Yaquina Head Lighthouse - Tallest on the Oregon Coast

I'm a little behind with our updates and there's a good reason. But that's a story for another posting. (I started this post on May 24 and today is May 29.) For now I want to share the wonderful time we had at the Yaquina (Yah-KWIN-uh) Head Lighthouse. This was a fabulous day as it was one of the only warm and sunny days we've had. But I'm not complaining about the weather. I'm enjoying the cooler climate. Arizona has already been in the 100's and we are lovin' the drizzly gray skies of Oregon.

We missed the tour at Heceta Head Lighthouse near Florence so I was determined to see this one up close. And we did! All the way to the top. Little did I know that it is the tallest lighthouse on the Oregon coast at 93 feet. Or that the spiral stairs were soooo tight. I didn't dare look down as we were going up. It was like being on a stair master machine and turning round 'n round. We made it to the top and stayed for a little bit as the volunteer told us about the light and the prisms. They allow visitors to get to the top of the stairs and take some photos of the automated Fresnel lens but not to walk around the top. Now that would have been a view! After I caught my breath and took some photos, Rick and I started down with Rick going first. I thought it would be an interesting prespective looking from the top down and stopped for a couple more quick pix. Well, once I looked down I could hardy force myself to get moving again. Not knowing that I had stopped, Rick kept going. You would have laughed if you heard the exchange between us, Rick coaxing me (claustrophobic me) to get moving again. But eventually, with me acting like Spiderman along the curved walls, I made it down, almost sick with dizziness. But a fabulous visit well worth doing if you get the chance.

There are many vista points once you are inside the park. The visitor center offered numerous exhibits from the early days. During our 2 visits there were schoolbuses dropping kids off on a fieldtrip to the tide pools. Each small group of students had a park ranger with them and I asked Rick if he wanted to tag along. One of the protected coves was home to seals and sea lions. Hiking trails ran through the park and there were students from the university studying the migrating whales offshore. The kind of place where you could spend the day.

The light has been on continuously since 1873. Tours are provided by volunteers dressed in period style dress and it was very informative. We enjoyed it so much that we went back a second time and tested our National Parks Pass. And we got in without a hitch. (Remember - Rick was concerned they would discover he was too young. Ha!)

I also wanted to test my new camera! Yep, the Sony DSC-P200 Point & Shoot that I love has developed internal dust spots that look like smudges on the photos. The cost to have it cleaned was almost what it cost new, so I've downloaded instructions and photos on how to take it apart. (Truly amazing what you can find on the Internet.) I think handyman Rick will be able to open it up and clean it. In the meantime, we purchased a new camera for me. I'll tell you all about it later, but I think most of these photos in the Yaquina slideshow are from the new Nikon.

Remember, you can click on most photos here and see them in a larger size.