. Cape Blanco is thought to have been sighted by Spanish explorer Martin de Aguilar in 1603. Tours are available.

Originally, the light burned oil. Later, electric lights ran from a generator, and still later, electric lines were brought to the lighthouse. Here is an oil can; the lighthouse used to have eight. Now the light runs automatically, but in early days, maintaining the light was nearly constant work.

The walls are very thick at the bottom of the tower and gradually become less so as they rise. I couldn't resist taking this shot of the spiral stairs.

Just before reaching the light, there is a little machine that, via a shaft running up to the giant Fresnel lens, rotates continually.

In the top of the tower, the lens encloses a 1,000 watt bulb and a backup bulb.

The lighthouse and adjacent gift shop are staffed by volunteers. Here, our guide is explaining about whales that not only pass by but often stay in the area to enjoy rich food sources.

The lighthouse originally was part of a compound that included housing, garden, and livestock facilities, as the early keepers were expected to care for many of their own needs. Those additional buildings no longer survive. Well, I could stay up here for hours, but it's time to head back downstairs. Love these spiral stairs shots.

Next, we'll visit the historic Hughes house and ranch that we passed on our way to the lighthouse.

Port Orford Lifeboat Station

The weather was beautiful today, perfect for a day of exploring. First, we made our way to the Lifeboat Station.

The Oregon coast is known as being a treacherous one, and frequent shipwrecks led not only to the construction of lighthouses, but also prompted the Coast Guard to build a lifesaving station at Port Orford Heads. Coast Guard "Surfmen" kept watch over this stretch of Oregon coast from 1934 until 1970. There was an observation tower, now gone, a boathouse, which burned down, and, more than 500 steps above the boathouse site, a compound. There were quarters for the crew, a residence for the officer in charge, a storage building, a pump house, and a garage, all still surviving. This diorama shows the station as it used to be.

 The station's 36-foot self-baling unsinkable lifeboat was legendary.

One is on display up at the compound.

Inside the museum, you can see one of the ship's wheels.

Other displays tell visitors more about these amazing boats.

There was originally also another boat.

Crew lived at the station, ever ready.

The dangers the Surfmen faced for the sake of others were staggering. I won't soon forget the slogan posted outside: "You have to go out. You don't have to come back."

Upstairs there is a room in which you can watch videos (several hours of video are available, although I only watched a few minutes). The one I watched had old black-and-white footage of the boats in heavy seas. I cringed each time a wave completely engulfed the lifeboat, but each time it emerged, somehow, safe and sound.

There are several short trails around the head. We were able to see Nellie's Cove, where the boathouse used to be,

and the site of the 37-foot tower, which once was manned 24/7.

We went out to the head, hoping to see migrating whales. This is a good time to see them, and a couple we passed said they had seen some, but we had left the binoculars in the truck and didn't see any whales, but then, we don't really know what to look for.

We could see, up the coast in the distance, Cape Blanco Lighthouse, which I'll tell you about next time,

and to the south, Humbug Mountain, which we passed on our way to Port Orford.

On to Port Orford

We followed Highway 101 up the coast some 70 miles to Port Orford, Oregon, our base for the next three days or so. We stopped for a break by this big rock near Gold Beach. I think it may be called Turtle Rock, as there is a resort on the other side of the highway named "Turtle Rock." That's our trailer in the photos.

The dogs were excited by the white foam that came in with the surf.

 They would chase little bits of foam that blew about in the breeze.

Here at the RV park, it has been raining, but we hear that the weather should improve in the next couple days. We hope so, but rain won't keep us housebound.

California Redwoods and a Lighthouse

Yesterday we parked the trailer at a waterfront RV park in Smith River, California. We fell asleep last night to the roar of the Pacific and the lashing of the rain. It's overcast this morning, but threatening to rain again. Here's the view looking to the right. We're on Salmon Harbor, and beyond that spit of land is the open sea.

Looking to the left (that's the fish cleaning station in front):

We set out to see the redwoods, intending to see the parks south of Crescent City. There are several parks at different governmental levels, and at some point they have decided to work together rather than separately to preserve and share these national treasures. Much of the drive, we overlooked the ocean. I asked Jan to pull over in a turnout so I could capture this beautiful sight.

After I snapped the picture, I realized there was a caller, a young woman, using the call box a few feet away from me. There are call boxes every few miles along this California highway. It turned out she wasn't having any luck with the call box, nor was she getting cell phone service. I asked her about her car, which I didn't see, and she pointed to two black marks on the highway 25 yards or so back. It seems a car had crowded her and her car had gone over the edge. The other driver apparently never looked in his rear view mirror. Her car was barely noticeable and we wouldn't have seen it if she hadn't pointed it out. She was uninjured, thank goodness, as were her two dogs which were still in the car. She had AAA but, as I've said, was unable to reach them. We took Felicity back to Crescent City so she could call AAA, and, after some frustration trying to reach the appropriate people, left her in the hands of the tow truck driver. All this had taken some time, so we quickly decided to visit the Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, which was much closer to Crescent City, instead of retracing our steps south.

We couldn't resist taking some pictures to show the sheer size of these old growth redwoods.

 The forest, being so close to the ocean, is lush with ferns and mosses.

 These majestic giants shaded us with a high overhead canopy.

 There was plenty of room in the base of this giant.

 The dirt road wound for miles over the hills and through the woods. There were frequent turnouts in case of oncoming traffic. It wasn't crowded, but we did have to use the turnouts several times.

 Back in Crescent City, we spent an hour or so in the Del Norte Historical Society Museum, where photography is not allowed, but here is a picture of the outside.

We enjoyed the museum very much. It was WELL worth its $3 suggested donation admission.

Afterward, we headed over to the Battery Point Lighthouse Museum. I was glad that I had checked on details ahead of time, because the lighthouse is only accessible during low tide, and only between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., if the tide permits. There is an isthmus you can walk across at low tide, but at other times the lighthouse is on an island. I had learned that low tide was going to be just before 4 p.m., and that there was a couple hours window each way, so our arrival at 3 p.m. was perfect. This was the main reason we didn't go back south after rescuing Felicity this morning.

There are tours available for a $3 suggested donation. Photography inside the lighthouse, which has been continuously occupied since it was built in 1856, is not allowed, except up in the tower. The lighthouse is a Cape Cod style with two-foot thick walls. It is amazingly quiet inside.  It is now privately owned and occupied by volunteers who sign up for a month of service at a time. Currently, volunteers have signed up into the year 2015, so it you want to be a lighthouse keeper here, you will have a wait. It still operates as a lighthouse and answers to the Coast Guard as regards the light.

Here we are up in the tower.

I've always wanted to go inside a lighthouse!

Shortly afterward, the rain began again. We were happy to return to the trailer.

Oregon Caves National Monument

Yesterday we stopped for the night at Cave Junction, Oregon, less than an hour from Grants Pass. We were in plenty of time to visit Oregon Caves National Monument; tours end at 4 this time of year. Getting to the site involved miles and miles of curvy, climbing mountain roads, and by the time we got there, we were touching the clouds and could see patches of snow still lying about. After bidding the dogs goodbye in the parking lot, we walked the last little bit to the caves. The first building we saw was this, which is the downhill side of the lodge that was built in the early 30s. It wasn't set to open until May 9, so we weren't able to go inside.

Here is a view from the end--isn't the cedar siding something?--

and from the uphill side.

In the 60s, an unusually wet spring let to a mudslide that nearly destroyed the building. A couple workers who were present rushed to the building after the initial mudslide hit it and opened windows and doors, so the mud could flow through it. The entire lodge was displaced by a few inches, but allowing the mud to flow through it prevented it from being entirely swept away. It was cleaned, repaired, and painstakingly nudged back into place. Fortunately there are photos of its former glory days.

Turn around and look uphill and you see the visitor center (that's Jan striding up the hill).

 Inside, you'll buy your tickets and wait for the next available tour. I liked this quilt on display.

Groups are limited to 15 in size because of cramped quarters inside the caves. While waiting, you can browse in the gift shop or watch informative videos in the small theater. We learned about the history of the monument and the people who brought the lodge and visitor center into being. The local mascot in Grants Pass is the caveman, and many local businesses are named "caveman" this or that. It seems local supporters of the caves project called themselves "cavemen" (and women); they even dressed up for the role and were in parades and such. (I snapped this photo in the theater.)

At 2 p.m. our tour guide gathered us, and after a few instructions we were on our way.

We headed up the mountain.

Our guide, Katie, gave us a couple opportunities to catch our breath, as it was quite a climb to the entrance. Of course, each rest was disguised as a learning opportunity--she was very considerate. The entrance, protected by a gate, was almost inconspicuous, sunken in the mountainside.

Inside, I found the caves to be much closer quarters than the only other caves I have visited, the Lewis and Clark Caverns in Montana, although there were a couple fairly large rooms. We mostly had to proceed single file, and there were many places we had to walk doubled over, as clearance was as low as 42".  Our guide shared lots of information about the formation and history of the caves. The tours are scheduled to take 90 minutes, although ours was about 20 minutes longer.

We left by a long, man-made tunnel,

which deposited us back on the mountainside.

We headed back to our campground just outside Cave Junction, where we were fortunate to have a spot right on the river. We fell asleep to the sound of rain; this is an area of significant rainfall--according to Wikipedia, some 61 inches a year. I am thinking that was a important factor in the formation of these caves, as the acidity of rain is an important component of cave formation (new knowledge!).

Jan's Prayer Shawl Ministry

During the past couple months, Jan has become involved in the Prayer Shawl ministry at Calvary Lutheran Church in Grants Pass. He completed two crocheted lap blankets/shawls for the ministry before we left yesterday. I'm still working on my first one, but he finished two!

Less than 24 Hours

In less than 24 hours, we'll be travelling again. There's so much to do. When you've been in one spot for 6 months, you kind of grow roots.

Jan was on top of the trailer yesterday, cleaning off leaves. I asked him to wash the skylight/ceiling vents (we have 3). Two of them just disintegrated into pieces when he touched them. We decided not to touch the third one, and right now we have plastic bags taped over the broken ones. Apparently the UV light of the sun really weakens the plastic. Fortunately, the local RV store says they will have replacement covers for us today. I think we'll go ahead and replace all three.