Lighthouse climb total 5
Today was a fun day for me, I got to swear in my first Junior Rangers! A child becomes a Jr. Ranger by completing a booklet with interesting facts and information about the Outer Banks and the animals that live here. When you become a Jr. Ranger, you get a ranger badge, similar to the real one rangers wear, and a certificate. The kids that became rangers today were very proud of their accomplishment! Former students: do you think Ollie should go for his Jr. Ranger badge? Leave your comments!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Lighthouse climb total: 3 1/2 times
Hi Everyone!
Today was a busy day for me, I spent much of the day at the lighthouse, I worked at the base of the lighthouse, as a "floater" inside the lighthouse, and at the top of the lighthouse. At the base you greet the visitors who are climbing and give them a safety talk before they climb. My boss let me give the safety talk 2 times by the end of the day! That's pretty exciting because I am still not wearing my uniform, so he had to introduce me as a ranger in training. When you are a floater, you are inside the lighthouse on one of the landings, usually about 1/2 way up the lighthouse. The floaters job is to keep an eye on the people who are climbing and help them in any way as they go. Since it can get hot inside the lighthouse, the heat index while I was in it was 91 degrees, the floater ranger also watches to make sure no one becomes ill while they are climbing. The ranger at the top of the lighthouse answers questions that the visitors have once they reach the top and points out things of interest in the view. I have 2 pictures to show you regarding that view: the first one illustrates how narrow the Outer Banks can be. If you look at this picture, you see the Pamlico Sound on the left side, a narrow strip of land (with the one road) in the middle, and the Atlantic Ocean on the right side. Imagine what happens to these narrow strips when a hurricane comes through and churns up the ocean waves! Do the waves wash over the road? They sure do!
The second picture I took shows the path the lighthouse took when they moved it in 1999, Yes! They moved the lighthouse! I will have to do at least a whole blog entry on the move, if not more. But, to get started, you can tell in this picture the path the lighthouse took by looking at the cleared out space below. Part of the cleared area was turned into a parking lot. If you follow the cleared path to the top of the picture, that is the spot where the lighthouse stood from 1870 until 1999.
Hi Everyone!
Today was a busy day for me, I spent much of the day at the lighthouse, I worked at the base of the lighthouse, as a "floater" inside the lighthouse, and at the top of the lighthouse. At the base you greet the visitors who are climbing and give them a safety talk before they climb. My boss let me give the safety talk 2 times by the end of the day! That's pretty exciting because I am still not wearing my uniform, so he had to introduce me as a ranger in training. When you are a floater, you are inside the lighthouse on one of the landings, usually about 1/2 way up the lighthouse. The floaters job is to keep an eye on the people who are climbing and help them in any way as they go. Since it can get hot inside the lighthouse, the heat index while I was in it was 91 degrees, the floater ranger also watches to make sure no one becomes ill while they are climbing. The ranger at the top of the lighthouse answers questions that the visitors have once they reach the top and points out things of interest in the view. I have 2 pictures to show you regarding that view: the first one illustrates how narrow the Outer Banks can be. If you look at this picture, you see the Pamlico Sound on the left side, a narrow strip of land (with the one road) in the middle, and the Atlantic Ocean on the right side. Imagine what happens to these narrow strips when a hurricane comes through and churns up the ocean waves! Do the waves wash over the road? They sure do!
The second picture I took shows the path the lighthouse took when they moved it in 1999, Yes! They moved the lighthouse! I will have to do at least a whole blog entry on the move, if not more. But, to get started, you can tell in this picture the path the lighthouse took by looking at the cleared out space below. Part of the cleared area was turned into a parking lot. If you follow the cleared path to the top of the picture, that is the spot where the lighthouse stood from 1870 until 1999.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Ocracoke Island
Friday, I went to Ocracoke Island to visit. Unless you have an airplane, the only way to get to Ocracoke Island is by ferry. There are no bridges you can drive over to get there. You can take your car on the ferry. Here is a picture of what one of the ferries looks like:
The ferry ride is about 45 minutes long. On Ocracoke, I visited the lighthouse:
The ferry ride is about 45 minutes long. On Ocracoke, I visited the lighthouse:
Bodie Island Lighthouse, Continued
Did anyone notice a difference between the top of the Bodie Island lighthouse and the top of Hatteras lighthouse? You can go back and look, I will wait.................... look closely............ it's not the stripes, they're different, but we'll talk about that later................
You may notice the top of the Bodie Island lIghthouse is black. The Bodie Island lighthouse is currently not being lit at night. Last year, when we vacationed here, It was covered with scaffolding and they were beginning to make repairs to the lighthouse. Well, they ran out of money for the repairs and found that many more repairs were needed than first thought. So, they took down the scaffolding (it was ugly!) and now are waiting for the Federal Government to give more money to continue renovating the lighthouse. The windows at the top of the lighthouse are covered with black tarp, the glass and the lens have all been removed. It is very sad, after watching Hatteras Lighthouse shine every night, to go to Bodie Island and see it turned off. You cannot climb it, like you can Hatteras, only look at it and visit the lighthouse keeper's quarters. There is also a nature trail you can walk, and I hear there are rattlesnakes! Luckily the trail is raised, but I am going to try to photograph a snake this summer! From a very safe distance!
You may notice the top of the Bodie Island lIghthouse is black. The Bodie Island lighthouse is currently not being lit at night. Last year, when we vacationed here, It was covered with scaffolding and they were beginning to make repairs to the lighthouse. Well, they ran out of money for the repairs and found that many more repairs were needed than first thought. So, they took down the scaffolding (it was ugly!) and now are waiting for the Federal Government to give more money to continue renovating the lighthouse. The windows at the top of the lighthouse are covered with black tarp, the glass and the lens have all been removed. It is very sad, after watching Hatteras Lighthouse shine every night, to go to Bodie Island and see it turned off. You cannot climb it, like you can Hatteras, only look at it and visit the lighthouse keeper's quarters. There is also a nature trail you can walk, and I hear there are rattlesnakes! Luckily the trail is raised, but I am going to try to photograph a snake this summer! From a very safe distance!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Day 4
Lighthouse climb total: 2 1/2 times
Today I took a day-trip up to the Bodie Island lighthouse. Bodie (pronounced "body") Island lighthouse is the next lighthouse to the north of here. All the lighthouses in North Carolina are 40 miles apart. While I was there, I met a volunteer named John Gaskill. He is the son of the man who was the last lighthouse keeper at the Bodie Island lighthouse! He lived at the lighthouse with his family back in 1918! He can remember what the island was like before there were bridges here: when you had to take a boat over and then drive on the beach because there were no roads here! He can remember before there was electricity on the island and his father had to carry heavy buckets of kerosene up the lighthouse to keep the light lit. It was so great to have the opportunity to talk to him!
I am putting up a picture of the Bodie Island lighthouse, see if you can notice any differences between it and the Hatteras lighthouse! More to come on this subject!
Big day coming tomorrow, I am looking forward to sharing it with you all!
Today I took a day-trip up to the Bodie Island lighthouse. Bodie (pronounced "body") Island lighthouse is the next lighthouse to the north of here. All the lighthouses in North Carolina are 40 miles apart. While I was there, I met a volunteer named John Gaskill. He is the son of the man who was the last lighthouse keeper at the Bodie Island lighthouse! He lived at the lighthouse with his family back in 1918! He can remember what the island was like before there were bridges here: when you had to take a boat over and then drive on the beach because there were no roads here! He can remember before there was electricity on the island and his father had to carry heavy buckets of kerosene up the lighthouse to keep the light lit. It was so great to have the opportunity to talk to him!
I am putting up a picture of the Bodie Island lighthouse, see if you can notice any differences between it and the Hatteras lighthouse! More to come on this subject!
Monday, June 20, 2011
I am here!
I started my first day as a Ranger today! This week I will be learning all the things a Ranger does. I started out my morning by climbing to the top of the Hatteras lighthouse. The view from the top of the lighthouse is wonderful! I had to climb 257 steps to get to the top, it is like climbing a 12 story building!
Did you know that turtles have beaks? I did not! I am adding a picture of a turtle skull that the Rangers use for lectures.
This week I get to go to the Bodie Island Lighthouse and the Ocracoke Island lighthouse, so I will share pictures with you of both of those lighthouses.
More coming! Thanks for reading!
Did you know that turtles have beaks? I did not! I am adding a picture of a turtle skull that the Rangers use for lectures.
This week I get to go to the Bodie Island Lighthouse and the Ocracoke Island lighthouse, so I will share pictures with you of both of those lighthouses.
More coming! Thanks for reading!
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| This is where I will be working! The Hatteras Lighthouse and Visitor Center. |
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| I should be smiling-- isn't it beautiful? |
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| This is a turtle skull, the darker part is its beak. |
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