Where I've Been: Point Reyes

Where I've Been: Point Reyes

Last week my buddy Mike's sister and friend were in town which gave me the opportunity to be annoying and beg to tag along on "touristy" travel. I haven't really gotten to be a tourist yet since I live with busy gals and I have not that much money. Of course it helped that I have a car and that allowed me to barter my way into their vacation... yep I'm that girl. So Tripp and I picked them up and headed towards Point Reyes National Seashore. The drive was a bit longer than we assumed and was filled with driving through small towns and winding around redwoods and cows. Finally we got to the shore and decided we had made it to Ireland. The hills were rolling and green, and the air was crisp and salty.







The weather wasn't the best but we got there before the rain. It was windy, but the light was diffused and everything looked so beautiful. You could even see the Farallon Islands. We stopped at the lighthouse, since Mike said it was the best view and looked over the edge at the waves crashing against the rocks. There was this weird gunky stuff in the water which I of course decided it was whale vomit. Of course, why would it be anything else? The light house was down on the point and has hundreds of stairs... the warning sign said it was the same amount of stairs as a 30 story building. Did that deter us? No! We are young, we can get back up in no time...






The lighthouse itself was so cute. And was loud. Well they had the fog horn going cause you know, fog. The Lighthouse was built in 1870 and it is the windiest place on the Pacific coast and the second foggiest in the North American continent. Which I guess we were really lucky since the fog wasn't around nor did we fly off the cliff... whew! The lighthouse mechanics, housing and glass prisms were built in France, and they were so beautiful. The lens in the lighthouse is a "first order" Fresnel lens, the largest size of Fresnel lens. Augustin Jean Fresnel of France revolutionized optics theories with his new lens design in 1823. I've never really seen a lighthouse like this, it was much different then the Great Lake lighthouses. Everything was cast iron, and I can't imagine how they built it... took a lot of ox I recon. It took years to complete but was situated at a great location on the California coast.

Reading on the NPS website the light in the 1906 earthquake the point actually moved 18ft north in less than a minute, yet there was little damage to the building... talk about well made. They don't make light houses like they used to!... well they just don't make lighthouses anymore. wah wah :(

Then we had to walk up that 30 story flight of stairs.... so much for being young and in shape. Luckily they have little walk outs with benches along the way. So we stopped with the little old ladies to catch our breath.




So that was the lighthouse. I think I need a sponsorship from the National Park Service... I sure visit them a lot. I've always wanted to be a Park Ranger.

Huggles,
Lauren