The Lighthouses of Washington & Oregon

While driving along the Northwest Washington & Oregon coast, our goal was to visit as many Lighthouses as we could.  Cheryl took this great sepia photo of a photo at the North Head Lighthouse in Washington.

This is a Fresnel Light which is the light at the top of all the Lighthouses.

And this is what it looks like when it's lit.

Here is the North Head lighthouse.

And these buildings were housing for the lighthouse keeper and staff - but now anyone can rent either of these homes for an unusual vacation on the coast (only about $6000 a week).

We found this lighthouse that we could only see from a distance.

This is the Cape Disappointment in Washington Lighthouse.

These kids were having a great time at a beach near the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse.

Midway down the coast at Winchester Bay, we found the first lighthouse that was built on the Oregon coast - the Umpqua River Lighthouse.

Double click on this sign for the Umpqua River Lighthouse which explains how it was destroyed just 7 yrs after it was built and then how it was rebuilt again.

The Yaquina Bay Lighthouse had a terrific tour inside the living quarters of the lighthouse keeper.

The lighthouse is the 2nd oldest lighthouse - but it was only in original service for 3 years before the commissioning of the brighter Yaquina Head Light nearby eliminated its necessity.

This beautiful staircase leads to the light atop the lighthouse.

This is the original Kitchen in the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse.

And these are some of the original furnishings from the lighthouse keeper.

We were not able to visit all the lighthouses on the Oregon coast and some days it was almost too foggy to even see them - This is the Yaquina Head Lighthouse.

Blanche & Lucy see the many faces of the Oregon Coast

We discovered that the Oregon coastline has many faces... in this segment we'll show you the variety of coastal scenes that we saw.

This was the first bridge we crossed as we drove into Oregon from Washington.

Foggy coastline and cold sweatshirts were not unusual here

These beautiful huge rocks in the ocean were my favorite sights.

If you double click on this image you will see the a boy and dog in the water and a girl sitting on the rock enjoying the waves - gives you a little perspective on the size of these rocks.

Many areas along the Oregon coast reminded us of the Bar Harbor Maine coastline.

We decided that we wanted to visit those folks in the houses on the edge of the coast.

Here are more of the rocky coastal areas we loved.

This beautiful bridge crossed over the Yaquina Bay in Newport, OR.

This is Agate Beach which had these wonderful sand dunes shaped by the wind.

The sand was soft and powdery and reminded me of a puffy 'pillow top' mattress.

After seeing all the different types of coasts here in Oregon - my favorite was still the beautiful 'sea stack rocks' - like big beached 'dinosaurs' in the shallow ocean water. 

Blanche & Lucy visit more Washington coastal towns

At the Port of Ilwaco in Washington, Blanche & Lucy found a great Farmer's Market with wonderful arts and crafts as well as fresh produce and foods.

In Sekiu, which is a little fishing community, we visited our friend Flo's brother Chuck and his fishing club who assembled to have fun camping, and fishing.   
They caught, cooked and smoked terrific freshly caught Pacific Salmon and shared the fish with us at a fun Pot Luck dinner there.

The 'Fish Boy' above and this 'Fish Girl' caught our eye when we drove into the harbor area and we couldn't resist.....

This resting gal had the right idea - at this peaceful harbor scene.

Red boats, blue water, peaceful scene for us all to enjoy.

We camped along the ocean in Long Beach Washington and visited this little beach town that had lots of fun photo opportunities with our silly gals - Cheryl and  Flo, always willing subjects - once over easy please girls.

The beach town of Long Beach had a cute little Carousal .....

And lovely flowers.

The ocean was just a short walk through the sea grass from our RV's to the beach sand.

Blanche and Lucy loved running and playing with Luey on the Beach sand.

We saw a great flock of Pelicans on the beach.

This Pelican and sea birds were easily approachable for a photo.

Everyone assembled on the beach each night to watch the sunset - even these horse riders.

Long Beach sunset didn't disappoint us.

Blanche & Lucy visit the Washington Coast

Blanche and Lucy, their friend Luey and their 'peoples'  took a long hike today through beautiful the Cedar forest to the furthest North West point in the US - Cape Flattery, Washington.

This is the land of the Makah Natives who were the first inhabitants here.   The Cedar trees were the most important trees for these people.  They used the bark for clothing and baskets and hats and the wood for canoes, homes and more.  Double click on this photo to read more.

This plaque explains what is happening to the ground and ocean land here - slowly reducing the land we stand on with the pounding surf.

The pacific west coast is so different from what we are used to in the east.

And yet there are some areas where it reminds me of the Maine coastline of Bar Harbor.

The Cedar trees here in the north west are magestic.  Many lumber companies are located here and harvest these trees for use all over the US for building homes and furniture.

Being in Arizona all winter we miss watching the wonder of the ocean.

We stayed here for quite a while just watching the blue ocean crash against the rocks.

These huge rocks in the middle of the ocean with trees growing out of them are called 'Sea Stacks'.

This plaque talks about this location being the point from which the Makah Natives first saw the Europeans who came to their land. Double click to read more.

Here we are standing on the 'furthest northwest point of land' in the US overlooking Cape Flattery.

Driving along the Makah reservation in the early morning we were graced with beautiful reflections.

Leaving the Makah reservation we took time to visit the museum of the Makah Indian Nation.

Leaving we said goodbye to the Makah totems.