We finished our first week of work on Sunday, and we don't work again until Thursday. VC is pretty busy. We have two counters: one for people we see outside the VC, and one for people who come into the VC. There are a number of people who bypass the VC and just come for the hiking. On Saturday the outside count was in excess of 300, and the inside count topped 200. There was a steady stream of visitors all day long which makes for an interesting day. No more having to count the UPS driver to get our daily count above zero.

This past Friday we were off, and we drove to Newport about 25 miles north along the coast. It is the largest town within a reasonable driving distance. It has grocery stores and a Walmart. Yaquina Head Lighthouse is also located nearby to Newport. This is a BLM property, and one that we have had on our radar for sometime. We actually had applied to volunteer at the lighthouse, but they were filled at the time our schedule was empty. Anyway we visited, were impressed with the site, and enjoyed a delightful tour of the lighthouse led by a character in period costume and playing the role of someone who was filling in for the lighthouse keeper. The tour and presentation were very well done. Our tour was followed by a visit to the Chowder House in Newport where the chowder was so good we were able to forget about the wonderful she crab soup we couldn't get enough of when we were in South Carolina.

Today we hiked a trail from Yachats that went up the mountain behind Yachats and then descended through a biological reserve (rhododendrons) back into Yachats. Of course we had to find sustenance after such a strenuous sojourn and ended up at the Luna Seafish House in Yachats. Halibut for Shannon and scallops and chips for me. We may never want to leave.

Tomorrow a deviation from the hiking and seafood with a trip to see Captain America. We gotta keep up.