For those of you who don't care, this is a pretty picture of the Oregon Coast. If you want to know more: Heceta Head Lighthouse was built in 1894 in a location that was so isolated there wasn't a reliable road that went by there until 1932. (The lighthouse is behind me in this photograph, so don't hurt yourself looking ... you won't see it!) There was a wagon road that was the main route from the lighthouse to Florence, Oregon, which was the nearest town, but that road was impassable in wet weather. The area gets about 75 inches of rain a year, so you can imagine how often the road was closed! The alternate route for wagon traffic going to and from the lighthouse was across the beach at low tide, around the headland, and up a ramp to the road. See how I'm standing on a cliff, and then there's a cove with the bridge in back, then a rugged headland, then another cove, then the farthest point of land? They waited until the tide was so far out they could drive around that rugged headland with a team and wagon, and then up the ramp to the road (although I don't know how far down the coast the ramp was). That beautiful bridge in the background is the Cape Creek Bridge, which was built in 1932. There's a tunnel that runs through the headland now, and you can see the road on the other side. If you look below the bridge and to the left, you'll see a grassy area. The parking lot is right there, and was the starting point for our hike up the cliff to the lighthouse.