Friday, June 29th

We are in Long Beach, WA today. We plan to visit the Lewis & Clark interpretive center at Cape Disappointment as well as Oysterville today. It rained most of the night and the forecast calls for 60% chance of rain throughout the day. Like in Hawaii, the rain is periodically interrupted by bright sunshine.

Update: 1915hrs

The sun came out and stayed most of the day for really nice weather.

Below is a shot down the Lighthouse Keeper's trail to the "North Head Lighthouse" at Cape Disappointment. Until 1961, the lighthouse produced light by burning kerosene via a very complicated, multi-wick lamp. The lighthouse keepers toiled daily to haul fuel oil to the lighthouse and to make sure the lighthouse lens and windows were kept clean.



This is the actual lens that has been removed from the North Point Lighthouse. It is on display at the Lewis and Clark interpretive center at Cape Disappointment. Each facet of the lens is a separate piece, hand crafted in France in the 1800's.



The remnants of an old pier in Ilwaco harbor. In the background is the US Coast Guard lifeboat station and training school. This USCG lifeboat base is the most active in the US.



A photo from Oysterville, WA, looking across Willapa Bay. Oysterville is a tiny, sleepy, historic town with a few restored homes and structures that were built in the mid to late 1800's. The town once supplied the majority of Oysters to the newly, wealthy 49'ers in San Francisco during the Gold Rush.