Judy and I agreed to take over a vacant position at the Port Orford Lifesaving Service/Coast Guard Station Museum for most of the month of April.

We are encamped in the most delightful day use park, Tseriadun State Park. ( Pronounced by the locals as something like Sera-dun.) To our right we have Garrison Lake. It is one of those pretty lakes just inside the sand dunes beyond the surf where a small stream tries to find its way to the sea. The stream works its way over to one of those huge “haystack rocks” and from time to time it changes its course to go to the north or the south of the rock. The beach is made of course textured black volcanic sand and the slope into the water is fairly steep.

It takes us about five minutes to walk to the water’s edge from our coach. We run out every evening, so far, hoping to catch sight of the famous “green flash” at sunset. We mostly see fog banks about two miles out.
The Coast Guard Station is well preserved and includes many working artifacts from its Coast Guard days. I was in the Coast Guard from 1963 to 1969 and so many of the things are just like I remember. Among the things we get to “play” with is the original Military Identification Tag machine. Remember “Dog Tags?” We have supplies for it, and we actually stamp out “Dog Tags” for people for $5.00. It has a standard typewriter keyboard. Instead of touch typing, however, you do “stomp typing” with two fingers on either hand to trigger the solenoid that drives the punch.
The museum features as its centerpiece one of its original 36 foot Motor Lifeboats. It has been fully restored by the Parks Department. Unfortunately the boathouse burned in the ‘70’s but the stairway down, (over 500 steps,) is still mostly there. Well except for the last 50 steps. I figure rappelling would work, but it would be easier to kayak into Nellis Bay on a quiet day. The only thing left is the foundations for the marine railway anyway.
One of the exercises the “Coasties” got to look forward to after a long night of searching for shipwreck survivors was re-fueling the Lifeboats. The diesel fuel had to be packed down the 500 plus stairs in five gallon “Jerry-Cans.” They weigh 49 pounds each and you take two to balance the load. The local community celebrates once a year with “Jerry-Can” races. Yes, I tried my hand at carrying the pair of “men’s standard Jerry-Cans.” No, I will not be entering in the races!
Oh, yes. I am back to playing the bugle for morning and evening colors. Wow, it’s hard to get your lip back after laying off for almost a year. By the time I get to the end of the modern version of “To the Colors,” I can’t get up to the last couple high notes. Oh, well I have three days off now and some concentrated practice should whip the embouchure back into shape.

Our weather has been interesting too. Yesterday was an idyllic day here on the coast; calms winds, warm sunshine, pounding surf; everything you could want on a visit to the beach. We hiked the headland beyond the Coast Guard station and then we hiked the beach when we got home. Temperatures were in the high fifty’s.

Today, on the other hand has been a “beach,” so to speak. Rain squalls off and on all day, topped with a driving hail storm about three in the afternoon and the temperature plummeted to 41 degrees. On our web site you will see photos representing both days. Our friends in Arizona tell us its 67 where they are.