Leaving the Spit

Our stay at the New Dungeness Lighthouse came to a close early on Saturday morning, 6:00 am, October 24th.  We spent most of Friday finishing up our outside duties (for me, mowing grass) and cleaning the Keeper's Quarters for the next crew who would be brought out and dropped off as we loaded up to leave.  The reason for such an early morning pick-up was because that was the best of low tide for the trucks to drive out to the end of the spit.

We completely cleaned the house, washed all the linens and towels, and had everything put back together for the new Keepers.  Yes, that meant not sleeping in the beds that night, nor using any towels.  That was a long, uncomfortable night...just sayin'.

We got a phone call about 5:20 am saying the pickups were on their way, so we had about 30 minutes to close up our suitcases, finish packing the food from the refrigerator into our coolers, round up all our garbage from the week, and haul everything out to the road.  The new Keepers (two couples) were quick to unload all their stuff - and they told us this was about their 8th time to spend a week here.

We all wished we could have either arrived or left the lighthouse in daylight, but that didn't happen. Nevertheless, once we were loaded, it was an interesting ride back.  We saw that there was a sea lion that had washed up on shore, and the drivers of the pick-ups were happy to stop, shine their headlights on the sea lion and let us out to take a look at him.

One question that was asked is what happens when there's a week with no one at the Keeper's Quarters.  Amazingly enough, this is such a popular activity, nearly every week in 2016 (except for a few in the winter months) is already booked.  And if there is a week that doesn't get booked, usually two couples associated with the Lighthouse Association volunteer to take that week.  They will start taking bookings for 2017 in December.

It certainly can be a great get-a-way...filled with time to unwind, watch nature, escape stressful routines associated with home and work, and to live in the moment.