When you wish you could go back to your youth, think about Algebra.

Yesterday I wrote that the routine was for me to write a post while Pam fixes b’fast, then upload that post later in the day when we’re in town. This morning I’m writing and Pam’s still hidden somewhere deep inside her sleeping bag. No, it’s not that early; it’s 6:30. She’s sleeping in. She goes to sleeping bag with all her clothes on, including her sweatshirt, with the hood pulled up over her head. Then she disappears down into the bag so that only the top of the gray hood shows. (I think she gets cold during the night.) Sunday she’ll like returning to temps in the triple digits.

We got a tide table when we arrived here at Washburne State Park. That’s a small sheet that gives the time for the high and low tides for each day of the year. Yesterday’s early low tide came at 7:45 a.m. and was at -1.2 (a negative low tide is pretty low). So we were up early, ate b’fast and then headed down to the beach below Heceta Head Lighthouse. I erred by not getting a pic of the whole beach at low tide, deciding only after my camera went dead that I should have captured the same shot at both low and high tide (six hours later). The difference is almost unbelievable.

Anyway, absent those comparative photos, here’s a sampling of what we saw.
Starfish of all colors and sizes. This one is about 8” across.
Anemone. These are the size of the palm of your hand, and yes, this is their true color, shining through.
Barnacles. I’ve never seen this many living barnacles. Must be millions of them.
Muscles. Millions of them, too. Pam said this pic reminds her of me. I titled it Gun Show.Birds. This is a rock just out in the surf enough to be inaccessible. Which is probably why the cormorants and other shore birds use it as a rookery.
After almost two hours at the beach, exploring tide pools and HUGE caves (no good pics. drat) we came back for cold! showers. When I was leaving the park ranger was there working on the system. Somebody put a control at an improper setting, so we’re hoping for hot water today.

After cleaning up we went back to the beach and climbed up the hill to the Heceta (Hess-EE-ta) Head Lighthouse. It was built in the 1890’s and is still functioning. We took the tour. I asked the 100-year old volunteer guide why, in an age of satellite navigation and GPS watches did ships still need a lighthouse. She’s a nice lady, if not thoroughly versed on all matters regarding the lighthouse. Which is to say she mumbled something about the Coast Guard and moved on with the tour. My mistake was asking a follow-up question: why does it function 24 hours a day when it originally was only lit from dusk to dawn? Again, the Coast Guard.

BTW, this is the point at which my camera died.

We came back to the campground and had lunch, then went into Florence. We found a nice coffee shop with wi-fi in an area called Old Town down on the banks of the Siuslaw River. So we enjoyed a carmel latte (me) and a berry smoothie (Pam) and then walked the shops. The 3-block stretch is dominated by art galleries, some of which had some pretty cool (and expensive) stuff. We fell in love with a kinetic wall sculpture that was beyond amazing. And $1,550.
After shopping we had dinner at one of the seafood restaurants overlooking the river.
Again, no pics.

But on the way home just before dusk we stopped at Fred Meyer and bought a cheap (and I do mean cheap!) digital camera. As in red plastic, 3.1 mega pixel, no zoom cheap. But we’ll go back up to the lighthouse to snap a few shots for the archives and tomorrow’s post.

We’re having a GOOD time. In between our wanderings we’re talking about all manner of things, including how we’re going to redecorate the living room area of our house and our bedroom, the two areas that haven’t really been touched (except for paint) since we moved in three years ago. Alas, it starts with removing popcorn ceilings. Ugh.

Today’s agenda? We’ll decide when Pam crawls out of the tent. You’ll just have to wait until the next post!

P.S. She didn't emerge until just before 8:00. I fixed my b'fast: fried eggs, bacon and coffee. Something about bacon and coffee smells even better in the woods.