More Lighthouses

Monday June 18, 2012

We didn’t hurry to get up and around this morning. No one was anxious to leave the beach-front campsites , even after a walk on the beach this morning. Check out time was 1 pm and we finally got up and ready to go around 11 am. Of course we had time for pancakes and eggs.

We headed north again on route 101to Newport, OR. Our first stop was at the Yaquina Bay State Park for a tour of the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, and of course a stamp for our lighthouse passport books. This lighthouse was only in service for 3 years, from 1871 to 1874. Then it was decommissioned due to its lack of visibility at a distance. The state refurbished the lighthouse and the keeper’s house but the light is no longer in the tower.

We made a short stop at Walmart in Newport , as well as a quick stop at Taco Bell for a little energy boost.

We drove a few miles north of Newport and visited the Yaquina Head Lighthouse. This lighthouse and the VC is under the jurisdiction of the BLM. The Yaquina Head Lighthouse is still in use and the combination first order Fresnel lens and 1000 watt light is visible approximately 30 miles at sea. (On a clear night) We were able to go up to but not into the light platform. We could go high enough to stick our head and shoulders into the light level and get a good look at the lens, light and reflector. It was very interesting. Of course we got our lighthouse books stamped at the VC.

Agate Beach is at the north end of Newport. The 2011 Tsunami in Japan washed part of a floating dock away from the Japanese coast and after a number of months at sea it wound up on Agate Beach in Oregon. We could see it from the bluff going to the lighthouse and took a few pictures, but didn’t stop at the beach.

Through all of our fiddling around Wilma was able to get a few blogs posted and get us up to date.

We drove north on 101 through Depoe Bay, OR. It is a very short strip of tourist trap shops, and has some whale watching or fishing charter sales shacks, and has a place or two that make salt water taffy. At the sea wall in front of the parking strip you can really get sprayed by some of the waves that crash in on stormy days. We would have stopped but couldn’t find a place to park the rolling caves. The one area that we could park had a sign saying “no vehicles over 5 feet tall”—so--- We drove on to Lincoln City and stopped at the outlet mall to look for a couple of things for the kitchen in the rolling caves. We couldn’t find anything we had to have. We discussed what we would do tomorrow and decided to go back south to the Beverly Beach State Campground. It has been a number of years since we stayed there so we went back hoping they would have a couple of spots for the night. Luckily we were able to get adjacent spots. God is good to us.

Once we got in and located, we all jumped into the Rubble-mobile and dashed back to Newport for a dinner of fish and chips at the Newport Cafe. It is a little local dive, and dinner was delicious, so now Wilma doesn’t have to have a major tantrum.  We are now back in the Beverly Beach Campground and are settled in for the night.

We’ll pound out some more tomorrow.

God nott (good night in Norwegian)