Thinking About 2013 Lighthouses

Winter has officially started, which means I can start getting excited for spring! Thinking about our weekends for 2013 and what lighthouses might get visited this year. At the top of the list is:
-San Juan Island (2) which would be good for a very hot day (Lime Kiln and Cattle Point)
-Gig Harbor
-Grays Harbor & Destruction Island
Fun to plan!

2012 Lighthouse Review

FIVE more lighthouses this year bringing the total to TEN!

Lighthouses visited in 2012:
West Point, Seattle

Point Robinson, Maury Island

Point No Point, Hansville

Skunk Bay, Hansville

Browns Point, Tacoma

Browns Point Lighthouse-Tacoma, WA

 

What a spectacular day! The beach and park are very sweet and we hope to return to this spot someday. We saw an eagle! LOVE my camera!

Skunk Bay Lighthouse-Hansville, WA

This lighthouse is minutes away from Point No Point and is now a residence on private property. We tucked into the driveway to get this shot...do you see it in the background?

Point No Point Lighthouse-Hansville, WA

Met some really nice volunteers just before the lighthouse closed. Wonderful beach and sweet drive getting there (after the Kingston ferry ride).

Point Robinson Lighthouse-Maury Island

This was a great lighthouse because we could get up to the lantern room where we found the fresnel lens still installed! What a treat!

West Point Lighthouse-Seattle, WA

This was easy pickin's as far as lighthouses go! Close by at Discovery Park in Seattle, this lighthouse was closed, but we enjoyed it nonetheless.

San Juan Islands Lighthouses

We started looking at the San Juan lighthouses this evening. There are five:
-Burrows Island
-Cattle Point
-Lime Kiln
-Turn Point
-Patos Island

This poses a challenge.

Both Lime Kiln and Cattle Point are in state parks on San Juan Island. That's a simple day trip via ferry. But the other three have water only access...and not by ferry boat. So we are considering that we'll have to charter a boat to get our photos of those. I believe I've actually been to Patos when I was at summer camp as a kid on Orcas. I think I remember being on Matia or Sucia Island or was it Patos? Anyways, that could also be a day trip or we could make a long weekend with an overnight near Anacortes to visit all five at once.

Huh.

It's funny how when I started with just a list of names of all the Washington state lighthouses, I had no idea where any of them were located nor what it would actually take to see them all. This has been a wonderful family project so far!

Washington Coast Lighthouses

What's next?

I'm looking at the coast...there are two:
-Grays Harbor Westport
-Destruction Island

Anything with "island" after it means WATER! I have a private blog where I jot notes about our trip planning and I've done a little research this evening. We could make a nice little weekend trip to the Ocean Shores area for the Westport lighthouse and then take an afternoon drive up to Destruction Island which can be viewed from Ruby Beach which is on a portion of Highway 101 that runs for about 12 miles right along the water (thanks to LighthouseFriends.com for that info)! Hopefully it will be clear enough to see the lighthouse on the day we actually get there!

So why not up north to Neah Bay to see the Cape Flattery Lighthouse? We had a already trip planned for September, but Grampa passed away the week prior so we postponed it. The Cape Flattery Lighthouse is included in that trip.

A special thanks (as usual) to LighthouseFriends.com as I find it invaluable in planning our lighthouse visits! Thanks Kraig!

January Sunset

I'm starting to get the itch to go somewhere. We've been driving a tiny Toyota Corolla for the past 13 years. Just today we bought a new MINIVAN! I am so excited for our next excursion! We have so much room in this new vehicle, it is really exciting to consider our options! We could totally do our yurtcation down the Oregon Coast now that we have room to haul stuff for a week! Hmmmmm.

After seeing a photo of some friends on the beach at Ocean City state park, I'm inspired to plan our next trip! My sister has invited us to Suncadia in April which I am already looking forward to!  So I'm thinking Marchish for a trip to Ocean Shores and Grays Harbor lighthouse (and maybe Destruction Island lighthouse as well)...we could do yurt or hotel. Tough decision.