width="125" height="66" border="0">Well here goes, I've found some time to type. On to Week 2.
MAY 15- On to the far north (of California that is). We started the day off with Fort Point. It is in the Presidio directly below the Golden Gate Bridge. So directly that it caused problems when the bridge was built because of where it is. they built around it (well, over it). The Fort itself is modeled after the one at Fort Sumter(where the Civil War started). The LH is perched atop the highest point of the fort in the middle of the courtyard. You can not gain access to any part of the LH, not even the steps leading to it. You can get right next to it. it has been well taken care of. It is very similar to the LH that is on top of Weed Batterey in Ft. Wadsworth in NY. (In fact they share something else- Weed Batterey is directly beneath the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. The LH there is only the shell, no windows and only a partial top.) From the top of Fort Point you can also get a view of the Mile Rocks LH, or what's left of it. The lantern room has been removed. There is some talk of restring it ( the woman who runs Scantrends was telling me about it) , but nothing is concrete at this point. You can also see Alcatraz from here.
We left Ft Point and traveled on to Pt. Reyes. WARNING! Believe what people tell you about this one. The trip looks decieving on the map. It does not matter if you take CA 1 or US 101 after you get across the GG Bridge. They both take at least 45-60 minutes just to get to the Visitor's Center in the Pt Reyes area of Golden Gate National Park. It's only about 22 miles from the bridge, but it's a long winding up and down road. Then after you get to the VC you have another 19 mi to get to the LH, and again it is a long winding up and down road going thru a number of cattle ranches, beaches, and other sights. Both drives are nice, but it takes about 2 hrs to get from San Francisco to the LH. It is however worth it. Do not miss this LH. You have to work for it, but you are rewarded well. Again be warned - there are over 300 steps down to the LH along with several flat parts that are actually more trying then the steps. This is after the .4mi walk up and down hills just to get to the LH. As the sign warns it is the equvilent of a 30 story building going up or down the steps. I again say , that all that work is worth it. The view along the way and at the end is tremendous.We were very fortunate- we were there on one of the very few days a year that there was no fog. You could see forever. There was a freighter passing by the LH as we descended towards it and I believe I got a picture of that. You are able to get into the LH, but not into the lantern room. You can go into the bottom of the LH and a Docent demonstrates the mechinism for turning the light. It has been restored and is used very seldom, as it changes the signature of the LH. The original lens is still in the tower.
We left Pt. Reyes and proceeded on our way to Gualala which is just below Pt. Arena. Here on CA 1 we found the original long and winding road. They don't put up signs for a curve ahead, they put up signs for the straight parts. They have numerous signs warning you to watch for people on bicycles, but they forgot to put up the cattle warning sign. We went around one curve and almost literally we ran into a herd of cows in the road. ( there are a large number of dairy farms in northern CA). We missed all of them.
One more point of information- it took a lot longer than I anticipated to get anywhere in northern CA. the reason for this is that while the roads have a posted sped limit of 55 MPH it is just not possible to do it. You are lucky to average 25-30mph. I had set my trip by my DeLorme Street Atlas program and it assumes a certain speed for each type of road. Well, I met the exceptions. If you plan on going up to Pt. Arena from San Francisco don't plan on doing much else that day. It will take about 4hrs each way . If you start arly you can get there when it opens (11AM usually-10AM in parts of the summer). We finally pulled into the motel in Gualala about 7PM.
I managed to keep one of my 2 surprises for Esther on this trip. I found this place near Pt. Arena called the Breakers Inn. It's a small motel right on the ocean. All the rooms have a true ocean view. They have numerous named rooms. We stayed in the Denmark. It was decorated in a Danish motif with painting and picture naps etc of Denmark. It also contained a sauna in the room along with a fireplace, a two person whirlpool tub and a deck overlooking the ocean.. It was a birthday/ mother's day surprise. Esther liked it. Heck, I even liked it.
MAY 17- We continued on up to PT Arena. Unfortunately, it did not open until 11AM. We got there about 10 AM. I was hoping that Rollerville Junction opened early so we could stop there first. I had read about it on the net. It was supposed to have just about anything LH that you could think of. We did get there later after we went into the LH. They do have an amazing amount of various LH items. They are a dealer for Harbour Lights, but I did not know that until I got there. I picked up a couple of thing including a triple header- I've been buying t shirts from many of the LH's that we've been to and I got one here that had thee LHs on it Pt Reyes, Pt Arena and Pt Cabrillo(I had not gotten to Pt Cabrillo yet, but it was my next planned LH stop). We drove around bought sandwiches for lunch and got back to Pt Arena just as it opened. We toured the exhibits in the Visitors center while Virgil got set up at the top. While we were waitung I got some advice about our day from Karen in the VC. Also talked about the history of the area. This is the LH that you see at the end of the Mel Gibson movie "Forever Young".
We went up to the top of the LH and Virgil regaled us with his knowledge of the LH. It's the second one on the site. The first was damaged in an earthquake. The present LH is built to be earthquake proof. It's shape is different than most tall tower LH's. It is not conical it is straight. It is also reinforced with steel beams. They must have done it right- it's still there. You can get right into the lantern room here. You have to be very careful not to hit the lens when you are in there. You can't go outside, but you can go behind the curtains to see what's out there. I could see with my binoculars the ledge that caused this LH to be built. It rises up to almost surface level and has wrecked a number of ships.
We left Pt Arena and stopped in Rollerville Junction. We then continued up the coast. We took a short drive into Mendocino. It's a very nice little harbor town. It is built to look like a town in New England. This is one of the reasons that several of the buildingd found their way into "Murder She Wrote" It took the place of Maine. And it is closer to Hollywood.
We left Mendocino and drove on to Pt Cabrilo. The LH is not open as it is actively being restored. They had just brought the Lantern Room and Lens back and finished the installation before we got there. The lens is one of only 3 British Fresnel lenses in the US. It differs from the French version in its shape- instead of being beehive shaped it is a roundes off square shape. We got a special treat while we were there. There were 2 members of the Coast Guard A.N.T. there. We did not get a chance to talk though, as just as we got there their ride came. It was a gigantic Coast Guard helicopter. It landed in front of us and off they went. It was an impressive sight to see.
We got our first major disapointment of the trip after this stop. I had to make a decision- stop at Shelter Cove for the restored Camp Mendocino LH and get into Crescent City at about 10 PM or skip it and get ther about 8 PM. I really hated to do it, but I decided to skip the LH. I was sure after the last two days that it was going to take at least 2 hrs time to go to and from Shelter Cove. We kept on driving past the exit. We did take a short trip off 101 to drive thru a Redwood. It was just off the road and we wer back on the road in 20 minutes. You can't do everything, even in 2 weeks. If I was planning the trip now I would add at least one if not two days to the northern leg.
We continued on and had to make another decision- which turned out worse the day after- I had to decide if I was going to try and get to the 3 LH's sites in the Humboldt Harbor area- Table Head and Noth an South Spits. These were always get there if you can, no big deal if you can't to me , unlike Camp Mendocino which had been a must . We skipped them. The next day while in Crescent City I read in the paper that the day before whales were sighted in Humboldt Harbor. This was the first time they had been sighted there in over 32 years. Hey, that's life.
We motored on and stopped in Trinidad to see what I call the 1/2 a LH. They built an exact replica of the Trinidad Head LH and installed the original Fresnel Lens in it and placed it in the center of town overlooking the ocean. It has the original fog bell next to it. The real deal is extremely difficult to get to, so they made it easier for people to see it. Sort of.
We continued on to Crescent City.We got in about 8 PM. Had dinner and drove over to Battery Point. Here we got some more bad news- the LH would only be open from 3-5 PM the next day. We would be in Oregon by then. The LH is actually on an island just off the shore and is only accessible during low tide. We got a look at it that night and went back to the motel.
Dennis
[This message has been edited by wheland (edited 11-20-2000).]
