Lighthouse time

Up the road a few miles from Ano Nuevo is Pigeon Point lighthouse. Since we have visited lighthouses from here to Canada we just had to stop in and say hello.

Do the girls look cold and wet? Yup, it was that kind of day at the beach.

Just so you don't think winter at the beach is all dreary and cold here's a view near our campground on Thursday afternoon. Sharleen and I took a long walk past the hotel on the point. The sun was out and we walked in shirt sleeves.

It looks like San Diego next month...... more from there.

Chasing the Elephant seals

It was a dark and stormy day..... sounds like a bad novel.

We hit the road again, this time to Pelican Point at Half Moon Bay on the pacific shore south of San Fransisco. It's a short three hour drive from home so it was a pretty easy and pleasant drive.

Wednesday morning six of us headed to Ano Nuevo state preserve to view the Elephant seals. The day was dreary but the company was great the the seals are amazing. The adventure started with a three quarter mile hike to a staging area

where we met our guide for the day. From there, volunteer docents take small groups on a mile and half walk over the dunes to view the Elephant seals.

Ano Nuevo is the winter home of some 1500 Elephant seals. Here they give birth to pups and mate. By the late 1800s there were less than 100 Elephant seals left in the world. They had been slaughtered for their blubber much as whales have been hunted. Today through conservation efforts there are more than 250,000 in existence.

Elephant seals litter the beach for as far as you can see. The females give birth and then nurse the pups for about a month. A pup will weigh about 30 pounds at birth and some will get as big as 400 pounds at the end of the month nursing period.The female doesn't eat during nursing and will loose up to 40% of her weight. After a month the female weans(just quits nursing) the pup and will mate in preparation for next years offspring.

The colony lives in a "Harem" society. If you're the alpha male life is good. If you aren't the big kahuna then you sit on the outside and look in as this adult male is doing. The Males littered the sand dunes and we walked up to them ( no closer than 25 feet). They are very docile and barely recognized our visit. Adult males will grow to 18 feet long and weigh as much as 5000 pounds. Pretty impressive guys!

The video below is a "first try" at adding a video clip. Not great but it gives you a different view of the beach and the residents.

Point Reyes National Seashore

Greetings to family and friends,

We're on the road again... not far from home this time. We're at Point Reyes national seashore just north of San Fransisco. We're camped with friends Bob and Suzanne at Olema RV park and have been hiking and sightseeing.

Point Reyes light house sits three hundred feet below the top of this rock on the pacific shore. There are 308 steps to get down the the lighthouse and of course 308 steps to get back to the top (it just seems like more).

This is Point Reyes lighthouse. It was commissioned in the late 1800's and ran on pig fat which was burned to light the lamp until 1930 when electricity was installed. Today the light house is still in use but is automated and runs unattended.

The lighthouse sits some 360 feet above the ocean and as you can see is built on the rock that juts toward the water.

It was 20 miles from our camp to the lighthouse... the drive took the better part of a hour and the temperature dropped about 20 degrees.

Today (Wednesday) we went Geo caching. Our quests took us to this old bridge, then off on a 4 mile hike to a large tree on top of a hill. Then, to a cemetery near Olema and finally to a trail in the national seashore. All in all a great day with lots of scenery, good weather and good friends to share it.

Home tomorrow.... wish we had another week to spend here. We just have to come back

Bandon, Charleston and heading home

Well gang, We're on the way home from Bandon by the sea. Sorta sad to be heading home but back to the real world as they say.

We spent the last week in Bandon, Oregon at Bullards Beach State Park. It's a wonderful park with lots of things to do in the area.

The Coquille River Lighthouse sits at the entrance to the Bandon harbor and the mouth of the Coquille River. It's part of the state park now and has been restored to perfect condition. It's three miles from the campground and I ran to the lighthouse and back every morning. It's kinda of a "head thing" to run on the beach and arrive at this lighthouse. There are three geocaches (for those of you who know about that stuff) within a half mile of the lighthouse and we found them all.

We visited a wild animal park on Friday and got up close and personal with the cats. Here Kitty Kitty Kitty! What about that, Ella

But...... the best part was getting to play with a

9 week old lioness cub. Look closely and you will see her sitting between us. She was really a sweet cub and at 20 pounds she was only 4 pounds heavier than our kitty, Patches.

Did I fail to mention we have a new "grandbaby"? Here's Sharleen holding the "little darlin". I'm sure you can tell she takes after her grandmother.

On Saturday we drove up to Charleston which is near Coos Bay to attend the seafood festival and visit some of the other state parks in the area.We found a botanical garden with lots of flowers. I'm told we will visit again in the spring for the rhodendon bloom. Oh well, just another trip I guess.

One last look at the magnificent Oregon coast and back to camp to spend Sunday getting ready to head home. The trip has been a great one filled with a variety of fun things from great scenery to visits with loved ones and a number of special experiences. This is the last post for this trip. I don't know if I'll do one for the next trip or not... depends if you all like the blog. Home tomorrow.

Woodburn, Oregon

Greetings from Woodburn, Oregon. It's Sunday morning and I have a little time so thought I'd update you on our happenings.

We drove down to Woodburn on Friday.... a 200 hundred mile trip. Woodburn is about 30 miles south of Portland on I-5. Sharleen's sisters and families live here so we get to spend the weekend with some really great folks.

Yesterday, while the girls went shopping(surprise!) the guys headed to the beach with the quads for a little "playing in the big sandbox" time. We drove about two hours from Woodburn to Sand lake. There is a recreation area at Sand Lake that is about 1500 acres of sand dunes, wooded trails and beach that is open to off road vehicles of all shapes and sizes. All you need is a permit, a flag for the vehicle and the nerve to "hit the sand".

We pulled out on the beach, got stuck, offloaded the quads, parked the trailer and we were off.

We rode the beach for a while just so I could get the feel of the quad and then we "headed for the dunes". The guys took it easy on me and we had fun going up and down the sand.

Tony showed me how to climb a dune in reverse..... show off!! I think he just wanted to spray some sand.

We rode for about 4 hours resting when the view was great and watching the riders do crazy things with their bikes. It was a special day for me since I got to do something I never would have done on my own and doing it with some great guys made it all the better. Many thanks to Jerry, Tony and Ray for letting me "tag along" on the trip to the dunes.

Tomorrow we head for Bandon, Oregon and Bullards Beach state park. It's the final week of our month roaming the Pacific Northwest. There's no WiFi at the state park so this will be my last post till we get home on August 20.

Grayland Beach

Greetings again... we're back to civilization.... Parked near the outlet mall in Woodburn, Oregon.

I have to admit I'm thrilled to be this close to the mall. Can't wait to go over and start the shopping!

We spent the last three days in Grayland, Washington at one of the many the state parks there.

The little fishing village of Westport is about 5 miles from Greyland and as a working harbor where you can buy fresh(as in caught that day)fish,crabs and shellfish. We walked the marina area and had lunch at a small cafe.

We visited the maritime museum on the waterfront. It's housed in a former Coast Guard facility and contains history some of the area focusing on the fishing and whaling that went on in the last

century.

The highlight of our visit to Westport was the Gray's Harbor light house. It's the tallest lighthouse in Washington and is still in use today. The light and rotating lens have been replaced with modern technology but it still is a active part of ship navigation. We had a personalized tour with a docent that cares for the lighthouse. The three of us went to the top (only 135 stairs) and looked at the lens and rotating mechanism that was used over the last 100 years.

We found a Oyster farm and bought a dozen medium sized oysters for dinner on Wednesday. We have never had better oysters so.... back to the oyster farm for another dozen for dinner on Thursday. What a treat! Fresh Oysters on the BBQ is a gourmet delight. The weather was cloudy which is typical for the beach in summer. Overcast but pleasant.

We will return to Grayland to spend more time there. I even saw a bald eagle sitting on a tree stump that had washed ashore. I was out running on the beach early Friday morning and got within about 15 feet of the eagle. It just sat there and looked at me as I ran by. What a treat! Running on the beach in the morning is one of my "things" and it's simply great in the morning. There's no one around and I can get lost in my thoughts.

Well, so much for Grayland. We're here in Woodburn for the weekend and then off to Bullards Beach in Bandon, Oregon for the last week of our trip. I assume we will not have WiFi there so this may be the last post for about ten days.

Point Defiance

We spent the last two days touring the Gig Harbor/ Tacoma area and yesterday we went to Pt Defiance park. It's a large park on the North side of Tacoma with a Zoo, Aquarium and lovely gardens. Kris joined us for the weekend with her camera and she took lots of photos. The flowers were beautiful and the park was great.

The flowers brought beautiful colors to the park

A five mile drive within the park provided spectacular views of lower Puget Sound and Vashon Island

One last stop at Gig Harbor before we went back to the RV Park and put our feet up.

This morning Mt. Rainier showed its majestic form east of Gig Harbor. If you look closely you can see it's snow covered peak rising above the hills in the middle of the picture.

Tomorrow it's off to Grayland state beach on the Washington coast.