Lighthouse #4 - Umpqua River

Umpqua River is another still active aid to navigation. 

This one is on a Coast Guard base with anywhere from 50-100 people stationed there at a time.

We were able to join in on a tour just getting started, and it was another good tour.

We <3 windows.

They used to paint these walls white, but found they were piling so many layers upon layers of white paint, that it was compromising the structural integrity of the light because the bricks couldn't expand and contract with the temperatures and they couldn't see which bricks were bad (or something like that). So then they had to chip the paint away and leave it bare, which I think was a better choice.

More out of order pics.

I always love attention to detail, and I loved the keys near the logbook.

#westagedthis

After our sweet tour we headed over to the gift store and paid for our tours (that we'd already been on) and picked out our magnets.

Cuuuute.

And the pretty view of Winchester Bay.

Now back to my pics. 

I love this old gold tag. Love. 

Ok, so the coolest thing about this light. First of all, it's red and white. 

Second of all, you get to go INSIDE the fresnel lens.

INSIDE AN ACTIVE AID TO NAVIGATION.

It was rotating around with this little engine. It was a tad disorienting at first going inside, but it was totally worth it.

Such a cool experience.

The only regret, probably of the whole weekend, and why we must go back, is that we didn't get to see her at night.

When she is lit up, it's like no other. With the red and the white together, I will see it someday!

It was a very, very cool lighthouse and experience. 

And then my little homeless girls sent me this picture of them at a store with a lighthouse. See that little homeless girl on the left? She didn't even have shoes on in the store. Love that they love those lighthouses though.