135 Visitors
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| River Otters on the inside of the Largest Jetty (Taken by Drew) |
The morning was
cool with a thick fog. This was the thickest fog that we have had so far. While
I showered and got ready for the day Fred raised the flag and fed the gulls and
made a run into town to get some salmon for dinner and pick up a prescription.
I prepared a simple breakfast for both of us before the start of our tours.
Cathy and Drew had gotten up earlier and had breakfast and I could smell the
nice aroma of coffee. Leon and Terrie
arrived ten minutes before opening and we introduced them to Drew and Cathy. I
took the gift store, Fred the downstairs, Terrie the 2nd floor and
Leon the tower. The visitors started coming in little by little and everything
was running smoothly as we formed groups for the tours and others were shopping
in the gift store. About midway through the crowds started to build up, typical
for a Saturday. I had groups organized but then one man shows up complaining
that he had been waiting for a long while with his group and that he had been
here yesterday. We let his group proceed before some others that I had said
could be the current group for a tour. The other people were very gracious and
understanding to wait some more. We are limited to 8 due to the small space in
the tower. As Fred started the tour, I kept looking at his group and did not
recognize them from organizing previously. I mentioned this to Fred as he was
to guide them in the next room and he asked if they had paid their donation and
the guy said - no that they had been
waiting outside. So that was the problem, he never checked in like everyone
else had done (since day one of giving tours).
We got back on schedule with the proper groups in order and I thanked
the people that had waited. We had some people from Denmark and another group
of ladies sounded like they had Russian accents. The groups were non-stop one
right after another and I couldn’t start a tour early since I was handling
purchases in the gift store. It was quite busy and intense for the rest of the
time we were open. Leon and Terrie’s son, with his wife and kids showed up near
the end and it was nice to meet them and Leon looked so proud and beamed as he
held his adorable little granddaughter. There was one last group who came in at
the very end and we were concerned about the tide. They said they would like
the tour for their group which was a handsome Hispanic family consisting of
grandma, grandpa, mom and dad and a very sweet young man and his younger
brothers. They got through the tour and grandma patiently waited in a chair in
the entrance way and the young man came into the gift store. They had come down
a little earlier from the rest of their group. The young man told me he didn’t
go to the tower top because he was a bit afraid and I told him well, maybe next
time he would go. He looked around the gift store and liked the ships in a
bottle and picked out one. He left with his family but a minute later came back
and shyly asked if he could pick out another different one in addition to the
one he chose previously. I said of course you can and he explained he wanted to
get one for his brother who was going off to college. What a considerate young
man, it made up for the jerk we had to deal with earlier. So our tours ended
nicely with this young man’s family who were all smiles as they left and
expressed their enjoyment of the tour. Actually the jerk was real nice in the
end and thanked us nicely for a great tour also.
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| Fred and Drew on the Rocks on the Northwest Side of the Island |
We met up with Drew and Cathy
who had gone for a walk on the jetty while we were working and they had great
stories and pictures of watching a mama river otter with her two babies in a
sandy area in the corner area of the jetty. What a great sighting of this
adorable family. We finally had lunch and chatted more. Fred and I worked on
the gift store a bit after lunch and joined Drew and Cathy outside. They were
enjoying our paradise and took pictures and had a nice scope setup to view
things in the distance. The wind was cold and the sunshine finally came out and
the fog cleared up somewhat. We explored
some cliff areas and Fred and Drew climbed around to some spectacular areas and
I got pictures of them on the rocks. They eventually rejoined us and we all
took a walk down to the isthmus. Back to the house we went and I started to
make snickerdoodles. We started a happy hour and relaxed outside with drinks,
guacamole, chips and cookies. It clouded up again and got chilly and we came
inside. While Drew and Cathy took showers I knit a bit. Fred prepared a nice
salad for all of us and I went up to the tower and cleaned the inside windows
and the lens. After the cleaning I started making mango cherry salsa for the
salmon for dinner and Cathy made scones for tomorrow’s breakfast. I went
outside again and watered the flowers and talked to visitors who were milling
about. There was a very nice family from South Carolina and we chatted and they
wandered about. Fred, Drew and Cathy came out and we were just enjoying the end
of the day when I spotted a spray of water in the distance out in the ocean –
whale!
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| View from the Rocks |
We kept watching
and sure enough another spray. We called to the Carolina family to come see the
whales. It was about 8:15 pm. I ran in and got 2 binoculars and a few minutes
later we saw the whales again – this time as one swam we saw his back and then
his tail. We all cheered and the family was thrilled and got some photos. A
little while later a repeat of the scene and again through the binoculars could
see the whale tail again. Another cheer! The family left so very happy to have
seen a whale and for a third time the whale showed us his tail once more. A
three tail day! We went inside
finally for dinner of salmon with the mango cherry salsa, corn on the cobb and
salad. It was delicious.
We went upstairs to a fire in the stove and some TV and showing of pictures. We
were all tired and drifted off to bed soon after. I did my usual late night
blog writing and finally off to bed, thinking of the magical world of otters
and whales sharing their beautiful northwest ocean world in the shadow of a
quiet little lighthouse, happy and content to include all of us in her watch.
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| Another View of the Lighthouse from the Rocks |
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