Clouds and More Clouds

This morning the low clouds and fog from yesterday were still with us. We are in the area where Lewis and Clark and their expedition ended at the Pacific Ocean. The Lewis and Clark National Historic Park is located here, partially in Washington and partially in Oregon, and encompasses several state parks in each state. We decided to check out Cape Disappointment State Park. As we were driving along, we saw this sign . . .

I love lighthouses, so we walked up the trail to take a look . . .

Again, it was like being in a rain forest, and the low clouds really added to the effect.

A view of the ocean on the way to the lighthouse


Another view - the lighthouse sits on top of these cliffs.

In case you wanted to know . . .

North Head Lighthouse

Inside the lighthouse, we headed up the 69 steps of the spiral staircase

To the top

On a clear day you can see the beam from this light 20 miles away

The light keeper's residences

The volunteer docent in the lighthouse was extremely knowledgeable and told us lots of facts about how and why it was built, the history and some trivia about the area, etc. . . . way way too much to remember. But I always try to learn at least one thing whenever we take one of these little tours. My one bit of interesting information for today . . . .

The light from every lighthouse in the USA has it's own unique signal. For example, the light in this lighthouse has two panels of light, then a blank panel. As the light rotates, the ship captain will see light, light, then blank, light, light, then blank. He can check his chart and can determine exactly where he is from the signal. It's hard to believe there could be enough variations to cover the hundreds, possibly thousands, of lighthouses, but that's what he said. So I believe it.

On the walk back to our car, we came across this guy . . .

We dropped a quarter on the ground to give a perspective to his size. Yuk!

We drove across the Columbia River

on this long long long bridge

And into Oregon

Our plan had been to take Hwy 101 South along the Oregon Coast, which is absolutely gorgeous . . . Except today, it looked like this . . . .

I know the ocean is out there someplace . . .

A little further along, we tried to see it again . . .

Still no luck

Still further along. . .

This is the best it got all day.

When we got to Tillamook, we stopped for lunch and to sample the yummy cheese and ice cream . . .

After lunch, we drove along the coast awhile further, but it's such a slow and winding road, and with no view of the ocean AT ALL, we finally gave up and headed inland to Hwy 5. We are now in Eugene for the night, and will be officially headed home in the morning. See you soon!