I took Ollie for a lovely long walk amongst the dunes on the beach at Yaquina Bay. It reminded me a lot of family walks on the beaches at Wells-Next-The-Sea in Norfolk, England. It was a brisk walk and a brisk day. Ollie decided she wanted to dig to China, so I cut those shenanigans short by luring her away from her excavations with the wave of a stick. It worked. She had a great run. 

I had the ulterior motive of photographing yet another Oregon lighthouse, the Yaquina Bay Lighthouse, blinking out over the bridge and bay. It was not as flashy ('scuse the pun) as the Yaquina Head Lighthouse a few miles up the road, but it had its own diminutive beauty.

Ollie and I left the beach when my cheeks and nose turned pink and I could no longer feel the tips of my fingers.

Our interest in visiting all the Oregon lighthouses had not wavered, so we set off to explore the Yaquina Head Lighthouse, just north of Newport.

Built in 1873, the tall, stark, black and white lighthouse was originally called the Cape Foulweather Lighthouse, even though Cape Foulweather was at least 4 miles north of Yaquina Head.  At 93 meters tall, it is the tallest lighthouse in all of Oregon. We watched carefully to catch the pattern, 2 seconds on, 2 seconds off, 2 seconds on, 14 seconds off, of the Fresnal lens, casting its light out to sea.

It was a windy day and the waves were crashing on the rocks below the lighthouse. There are daily tours of the lighthouse but we didn't get to go inside as all the tours were fully booked that day. We enjoyed a blustery walk along the lighthouse trail, spotting some seals and sea lions basking on the rocks in the shelter of a hidden cove to the south of the lighthouse. 

We dropped down into a small and sheltered cove, called Cobble Beach.

Cobble Beach Cove lived up to its name. It was made up of smooth, large cobble stones infinity shades of grey  that lay evenly scattered across the beach. Not a speck of sand in sight. Kim parked himself in a  little heat trap with Ollie to enjoy the late afternoon sunshine.

The cobbles were made for turning ankles, so I very carefully made my way to the nearby tide pools that had children and adults bent over in deep crouches, fingers draping into the pools, small excited outbursts declaring finds of jewel-toned treasures in the clear waters. Henry was watching me and the tide like a hawk, making sure I was safe and not about to be carried out to sea by a rogue sneaker wave, which nearly happened on our last visit to the Oregon Coast. He was genuinely concerned.

​We spent a happy couple of hours relaxing, napping and dabbling about in the tide pools.  We found glossy deep red/purple anemones, some in full flower, some curled tight inside themselves looking like large juicy wine gums. Aggregating anemones looked like delicate pink dahlias waving in the water. We saw snails, ringed limpets, periwinkles, trumpeting tube worms, hermit crabs startled in to walking sideways, striped crabs and flat bodied crabs, shiny mussels glinting blues and silvers, gooseneck barnacles, sea cucumbers, sea slugs and horned nudibranchs.  

I had two absolute favorites. The first was the huge Ochre Starfish. It was enormous! It was a rich shade of dark ochre with lots of knobbles along its fat arms. One of them almost filled a tide pool by itself. Clinging comically to the rocks with arms akimbo, I couldn't help but name him Patrick. My second favorite was the striking Giant Green  Anemone. It too was gigantic in terms of tide pool proportions. A bright, almost luminescent lime green color, you could spot them from quite far away. When fully opened, they were massive, their tentacles waving hopefully in search of algae and micro plankton.

As we were beginning to lose some heat from the sun, after having taken a gazillion photos, we headed back up the steps, out of Cobble Beach Cove and back to the truck. 

After we visited the Sea Lion Caves earlier in the week, we stopped at a roadside pull off so we could take some shots of the Heceta Lighthouse. 

As soon as we got out of the truck we could hear them!

The noise was cacophonous!

Hundreds, possibly thousands, of Stellar Sea Lions were lying on the beach, jostling for position, front flippers flapping, whiskers twitching, lots of territorial teeth baring, snarky barking, honking, snorting, posturing, nudging for comfort and simply flobbing their bellies down on the sand to relax and bask in the late Autumn sunshine.

Many others were splashing about in the bay, surfing the waves, playing games and just joyfully mucking about in the water as if they were teens on Spring Break.   

It certainly made up for not being able to see the sea lions in the massive sea cave.

We stopped and watched for a good hour or so.

​It felt like such a privilege to observe these beautiful marine mammals in their natural habitat.

I've said it before and no doubt I'll say it again, we love these unexpected animal encounters.

​On yet another drizzly day, we stepped in to a world that was created over 25 million years ago to get a first hand feel of the persistence of nature, the power of the pounding ocean and the timeless joy of flubbery marine mammals.

We visited the Sea Lion Caves located just outside Florence.

As soon as we entered we were informed there were no Stellar Sea Lions in da house. We were neither disappointed nor deterred. Instead we were excited to descend into America's largest sea caves. Carved out of basalt rock the caves were advertised as twelve stories tall and as wide as an American football field. 

We walked out into the light drizzle and took some photos outside before taking the lift down into the subterranean caves. The ride in the lift seemed to last forever because we managed to discuss all the emergency scenarios, Henry had a jump around to test the cables, I giggled at the memory of Peter Sellers and farts in lifts, and we also compared the ride to the lift going in the opposite direction in the Empire State Building in New York. Yes, it was a long ride down!

The small caves we first entered were dimly lit with red and green lights and there was a screened viewing platform where you could observe the sea lions in the massive amphitheater of the main cave. We confirmed there was not a single sea lion to be seen but we enjoyed watching the waves roll in, crashing over the rocks, so we could get a glimpse of how the caves were formed over the millennia. The main cave lived up to the hype. It was enormous and echoey and had many caves and tunnels leading off the main chamber. We did see a few bats fluttering about at the top of the cave and we could see why it was such a favorable environment for the colony of sea lions that call the cave "home." It was clearly a sanctuary for seals, seabirds and a diverse array of other shore creatures too. 

I loved that care had been taken to preserve the sanctity of the cave so that us humans could not disturb the precious habitat. We could observe but we could not enter.

To the north you could walk up a staircase for another view of the coastline where we could see other inlets and coves leading round to the Heceta Lighthouse winking at us in the drizzly distance.

We loved every minute of this roadside tourist attraction.

Kim and I headed north on the US101 Highway all the way up to the outskirts of Coos Bay, in central Oregon, through a small town called Charleston in our efforts to see all the lighthouses in Oregon.

​This particular one was remote, difficult to find due to the mist, and was in a very private location. Despite our best efforts, we just could not find a public viewpoint for the Cape Arago Lighthouse.

This was our best shot of the day. It is not the lighthouse, just a view from Sunset Bay Beach. Grr!

Kim and I continued with our quest to seek out and find all eleven lighthouses in Oregon with a day trip out to Bandon, between Gold Beach and Coos Bay on the Oregon coast. This time we set out to find the Coquille River Lighthouse.

We found Bandon to be delightfully charming with plenty of cool cafes, galleries and mom and pop gift shops. It is perhaps most famous for its Circles in the Sand annual event, now in its tenth year, where groups of artists create mesmerizing labyrinths and other elaborate designs in the sand on a mission to spread love, joy and kindness.  Unfortunately our visit didn't coincide with the event but we saw the lovely wet, sandy beaches, perfect for this style of artwork.

We stopped in the old town for an early lunch in a beautiful old building that housed a co-op of local artists. We sipped our specialty coffees and we each had a lovely bagel with cream cheese, lox, capers, dill and lotsa freshly squeezed lemon on top. Delish! We then mooched around the artists stalls, enjoying the diverse artistic styles and media. I enjoyed the sculptures made out of reclaimed plastic and other debris found in the ocean. I especially loved the crested puffin that reminded me of the macaroni penguin. I have a bit of a thing for penguins and puffins as they are loyal, eccentric and comical, a bit like me.

After lunch we walked around the old town marina where we saw an array of colorful boats bobbing on the river, saw the skeletal wooden legs of bygone docks, listened to the barking seals and screaming gulls, did a bit of window shopping, and generally mooched around town.

We then returned to the truck to get the most advantageous view of the Coquille River Lighthouse. Built in 1896, the purpose of the lighthouse was to light the entry way into the Coquille River and to provide safe passage for local fishing vessels through the perilous sandbars. As well as the lighthouse, a fog horn was also built at the site to help guide boats through to safety when it became too foggy even to see the light. It was first lit on February 29, 1896 and it was the last official lighthouse to be constructed on the Oregon Coast. The lighthouse was fully functioning until 1939 when it was decommissioned and an automated beacon was installed on the south jetty to take its place. 

From our viewpoint across the Coquille River, we found it to be a quaint little lighthouse with a bright red base, whitewashed walls and dark top, only 47 feet tall, built adjacent to a squat octagonal keeper's house and boathouse. Through the rising mists it looked beautiful.

After taking numerous shots of the lighthouse we explored the southern end of town through Kronenberg County Park and onto Face Rock State Scenic Viewpoint. By the time we got there, the mist had descended and was swirling around the rocks making a spooky scene worthy of the witches of Macbeth. The words "something wicked this way comes" turned over in my mind. The black rocks below resembled witches hats and the churning ocean became some kind of  powerful potion. Once again we had stumbled upon nature's magic. I was mesmerized and let the mist swallow me as the wind whipped my hair and took my breath. Fabulous!

We discovered there are eleven lighthouses in Oregon and we decided we wanted to see them all. 

There are nine original lighthouses on the rugged Oregon coast, seven are open to the public and two are privately built, still certified by the US Coast Guard as lighthouses, however they are not open to the public. 

Leaving Henry at home for a rest day, Kim and I set off like a couple of intrepid explorers in search of lighthouses.

The first on our lighthouse list was Cape Blanco Lighthouse, a 19th century lighthouse perched on top of a tall peninsula with 200 foot cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean at the western most tippy tip of Oregon. It was named Cape Blanco, or white cape, by Spanish navigators in the early 17th century due to the appearance of the chalky white cliffs hugging the headland and the surrounding bay.

As we approached on a long and winding road, about five miles off the US101 Highway, we found ourselves driving through more and more mist and the hope of actually seeing the lighthouse began to fade.

We parked on the headland and fortunately we caught glimpses of the lighthouse through the dense sea mist that was swirling around us, shapeshifting, offering hazy views one moment then shrouding the lighthouse in clouds of mist the next. It was eerie!

We wrapped up warm and then took the short 1/4 mile hike out to the lighthouse.

The closer we got to the lighthouse, the clearer we could see it and by the time we approached the base, the mist had dissipated and the sun was deciding on whether to make an appearance.

On the headland, as well as the lighthouse, we could now see the foundational remnants of other buildings as well as a large white farmhouse style building, still standing, that had been converted in to a gallery, gift shop and museum. Tours were not available that day, but the gentleman in the museum answered all our questions and gave us some valuable information about the history of the lighthouse.

We learned that Cape Blanco Lighthouse is the oldest, continuously operating lighthouse on the Oregon coast. It was first lit on December 20th, 1870. We learned the bricks for the lighthouse were made in kilns on site rather than being transported from San Francisco due to the remoteness of the location and to make the construction of the lighthouse more cost efficient. The rest of the materials needed for the construction were brought in by boat. The location was selected to warn passing vessels of the reefs off shore and to provide a position fix for navigators. The circular brick tower was built 59 feet high and housed a Fresnal lens that cast a white light out to sea for approximately 22 nautical miles, to the curvature of the earth. The lighthouse suffered many storms and gales over the years. Roofs of the surrounding outbuildings were lost many times due to its exposed position and extreme buffeting by the wind, but the lighthouse always stood sturdy and strong. 

We walked around the plain, whitewashed lighthouse and could walk almost to the edge of the grassy cliff tops where the gulls were screaming at us to stay back, stay safe. The sun finally came out to say hello as the last of the mist disappeared and we finally got to see the full impact of the elevation, magnificent 360 degree views from the vantage point of the 245 foot cliff top over the sandy beached bay to the north and the rugged rocky sea stack strewn coastline to the south. We could even see the gentle curve of the earth on the horizon. Wow!

Leaning in to the wind, we took a moment to breathe in the history of the incredible feat of engineering standing before us.

It reminded me of an Indian proverb...

​In this case, it is not the shade that lasts for future generations, but light. Still shining and casting a protective, life-preserving light over the ocean before it, the lighthouse continues to save souls of whom the original architects and builders could never have dreamed.

​A blessing indeed.

All tribes in the U.S. are currently claiming Alcatraz as belonging to them in accordance with the Treaty of Fort Laramie signed in 1868. The Treaty states all retired, abandoned, and out of use federal lands must be returned to the tribes. Since Alcatraz Penitentiary was closed in 1968 and the island officially declared as surplus federal property, Native Americans have fought for its return to tribal possession. 

We set off up the hill to explore the island. We were surprised that there were so many derelict buildings that had not been protected or preserved. We walked past the Warden's House that used to house the prison warden's and their families back in the day. It was in ruins, overgrown with weeds and now inhabited by scary seagulls, serious about defending their turf. At the top of the hill we came to the Power Station, similarly dilapidated. We peered through the broken window to see the furnaces that used to power the island with electricity. We ambled past the impressive water tower, several guard towers, a makeshift morgue and other brick buildings that included a solid outer wall signaling the fort that sat on Alcatraz before the prison was even conceived.  We eventually arrived at the main cell house where the prisoners of Azkaban, oops, Alcatraz, were held captive.

We continued to explore the island finishing up at the lighthouse with stunning views of the applauding city. On the day we were there, it happened to be September 11th and the flags were flying at half mast. To see the Stars and Stripes proudly flying brought a lump to my throat as I remembered that fateful day 22 years ago when Henry was just a newborn baby, just 6 months old. It was a scary day. To see the flag flying from Alcatraz on such a beautiful day over such a beautiful city reminded me of the grit and resilience of America and brought an unexpected feeling of hope for the future. ​

We took a day trip up Highway One in California from Santa Cruz all the way to Half Moon Bay, about 50 miles in total, stopping along the route to enjoy the spectacular coastal views and to visit some highly recommended California State Parks.

Our first stop was Wilder Ranch State Park where we were immediately taken under the wing of a lovely Miss-Marple-esque docent named Jean who was dressed in full Victorian garb and eager to share her knowledge of the park. She took us on a tour around the historic buildings.

Originally settled by the Wilder family in 1871, the ranch was transformed into a flourishing dairy farm that played an important role in the developing dairy industry in the region. We visited the Wilder family home, a selection of outbuildings and a barn dating back to 1890 that was built without any nails or glue but instead by using a jigsaw style of woodwork where all the pieces slot together. Incredible. 

In the photographs, see if you can spot Henry pumping iron.

The park offered views over sandy beaches, steep bluffs hanging over the Pacific and across lush forests and idyllic meadows. It was a haven for birds and a variety of deer. Lots of bikers were out exploring the trails.

Further up the coast we stopped at a wonderful hidden gem, Shark Fin Cove, sometimes known as Shark Tooth Beach. 

The huge rock emerging from the water like the dorsal fin of a huge shark is striking. Cue the "Jaws" music!

We were excited to see so many wild birds; pelicans, cormorants, gulls. We glimpsed some seals cavorting in the cove too. The contrasting rugged mud cliffs and the pristine sandy beach was gorgeous and we could have stayed all day.

Next stop was Año Nuevo State Park. Famed for its elephant seal colony and long sandy beaches, this was a fun stop where we just relaxed and basked in the summer sunshine on the beach. Once again we were joined by seals in the surf and so many squawking sea birds. We had the beach to ourselves. I just wandered down the shore line, beach combing, Kim found a Gandalf walking stick and Henry just sat and relaxed for awhile watching the seals.

Our next stop was Pigeon Point Light Station. 

A little museum atop the cliff, stunning coastal walks, clear views of the kelp forests, a playing field of jagged rocks for so many seals enjoying being tossed around in the crashing waves and of course the looming lighthouse. A harsh but beautiful landscape, perfect for rock pools and mini ecosystems offering a close up view of starfish, anemones, crabs, barnacles, mussels and other hidden creatures. It felt good being buffeted by the wind.

Continuing up the coastline we stopped for drinks and a snack in Davenport and took lots of pics on the way up to Half Moon Bay. Finally we stopped at Maverick's Beach, the famed Californian surfing beach as seen in the movie Chasing Mavericks, surprisingly starring Gerard Butler.

Of course, there was not a wave in sight. Flat as a pancake out there!

Here is some fine footage of the HUGE waves that have been filmed at Maverick's.