North Head Lighthouse Part 2

On Sunday we drove up to take a walk out to North Head Lighthouse. It was listed as a much easier walk than the one to Disappointment Bay's Lighthouse. But then almost any walk would be easier than that one was. Whew!
Sadly, as it turns out, Becky was unable to walk to the lighthouse with me. She ended up slipping and  completely dislocating her knee. I left her on the grass with my keys, hoping she would be able to somehow get in the car, and thinking it was somewhat rude for me to go on without her. She insisted, and I wanted the pictures, so I went.  The walk to North Head is a breeze. It was mostly level, with just gentle elevation changes every so often. The path was gravel, but it was smooth, easy to walk, and not too muddy. There was no real climbing like on the trail yesterday.
It was a very gray day, but at least it wasn't pouring like the day before. I saw a place where you could go around the fence and up a sidewalk, so I took it and walked up the sidewalk to get some pictures of the lighthouse below without all the people milling about. It was nice up there, quiet and peaceful and great views. It was also warmer and much less windy because I was sheltered by the hill. Here are some of the pictures I took from up there.

I came back down the hill and took a few photographs with the normal lens as I did. By then most of the others had left.

There had been pelicans flying around while I was approaching  . They were flying around, so I walked to the edge along the fence to get some pictures of them. It was there that I noticed that there were sea lions in the water. I saw three groups of them. As I was standing on the edge there, trying to get them in focus, we were hit by a squall. Suddenly it was blowing like crazy and raining sideways. The couple near me and I ran for shelter over by the lighthouse. It was windy, but dry. Then as I headed up to go back I noticed another couple huddled at the back of the lighthouse. It was dry and wind-free there, so I stood there a few minutes to let the squall pass before I headed back up to the car. It actually warmed me up to stand there out of the wind for a little bit.
As I was heading to the car, the pelicans came back and were swooping very close overhead. I got a few more shots of them and headed to the car.
Becky had managed to get herself in the car and was spread out over the two middle seats with her leg up. She spent the time reading. We headed back down the hill toward Ilwaco in search of pain reliever and food.  I was glad I let her talk me into going for the photos. I will post the sea lions and pelicans in another blog. As always, if you want to see the pictures bigger, just click on them.

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse

Today we got up at seven, thinking it was eight because the clock in our room was not reset to standard time. It was nice, though, to take our time getting ready. I had a cup of coffee and some toasted banana bread with yogurt and grapes. We headed out early to get to the museum so we could follow the bus to the Columbia Confluence Project area to listen to a lecture outlining the project and then take a "Walk Through Time" as we walked through the park. Here is a link if you want to read more about what the "Ocian in View" event is all about.  The bus tour continued on to Knappton Cove Heritage Center but we had headed to the little piece of beach called Waikiki Beach and were enjoying the crashing waves there. We decided to further explore the areas around us instead. We drove over to the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse and hiked up to see it. It was pouring rain and blustery but for most of our hike we were fairly dry from the tree cover. The final ascent, however, was unprotected by trees so we did get a bit wet going that last stretch up to the lighthouse. It was worth the climb to see the view from up there and to see the light house up close. We could look across to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. We climbed back down after spending some time up there just enjoying the view (but not so much the rain and wind). We debated about going over to the Interpretive Center, but our tired legs won the battle and we went back to the car. We drove from there back to the park and over to Benson Beach where I got some nice pictures of the lighthouse. Then we headed over to North Head Lighthouse. By that time it was really pouring and we opted to wait and see how tomorrow is rather than take another hike in the rain. It is a much shorter hike but we were bone cold and weary. 

We had lunch at a nice little restaurant. The tomato soup was delicious with blue cheese and brandy in the recipe. After lunch we decided to drive the peninsula and revisit the little historical district in Oysterville. I will write more about that another time. I'm tired. The internet is slow and it took me forever to upload these pictures. I am not going to rearrange them. I will just label them how they are. 

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse as seen from Benson Beach area.

As seen from another part of the Benson Beach area.

Dead Man's Cove from the trail to the lighthouse.

The beach at Dead Man's Cove.

Little baby banana slugs were all over the cement part of the climb.

Approaching the top of the hill.

Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center as seen from the lighthouse.

An abandoned bunker.

Another view of the lighthouse.

Cheap Motel Saga Continues

Chris and I had some real fun with our cheap motel quest on our road trip in May. We had some pretty interesting rooms, including one that had just been painted in enamel. It was yellow on two walls and purple on the other two walls. And I do not mean subdued or pastel colors, either! I have a picture of it, just not on this computer. I can show you the picture at a later date.
Becky and I are in a little motel in Ilwaco tonight. We came to the Long Beach area to attend a cultural event involving the Columbia Confluence area which is basically where the Columbia River meets the ocean. The weather has been off and on today, sunny one minute and blustery and rainy the next. We started out early this morning and took our time meandering to the ocean. On the way we saw these cute little Alpacas. Oh my goodness. Look at this cute little face!

There was an "Artisan Fair" in Tokeland that we wanted to attend. As it turns out it was actually in Ocosta and it was actually a craft sale to help benefit Children's Hospital in Seattle. We perused the goods and bought a few things and well....that certainly did not take up three days. It is running for three days, but we only needed an hour to figure out what to buy.   As it turns out there was also this event in Long Beach (technically it is in Ilwaco) and so we headed there. Here are a few of the pictures I took along the way:

The first part of this event was a lecture by an anthropologist about ....it's too complicated to go into. It was sort of about Thanksgiving. He talked a lot about Potlatch, which has to do with keeping the balance in the environment and with people so that there is an equal amount of give and take.  Boy, that man can ramble. So we got through the lecture and then so many people wanted to ask questions which he answered with all the same information that he had just given in the lecture. Sigh. I just wanted to yell, "Can you all just shut up now, so I can figure out where Becky and I are going to spend the night?" LOL. He did have a lot of interesting information about the tribes of Coastal Washington and Oregon. It was just a LOT of rambling and saying the same thing over and over that got to me.
So we finally got released from the lecture and set about trying to get a room. Yikes! Long Beach is a much more expensive area than Grayland and Tokeland. We found a room for 65.00 and jumped for it. She said it was the only room she had left. We told her we would head over there and she said that she lived a few doors down and would meet us there. (Weird). So we found it and pulled up. There was an open sign so we walked over to that area of the building. She was in there in what appeared to be a  storage and laundry room. SURPRISE. It was also the front desk. LOL. We squeezed in (literally!) so we could pay her and get our key. She acted very much like a deer caught in headlights and each time we had a question...well, I don't know. It was all I could do to not laugh out loud at how much we were inconveniencing her by actually wanting to get her remaining room. She could have told us she was full. We wouldn't have known the difference. LOL. So we are standing there waiting to check in and she just keeps looking at us. Becky said to her, "So is there paperwork to fill out?" At this she seemed put out but said "yes" and got the  little clipboard and put the paper on it. Then Becky wanted to pay in cash using a hundred dollar bill so she asked if there would be change for 100. She took a money envelope out and looked in it and said yes, but then whined it would use up all her cash. LOL. Like I said...it was all I could do to not laugh out loud. I am not sure if it was the way she kept looking at us, or the way she seemed like she didn't know what to do or the fact that in the middle of us trying to get things settled she turned around and threw stuff in the dryer and turned it on...or how when she said, "Here let me show you where the room is.", she walked around the building and started moving the patio furniture around while saying, "it's at the top of the stairs". At which we asked, "is there only one room up there?" and then she said, "No, there are two." At which point we both asked if it was the first one. And she said, "You have your key right? the number is on the key. Number 9." LOL. At that point I almost lost it. Maybe you had to be there.
So we got our stuff and walked up the stairs and came in our room. Nice clean room. Lots of stuff for coffee or tea and a microwave, refrigerator and toaster. Two queens and a twin bed. The rooms weren't that bad. And we even have a tiny little pet spider hanging from the tv's wall mount! LOL.
Anyway, we are only sleeping here, so all we really wanted was the beds, although I did make coffee to have with my banana cookies and yogurt. We have to get up early in the morning to FOLLOW the tour bus that is FULL to where the next part of our cultural experience will be, which is at the Columbia Confluence. I hope I get to see lots of birds and that  the rain and wind slow down a little for our outdoor walk. There are three events and the last one is a salmon dinner put on by the Chinook Indians. We may or may not stay all day. Hopefully the other speakers won't ramble quite as much as that first one did.
I am looking forward to seeing this area in daylight. The last time we headed this way we had very little daylight left by the time we got here, so we didn't get to see everything. I think we will go see both lighthouses and also drive around the peninsula and see the sights and maybe stop at a couple of the historical areas. For now I am going to go play my gnome game and then get some shut eye. I want to be ready for tomorrow!