Benchmark 60: A to Z Challenge: Z is for Zzzzzzz

Friday, May 1, 2015

A to Z Challenge: Z is for Zzzzzzz

Zzzzzz...there must be something about this coastal air, lulling sounds of crashing surf, and absence of traffic noise that makes for a good night's sleep. I've gone to bed early the past two nights and fallen instantly asleep. Our campsite is located in a former RV park, right next to a freshwater lake and just over the dune from the ocean. If the tsunami siren goes off, we'll be scrambling to get to high ground! The state bought the RV park from the former owners and is working to reestablish the native habitat. The RV sites (except for two host sites) have been removed. Another volunteer couple should show up today and fill the other campsite. There have been very few park visitors except for the deer...who seem to have no fear of humans.

I am writing from the host desk at the Lifeboat Museum. There's Wi-Fi at the museum!!! The lifeboat station sits on a hill above the town of Port Orford. We're safe from tsunamis up here. I can see the ocean glistening in the sun out the window, but it is a sharp drop off to the ocean below. Apparently the town didn't want to give up prime real estate in the port when the decision was made to put a lifeboat station in Port Orford, so they gave the Coast Guard the hill on the westernmost tip of Port Orford Heads. The lifeboats were launched on rescue missions from a cove 280 feet below the station on the hill and the sailors lugged cans of gas down 500 steps steps to reach the boathouse in Nellie's Cove.

The boathouse is gone now, but you can see what remains of the dock in the picture above. Below is the view from the trail to Nellie's Cove looking over the breakwater.

This morning I walked the Tower Trail that leads to the site of the observation tower that was used during World War II to watch for enemy ships, submarines, and aircraft. The tower was dismantled in 1970 when the station was decommissioned, but the view is still spectacular.