Lighthouse Plans for 2016

Mt Rainier Aug 2015

Good grief, lighthouses fell off the map for TWO YEARS? What in the world were we doing!? I guess I wasn't inspired.

We bought a new house and we're getting settled. I'm doing a photo wall in the dining room. I stumbled across some old photos and thought it would be fun to put the 11 lighthouses we've visited up on the wall.  Of course, that inspired me to visit some more!

Here's what I wrote in my previous post dated Dec 2013:

"The way I see it, there's several trips remaining:
Sequim- Cape Flattery, Destruction Island, New Dungeness, Ediz Hook, Slip Point
Port Townsend- Marrowstone, Point Wilson
San Juans- Lime Kiln, Cattle Point
San Juans charter-Patos, Burrows Point, Turn Point
Localish-Lightship, Alki, Gig Harbor
Coast-Grays Harbor


Possible lighthouse visits for 2014:
Gig Harbor
Alki
We could do our 3 day Sequim trip or even do Port Townsend this year
I'm thinking the two on San Juan island would be excellent for a very hot day this summer".

THIS got me thinking for 2016...I would like to add SIX more to our collection. A trip to Port Angeles could include four:
-Marrowstone
-Point Wilson
-New Dungeness
-Ediz Hook
-Slip Point
-Neah Bay

That trip would be amazing!

Lighthouse Planner 2014

Well, what's in store for 2014? Now that we live closer to the southern end of Puget Sound, why not go local?

The way I see it, there's several trips remaining:
Sequim- Cape Flattery, Destruction Island, New Dungeness, Ediz Hook, Slip Point
Port Townsend- Marrowstone, Point Wilson
San Juans- Lime Kiln, Cattle Point
San Juans charter-Patos, Burrows Point, Turn Point
Localish-Lightship, Alki, Gig Harbor
Coast-Grays Harbor


Possible lighthouse visits for 2014:
Gig Harbor
Alki
We could do our 3 day Sequim trip or even do Port Townsend this year
I'm thinking the two on San Juan island would be excellent for a very hot day this summer

2013 Lighthouse Review

Why did we only visit ONE lighthouse this year? And a first, an ATTEMPTED visit!

We moved this year and had other priorities and took other trips, I suppose.

Lighthouses visited in 2013:
Mukilteo

Grays Harbor Lighthouse or BUST-Westport

BUST.

Well...we headed out after Thanksgiving with the intention of visiting the Gray's Harbor lighthouse in Westport. We stayed in Gray's Harbor, not realizing how far away the lighthouse was, so I decided to call-it was CLOSED.

We did have a fun trip out to the coast, despite not visiting the lighthouse. We explored Ocean Shores a bit and visited a couple more state parks. It was odd to drive our van on the beach and it is ALWAYS grey in Ocean Shores! Fun just being together!

In November 2013, I weigh about 225 pounds and I must honestly admit, I was glad to not climb 137 steps. I want to lose 100 pounds before we visit again-when it's OPEN!

Mukilteo Lighthouse-Mukilteo

We started this morning at Dick's after attending a seminar at Swanson's Nursery on Japanese maples. It was a perfect day to visit the Mukilteo lighthouse! So fun having Gramma join us!

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.

2011 Lighthouse Review

What a thrill! I've never visited lighthouses before and this has been SO FUN! I'm looking forward to building our blog as we visit even MORE!

Lighthouses visited in 2011:
Bush Point, Whidbey
Admiralty, Whidbey
North Head, Ilwaco
Cape Disappointment, Ilwaco
Dofflemeyer Point, Olympia

Missing Grampa-Lighthouse Trip Cancelled

John's dad, my wonderful father-in-law passed away this week and the memorial is on Sunday. We had planned a trip to Sequim to see a few more lighthouses, but that will have to wait for now. The plan is to stay in Sequim and travel along the Strait of Juan de Fuca to see Cape Flattery, Slip Point, Ediz Hook and New Dungeness lighthouses.

I wasn't ready for another weekend away, so I'm somewhat relieved. Of course, I never wanted this to be the reason to cancel the trip. Grampa passed away on the 18th and we miss him so much already.

Update: This photo was taken the day of the memorial 9/25/11 from Gramma's porch...the leaves form a heart but there are some bites out of it...a broken heart which is just what we all have now that Grampa is gone.

Dofflemeyer Point Lighthouse-Olympia, WA

Can you even SEE the lighthouse in the top photo?! Upper right corner. We had a wonderfully relaxing day exploring the area around the Dofflemeyer Point lighthouse in Olympia, Washington. Our first stop of the day was the lighthouse. Boston Harbor Marina is a delightful and charming area! Each house off 73rd was ready for House Beautiful! We explored the small marina for quite some time. The lighthouse itself was barely visible and seemed non-descript to us and we had great difficulty getting a good family pic in front of it since it is surrounded by private property.

The walk out onto the marina dock for a photo proved to be beneficial as we had several mini-adventures! After the lighthouse we went black-light mini golfing at Shankz Black Light Mini-Golf, then to Tumwater Falls Park and the Capitol building. This was only an overnight getaway but we did A LOT!

Cape Disappointment Lighthouse-Ilwaco, WA

After North Head, we made a few more stops...a scenic lookout and bridge over wetlands which were phenomenally beautiful. We spent quite some time at the excellent Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center (we read a great picture book "How We Crossed The West: The Adventures Of Lewis And Clark" by Rosalyn Schanzer and "Streams to the River, River to the Sea" by Scott O'Dell in preparation for the visit to Long Beach, Washington.

Anyways, it was time to make about a mile trek to Cape Disappointment lighthouse. After some elevation gain, we all needed to rest our feet and ate more snacks at the top of the bluff. It is like being at the top of the world or the edge of eternity or something...simply awesome scenery over the mouth of the mighty Columbia and the "Graveyard of the Pacific". We met Coast Guardman Joe who invited us into his watchtower and let Daniel peer through his telescope! John had lots of naval type inquiries and we learned A LOT about the sea from this generous guy.

Wow, we've already done FOUR lighthouses and we've had an absolute ball!

TRAVEL TIP: We made this a weekend getaway but could have spent more time. One of our favorite destinations was Waikiki Beach at Cape Disappointment state park. Tons of driftwood, a fantastic bathroom facility with showers and a sweet little beach with super soft sand and a walk on the jetty is not to be missed!

North Head Lighthouse-Ilwaco, WA

We spent the entire day at Cape Disappointment state park (take your Discover Pass). We took in so much but here I'm going to highlight our trek to North Head lighthouse. We had a nice walk to the North Head lighthouse, the scenery is breathtaking on the coast. Sadly, we weren't able to visit the lantern room because the stairs were in disrepair. Did you know that North Head is the #3 windiest location in the USA?!

After making the loop from parking lot, to nature trail, to lighthouse, to GIFT SHOP and back to car, we had already had a lovely day! Daniel slipped on the gravel and bravely endured some mild first aid, but otherwise the trip to North Head was a total success.

TRAVEL TIP: Cape Disappointment state park is outstanding! We could have spent an entire week there (camping!) with so much to do and good weather. Long Beach, Washington is nearby and has a great website to help you plan your trip, see FunBeach.com.