Day 24, 24 June 2015

150 Visitors

Water Spout from a Grey Whale

We awoke to our regular overcast cool skies and I raised the flag and fed the seagulls before having a quick breakfast of Coco Puffs with strawberries and half a banana. Love them Coco Puffs that make chocolate milk!  Small pleasures to be enjoyed upon our little rock. Terrie and Leon showed up to help us before 10 am and it was good to see them again after their day off and have 4 people handle the crowds. Terrie took the first floor, Leon the 2^nd floor, Fred the tower and I took the gift store. I got the treasure chest ready last night with more necklaces, coins and those sticky banana slugs that the kids just love.

The day started off relaxed with not too many people showing up at once. We hummed along going at a good pace with Terrie starting the tours in the gift shop with the 4^th order Fresnel lens that was in the tower from 1907 to 1953. I worked the register for donation/admissions and purchases of merchandise. About halfway through it got real busy with lots of people showing up, sales of merchandise and fielding phone calls. Oh and running into the closet to find more XL sweatshirts.

The Remains of a Double Holer Outhouse we Point out to Guests

I organized the tour groups and had them come back at the appropriate times. I started tour groups in the gift shop so they wouldn’t have to wait too long. Then Terrie would take them through the rest of the first floor. I would then allow shoppers and the next tour group into the gift shop. Usually the shoppers got their purchases and left and the tour groups hung around looking and shopping and then I could start the tours with just them. I would usually close the door and people would stay out or if they entered I would tell them a tour was in progress and ask if they could wait outside for 5-10 minutes and then they could come into the gift shop. This way I had the tour groups under control and allowed shoppers to spend money. It turned out that this was the day we had the highest visitors and lots of sales with minimum confusion and stress. It felt great to have it run so smooth with our team of 4 and have so much income for the day. I did actually have a few moments of slack and chatted with the people outside for a tiny bit. When crowds were outside I checked on them and made sure I had the groups straight for timing. I mentioned to them that I am checking so that I don’t anger someone who will yell at me and then make me cry (tongue in cheek). They saw the humor and laughed and stayed well behaved. I of course thanked them later for their patience and understanding especially with the 8 person rule due to our limited space in the tower. They understood when I took a couple before them to join a group to make 8. Everyone seemed very happy on the way out and thanked us for the great tours. That made all of us very happy to see them so satisfied and greatful.

Lighthouse Glowing in the Evening Low Sun

We went to about 3 pm with one last group that just got out on the sewer pipe line before the water reached them. There was one last older couple that I watched cross over to make sure they were OK. The lady had waited around for her husband to take the tour and even feel asleep for a bit in the chair in the entry way. They were both very sweet and I wanted to make sure they made it across without any problems.

Our Resident Three Legged Raccoon

So we closed up the lighthouse, famished from working non-stop for 5 hours and I headed for the kitchen to make a late lunch. There were the usual stragglers that came over for a quick view and Fred let them know the tide was coming in. I nuked some mango sausages with cheese and put them on those yummy Hawaiian bread rolls with mustard. We also had potato chips and the fresh cherries Drew and Cathy brought us. I opened a nice bottle of my favorite Irish Death that Drew and Cathy brought me, which went well with the sausage sandwich. The sun was still out and it was a nice cool temperature and we went out onto the rock cliffs to our nesting spots to sit, relax and read. There were high clouds but it was still pleasant to sit on the warm rocks. I then spotted a spray from a whale and we excitedly watched our grey whales for about an hour. So much for reading. The whales were spotted earlier in the day by Fred in the tower and the visitors milling about outside. They were thrilled to see them and we had some very happy tourists that were good to see.

Both Fred and I were very tired from our busy day and full tummies and we both laid down on the warm rocks and fell asleep for about 30 minutes. The whales had gone their way and we couldn’t stay awake. We awoke with the squawking of a seagull ringing in our ears. We sure needed that nap. The sun was out more since the clouds had thinned and it was nice and warm with the light breeze. I saw the whales again closer in and took some pictures and watched them in the binoculars. They traveled north and went far in the distance. Time to take our walk near high tide and look at the isthmus and look for stuff on our tiny bit of gravel beaches. Fred had cleaned the tower glass and he joined me down at the isthmus. We walked back up and picked up any trash found around the lighthouse and went back into the house. We spent an hour relaxing and watching our soap opera on web video to catch up. I got to knit during the show and relished my relaxing knitting time.

Boathouse Built in the late 1800's, Now a Shop for Lighthouse Repairs and Improvements

The sun was approaching sunset and we put out the dry cat food for the gulls and took photos of the setting sun. There were some high interesting clouds and the orange chards were dancing upon the light waves in the water. Our raccoon friend showed up and was hesitant since we were out. He went down lower on the cliffs and looked at us. He is so adorable with his black mask. I left my high perch and went back around. Fred stayed at his perch and the raccoon shyly approached and ate the bits of cat food. We could clearly see his smaller back leg that he limped on and felt sorry for him. He looked fine otherwise and it was fascinating to watch him eat. He reached out gingerly with his long arms and little hands and quietly nibbled. We got some nice photos of him and kept our distance, though he seemed comfortable with our presence. We let him be to finish his dinner and went back inside. Fred made a salad while I worked on the blog. We had the salad for a late dinner and some ice cream to finish off the night. Hopefully I will get more sleep tonight with the finished blog and no excuse to stay up late. So off to sleep I happily went with dreams of softly sleeping in a warm sunshine, upon ancient rock cliffs that echoed the faint songs of giant gentle grays as they swam by and smiled at our peaceful slumber.

Sunset with Colorful High Clouds