Weather or not...

I'm pretty sure the gale that rolled over us late last week is related to that winter storm that struck the Rockies dumping all sorts of snow all over. Winds around the park were steady at 40 to 45 and there were some really stiff gusts roaring in like freight trains.

When it is stormy, our entertainment consists of a drive out to the lighthouse viewing area, parking and seeing if the winds will shift the car. We pretty much rocked to the full extent of the suspension and easily broke the 10mph speed limit letting the wind push us - uphill no less!

Surf watching is way better than anything on TV and the number of local visitors we have each day proves it true.

With the winds came several bouts of hail, frozen rain intermixed with the buckets deluge. We're very fortunate that we sit about 260ft above the ocean so the water does have somewhere to drain though despite the slopes, with the amounts we've received it builds up some respectable ponds and lakes in the campground.

Of course with wind and rain comes the downed trees that invariably fall across roads. Strange how it is across the roads, never alongside or even away from (must be a quantum thing like buttered bread always falling face down). As maintenance hosts one of our primary functions is to assist the park ranger in clearing access as soon as possible so the locals can get out here to let the wind rock their suspensions and be mesmerized by the waves. Wet, soggy, cold work that is usually topped off with a mug of hot spiced cider or cocoa to make it all worthwhile. We have an antique wood burning heater in the shop and on the cold, blustery days we use it to toast buns. Hmmm, come to think of it, the stove could probably toast bread too.

Not all of our chores consist of outside work. Chris and I have spent many hours simply straightening up the work shop and cleaning the work areas. This gives us ample time to chat about stuff, solve the world's problems and simply enjoy each others company. The nerf guns help – just a little bit.

With the passing of the most recent storm we now have some clear skies at night and with it temperatures are dropping. Hopefully we'll not see the freezing we saw at Sunset Bay but hey, this is Cape Blanco so just about anything can and will happen.

As I mentioned, we assist the park ranger in all sorts of tasks around the park and this week we will be working in the new lighthouse visitor center building up a photo wall and creating a few exhibits. 

So far we've got a solid start on the historical photo wall and some educational panels. If we stick to our schedule, the lighthouse visitor center will have a fresh, new look to it for the holiday opening in just three days!

We were asked in one of the forums we visit, "Why on earth would you choose Oregon in the winter, it rains all the time?" Not all the time, just most of the time but when you start getting tired of the gray skies and continuous rain, along comes a sunny day making it all worth while.

It is Thursday as I write this, our day off, and another storm has rolled in with rivers of rain and wind gusts seemingly just short of being able to blow the motherhome over. All the deer and rabbits have taken shelter and I do believe we'll do the same and ride it out with a movie marathon. You folks to the northeast of us are probably due for more weather heading your way in a couple of days; be safe.

Here's a little bit of trivia for you. Cape Blanco is the western most point in the contiguous United States. The lighthouse was built in 1870.