We made a short trip to Umpqua Lighthouse this afternoon. Even though we had already toured one lighthouse in Oregon, this one was slightly different. The site was the first lighthouse commissioned in Oregon (1857). Unfortunately the first structure was not very stable and fell into the river in 1861! The present lighthouse is a 65 ft tower, a few feet higher than the Heceta Head lighthouse. The signal is red-white-white, while Heceta head was all white, with 10 sec between flashes. The Umpqua lens was built in France, Heceta's was from England. Umpqua is still a Coast Guard Station with private housing on base. We're not sure exactly what they do but the guide said they do go in and out of the jetty and appear to be working on homeland security.
There was a very interesting museum at Umpqua. Part of the museum was devoted to the lighthouse and the second floor was a museum for the Coast Guard station. It was interesting to see the acommodations and equipment used during the time the lighthouse was in active use. Since it is in the Tsunami zone we didn't stay too long.
Umpqua is in the area of the sand dunes and dune buggies are very popular. Somehow the buggies we saw reminded me of the turnpike ride at HersheyPark. We were told rentals can run up to $80 per hour. Of course we aren't the dune buggy types so we just watched. On the way back to the highway, we passed 2 campgrounds that were frequented by dune buggy riders - glad we didn't pick one of those for our stay.
After the lighthouse we stopped at an elk viewing area. Of the hundred or more elk in this herd, only 3 were visible - 2 cows and a bull. One of the cows was hosting a string of cowbirds on her back. After she laid down, the birds moved to another smaller cow, who chased them from her back by swinging her head. We always heard the birds on the back of animals are helpful and don't harm the animal. But these elk didn't get that memo!
The clouds and fog started to move in by the time we were heading back to the RV. Looks like we'll have another gray morning for our next leg of the journey.
Another visitor to one of the pulloffs made us glad we only travel with 4 dogs. This person had 2 dogs and 2 sheep in the trailer.
We forgot the eagle story from our trip yesterday. While viewing one of the water spout sites, we saw a bald eagle flying over the trees. It was being harassed by 3 small birds. Maybe eventually we'll get close enought to get a really good picture.
3 comments:
Wait...they had sheep with them in an RV? Kate could understand that, since she loves sheep, but ewww, the smell!
Great pics, as always. I love the lighthouses.
No, not an RV, just a pull behind trailer with lots of fresh air. I thought Kate would like the sheep.
I'm so retarded. I didn't realize those were sheep in that trailer. I thought it was hay.
I might need to call the eye doctor.
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