SO MUCH TO SEE…UMPQUA RIVER LIGHTHOUSE

Thursday, May 31 – We drove down to the Umpqua River Lighthouse (pronounced Oom-kwa) this morning. It is located six miles south of Reedsport, OR, above the entrance to Winchester Bay. The lighthouse with its 65-foot tower overlooks the Oregon Dunes National Recreation Area from a hilltop 165 feet above the bay.

Back of the Umpqua Lighthouse and the working room.

Identical to the Heceta Head Lighthouse, which we tried to view yesterday but found it encased in scaffolding and tarps for renovation, both being illuminated for the first time in 1894. The lens emits a distinctive red and white automated signal.

Maudie and David are the workampers at the light house. They both work in the Lighthouse Museum. We toured the Museum which gives a historical background of the lighthouse, its keepers, and the Coast Guard attachment located at Umpqua. The museum is housed in the former Keepers home.

It was explained to us that each lighthouse has a distinctive signature that can be used by ships to identify their location. The Umpqua flashes two white lights followed by a red flash. This signal can be seen from 21-miles out to sea. It is the only one of its kind on the West Coast.

After the museum, we paid our fee for the lighthouse tour ($5 each but only $3 for seniors over 60 and students) and received a very informative and enjoyable explanation of the working of the lighthouse by our guide David. We were the only people of this first tour of the day.

David gave us a super tour. He was very knowledgeable about the Lighthouse and answered all our questions.

This is not the original Lighthouse. Below will explain what happened to the original one.

David discussed the construction of the new lighthouse from outside.

When the new Lighthouse was constructed, it was all brick.

Then he led us up the cast iron spiral stairway to the top where we were able to view the working light and its rotating Fresnel lens.

Paul going up the steps to see the lens.

The working lighthouse has gone through various updates and changes over the years from being lit with kerosene to its present day 1000 watt halogen electrical bulb.

Explains how all the prisms work.

When they used kerosene to light the lantern, the opening, at top, was necessary to allow the fumes to escape.

Prisms

Lens gear.

The handles that window washers must hold on when they clean the outside windows.

Not sure she should be behind this wheel.

We were very impressed with our tour and would highly recommend it to those in the area.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

 

CAPE PERPETUA SCENIC AREA

Wednesday, May 30 – We visited Cape Perpetua this morning and highly recommend this area to anyone visiting the Oregon Coast.

It is absolutely beautiful. The Cape encompasses 2,700 acres of coastal habitat, offers 26 miles of hiking trails, and has a visitor's center.

One of the hiking trails.

Captain James Cook discovered Cape Perpetua. Why name it Cape Perpetua you ask? Perhaps because on March 7, the day he first sighted the headland is the holy day of Saint Perpetua – OR - was it because the cape was in "perpetual" sight? No one knows for sure.

Marsha enjoying the view.

You are able to drive to the top of Cape Perpetua Headland which is the highest viewpoint accessible by car on the Oregon Coast – over 800 feet above the rugged coast. It provides views of 70 miles of coastline and 37 miles out to sea. Today was very clear and I believe we could see these distances.

We hiked the Captain Cook Trail to visit the tidepools, Cape Cove Beach, Devil's Churn, Perpetua Overlook, Good Fortune Cove and Spouting Horn. The trail is accessible by car with many pull-outs, but it is an easy hike and we enjoyed the exercise. It's exciting to walk down on the rocks where the waves are breaking and throwing spray in the air. The tide was coming in so we were able to see some pretty exciting sights.

Devil's Churn.

Good Fortune Cove

Spouting Horn...it wasn't high tide yet, so no spouting could be seen.

We stopped at the Heceta Head Lighthouse about 12 miles north of Florence, OR. It sits 205 feet above the ocean and rises 56 feet above the ground. The automated beacon can be seen 21 miles out to sea and is rated as the strongest light on the Oregon Coast. Unfortunately, the entire lighthouse was encased in scaffolding and tarps and is closed for 1-2 years for extensive renovations. We were hoping to visit the lighthouse at night but that won't be possible – at least not on this trip.

Courtesy of the Internet…this is what it looks like.

There is a beautiful stream flowing into the ocean at Heceta Head Lighthouse that is interesting to see. Boy was that water cold! Also, the historic assistant light keeper's house sits on the hill and offers bed and breakfast rentals for group events.

Where the stream enters the ocean.

We found some interesting items while walking along the beach.

Just another day, sitting and posing for my photo.

While sitting outside this afternoon, Marsha was looking up at the sun. She couldn't figure out why the sun had a circle around it and rainbow colors.. She then took a photo and went to do her research. Here is what she found out…
These phenomena form when sunlight passes through ice crystals in the atmosphere, and refracts to split up the colors, or when light bounces off the ice crystals and is reflected.  If you would like to read more about this "Halo", click here.

Pretty cool photo.

After a great day, what better way to cap it off, but with a wonderful fire.

A bit more about Oregon…
All Oregon gas stations are REQUIRED to pump their gas for you.
Oregon offers an example of every geographic terrain on the planet within its borders.
At 1,943 feet, Crater Lake in Southern Oregon is the deepest lake in the US.

If you would like to see more photos of Cape Perpetua, please click here.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!

HARBOR VISTA PARK…FLORENCE, OR

Tuesday, May 29 – We were on the road early this morning headed for our next stop, Florence, OR. The drive was beautiful.

We are camped at Harbor Vista County Park in Florence, Oregon. What a nice campground! We are in Site 3 of the 38 available sights. It is easily accessible from Route 101 by driving about 3 miles out to the cape on a nice paved road.

Our site is paved, about 65 feet long, has a fire ring, a tent site (our patio), and 50 amp electric and water. There is a dump station available at the front gate.

Our site…West 3.
.

Our beautiful private side yard.

Looking left.

Looking right.

We were greeted by Pauline, a friendly camp host, who directed us to our site and made sure we had everything we needed. There is also a campground caretaker, that lives in a house in the campground, that takes care of maintenance and sells firewood. He does a wonderful job. The park is very clean.

There is a access to the beach where you can walk for miles along the sandy beach. This area of the coast is not the rugged high cliffs associated with most of the Oregon coastline.

Looking across the street where we can view the ocean.

Bella, our cat, just LOVES all the birds, smells, grass and areas for exploration. We are here for a week, and she will certainly enjoy herself.

This County Park's website does a great job of explaining each site. They even have a category for satellite reception for each site.

A gorgeous sunset.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y'all back real soon. Have a great day!