Episode 70 - Point Fermin Lighthouse

0:00 Hi everybody, I'm Emily and I'm Vince and this is the lighthouse lowdown Thanks I'm off my game. Usually I have something to say You say thank you to our everyone who sent us engagement. Well wishes. Yeah, that was nice. So nice and We also got a couple of new lighthouses to cover. So oh, let's go appreciate that. We had some emails then Yes, exactly what we're going to be covering next time Due to our wonderful listeners It'll be a Valentine's Day episode post Valentine's Day. Nice. Yeah when you and I recorded it'll still be Valentine's Day Yeah romance Before our little trip or little getaway. I have not done this in a long time I'm back. I'm excited We are so back. We are so back and in it. We are back. I have I Have a history Vui which I found while I was Researching this lighthouse. That's the best way to find them. Yeah, it is accidentally Thank you for your the fervor in your voice. I appreciate that. You're really How long have you been drinking?

1:23 coke 15 minutes. Okay. Excellent. So Coca-Cola like at the peak mixed with drugs Okay, no, that's a lie History buoy I'm covering today is the Los Angeles lighthouse challenge. Oh, there's another one Oh just LA Vince did a whole episode right on Lighthouse challenge, right? And so I'm just gonna do a little history brew over the LA lighthouse challenge We're cool came up because lighthouse recovering today had a hundred and fifth anniversary And so I don't know if this is a recurring thing or if it was only for the anniversary that they did this because it was Like okay very small scale Don't know 105 is not a particularly 150. Oh, okay Yeah, 105th. That's what you said. I think oh my gosh and to think that I I'd be like that's kind of I moved the five And zero and then spoke it Like in words and still didn't catch it For real on a whole new level. Okay, so let me I have a photo I That has some of the details of it, but it was on Saturday July 13th of this last year So I don't know if it'll be a thing that they do this year, too. But I guess we can wait and see summertime The goal was to collect five stamps at four different locations in LA And when you collect them all you get a souvenir prize, so it's very similar to the New Jersey challenge I'm sure that's where they got the idea for this

2:53 Because it's nice the same thing you go to a point you pick up your packet that comes with little gifts and then your stamp pamphlet So what I wonder you know, I never thought about it being an original idea, New Jersey New Jersey Wow, New Jersey lighthouse challenge. I just Thought it was a great idea, but I guess you could do it anywhere. This is interesting. It's one city. So tell us When you find out whatever whenever we talk next if it's recurring or if it was one time I'll have to keep an eye peeled. I have a feeling it's recurring I hope it is I hope like it went well and they're like, oh we should do this every year This is the first time. Mm-hmm. I mean as far as I know Yeah, it didn't seem to be like a thing that happened over and over but five different stamps two of them Are at point is it Vicente?

3:44 Reset. Oh, yeah Vicente sent a And we start at Point Furman lighthouse, which is the lighthouse we're covering today you also have to end at Point Furman lighthouse in order to Get your souvenir prize So you have to like start there to get your pamphlet and everything get a stamp And then you can head over to Angel's Gate for Nellie's at the Maritime Museum because Angel's Gate It's here in LA and you can see it from the Marine Aquarium. What is it Cabrillo? I don't see Under stamp number three Cabrillo Cabrillo Cabrillo, I think Sorry everybody, but from the Maritime Aquarium, you can see the Angel's Gate lighthouse, which is closed to the public But they have the Fradal Lens at the LA Maritime Museum So you can get a stamp for that go to the LA Harbor lighthouse, which is the Marine Aquarium has that stamp and then you'd go to point Vicente and get a stamp for their lighthouse and At the Interpreter Center. Nice. It doesn't look so bad. I see the first three are all San Pedro Yeah, all same area code. I'm about to pull up a map of Where they are in relation to each other. Heck yeah, and I also put it on Was that just one or both that was one cat I hope they're okay. He just ran into the post of our table on his way to go to the feeder. Oh The feeder goes off every day at the same time just so you people know so that Joey. Yeah That's our dumb cat. Yeah, Joey will decide to poop

5:15 Right. He's literally he's pooped on the way to the feeder. Yeah He's just abandons the litter box and just suffers the consequences of doing that mid poop anyway So I'm gonna pull up a map in a second of what it looks like and I put it in biking Timeline so that if you wanted to bike this it gives you some timing You I I don't think you could walk it and you could easily drive it So the timeline is between 10 a.m. And 5 p.m Sure, and they put a little hint on their website that said point Furman Actually, you can get in at 930 if you wanted to get a little head start wink wink Nice there for the head start people 30 minutes But yeah, so and you could really do it in whatever order you wanted But you just have to start and end at point Furman lighthouse. Nice. Here's a look It's I did not include going back from point Vincent Vincent Vicente Vicente From there to back to point Furman and that's the longest stretch So it's probably about a two hour stretch The longest stretch so it's probably about a two hour bike ride to hit everything Which when you think about is not that bad. Although that is We went we went we went to see my mom in Boise, Idaho and rode on the bike trail there How many months we do 18 18 miles but there was a day now we took all sorts of breaks Okay I was thinking that doesn't really make sense for it to be 12 miles and only an hour and 15 minutes because we biked

6:52 Way longer than that. Maybe this is people who are cyclists versus me on a bike with flat tires Anyways, so yeah, cool. It's it's bikeable and may I may even like give it a go, but Obviously driving is gonna be your best bet But you do some training enjoy the ride too. So that's our LA lighthouse challenge that happened this past year Pretty pretty fun. Oh, you can see Angels Gate out there Next to the maritime. Oh, yeah, so you can see it from there. Yeah Marine aquarium. Mm-hmm. They have a way for you can you can view it from a distance. That's awesome. Yeah so we're gonna be zeroing in on point Furman lighthouse, it's just at the bottom of Our little map that we have pulled up here. So we are in California point firm is next to Long Beach and only 30 minutes south of LA So when Southern California's first railroad the Los Angeles and San Pedro railroad was built in 1869 it connected the bay and LA which at that time was like booming and So like there was tons of growth there and like the addition of the railroad meant that they needed a lighthouse so there was a quest made in 1869 for the lighthouse board to add a lighthouse in this area a Site was selected on the bluff of point Furman and in 1872 $20,000 was appropriated for a lighthouse and at that time the land had multiple owners

8:22 I don't really know it. I don't know what that means like somebody owns Like a mile of it and someone else owns really, I guess a Hey Could be square miles. Yeah, interesting. Yep one square mile Yeah, I don't know but uh, no problem. The government just took it Took him to court and stole eminent domain Yeah, really like oh multiple owners so it would have been impossible to figure out how to pay these people Yeah, they didn't have them. Oh, yeah, so then they just took them all the court and didn't split it I just find when I read that I'm like, oh my gosh, those guys have to been like well there goes our family land Yeah, that was our legacy. So our lighthouse Pound firm Pound Pound firmin Point Furman was built From California redwood and fur so pretty fancy and it's beautiful ornate Victorian structure 30 feet tall and Was a square integral lighthouse. It may be familiar to you. I'll put up a picture. Hey This is a sister light to herford inlet and East brother Island lighthouse and a few more that are all no longer standing So as of this episode, we'll have covered all the sister lighthouses That are still standing for a fam. I know so cute to describe you would say like cottage style Yeah, it's the stick style architecture. That's right Victorian that's white black shutters brick awesome geometry

9:57 Yeah, very seeing very pleasing to that and this is updated So I don't know I'm sure they didn't stray far from original on like paint colors and stuff So we can probably count on this being beautiful historically, correct Yeah, very nice looking lighthouse It's still original so it's it's lasted since it was built in the 1870s Nice its fourth order lens was lit on December 15th 1874 by its first two keepers who were sisters Mary and Ella Smith So our first keepers are crazy And they're like sisters. I have never heard of that before. It's so cool. What was their story? How'd they get into that business? They came from another lighthouse. So they were They I think in Washington, okay And that was another thing is the lighthouse that they were at must have been Closer to civilization or something because at this time. Yeah, the area was booming But it was long before anybody was living in this area, you know, so it was It was only like eight years that they lasted before they Resigned saying that the area was too lonely. Wow. I know which is so funny considering the current population Eight years is pretty good though Yeah, no, it's definitely good. But here's a postcard I believe in 1900 cool just kind of like bare bones and shows the bluff really well Did they have to move this lighthouse? No, they haven't and it's close to that love like really rocky. So tectonic rock The light characteristic originally was red and white switching every 20 seconds. I think

11:30 It's I that's how you read it. That's how yeah, that's how I read it It was rotated by clockwork weights that you had to wind up 15 ish years later in 1889 the characteristic changed from alternating red and white to fixed white And as more lighthouses started to pop up in the area and like made it really confusing They changed it to a flashing white in 1912 Okay. Yeah, so which is interesting. Why? Would you build a lighthouse like this is right next to angels gate lighthouse. I don't know anything about angels gate I've heard of it. I've heard of it, but I don't know anything about it. It's the other one that's still there. Yeah, it's the one that's uh That you see from the maritime aquarium But why would you build a lighthouse and then give it a fixed white characteristic?

12:18 It's like this one was changed to fixed white and then it got confusing because new lighthouses popped up and it's like well Then why why did you give them the same characteristic as one that's already nearby? I don't know. Did they just do you think they decide we've never talked about this. I know do they decide The the day mark for that matter, but also the light characteristic Before they finished construction like they would be like, okay So this one's really close to this lighthouse and this one's fixed white So let's make this one fixed red or flashing white or something I mean, I know we've been doing this for years, but maybe they have different meanings Like fixed white stay away and now this one's more stay away than that one was because this one's even more critical of the place I don't know. I don't know or more. Maybe it's because the new one has a better For now lens so it's got a longer range and so that one should be flashing maybe it's a lot more expensive to have Clockwork and rotating and stuff and so then all of them ended up being fixed colors But none of them had flashing capabilities. So then this one switched to flashing white. That'd be nice to reduce the amount of work They had to do. Yeah clockwork You just think they would that would be the first point of concern is that everybody's Knows exactly which lighthouses which that's what it's for. Yeah, I don't know But that's what happened here 1917 keeper Willie Austin became head keeper of the lighthouse 1917 keeper Willie Austin became head keeper along with his wife and seven kids

13:51 Plus one more after they were living there. Let's go when his wife passed away unexpectedly from an operation keeper Willie died from broken heart Oh, man, I know the same year Mr. Willie Dang it. Willie Couldn't keep it together without his wife. That's crazy about that being eight kids that are suddenly orphaned So he had a heart attack type of thing. Yeah, he just died on unknown cause. Yeah, they just say broken heart So there's got to be there's got to be some scientific Explanation for what that means because I hear it's it's a real thing I don't know like if anyone out there knows a scientific explanation to dying of a broken heart Let us know. Yeah, is it like you just don't have the will to go on and you just whisper away One of those, you know, you slap the hood it is what it is But because of this their children Thelma and Louise I want to say Juanita Decided to keep the light in their stead saying quote we had a sacred duty to perform to keep the heroic Work, which our parents started and wow, so that's pretty cool Another pair of sisters run in the lighthouse after way different circumstances, but still How about how old were they? They must have been old enough to They must have been all this business. Yeah, I'm not adults. I must have been 15 or something Yeah by those standards true Thelma was headkeeper until 1927. So I don't know how many years that was maybe like three Maybe two I think okay that she ran it with her sister and then this marked the end of keepers at this lighthouse

15:28 So the Los Angeles Park Department struck a deal that meant a park superintendent Could keep the light and live there Because it was now electrified. So it was like a lot easier of a job. When was electrified 1923 I think this is probably the same year 1927 I know that's early very early, especially the west coast. I feel like Those lighthouses were like behind the times compared to east coast, which were like always on top of things I guess but that's I guess that's just a feeling and not based on fact. That's nuts was That must be one of the first I can't remember all the years in history But that must be one of the early ones to be electrified. It must be at least well, because The first one I know we've talked about it, which is why I bring it up, but I don't remember the details what numbers I'm pretty sure it was the first one to be electrified 1898 so that's like 30 years after this 20 something Okay, so we'll have to look up in never mind like which lighthouses were electrified in which order but it is true that it took It what 20s is still pretty good for getting electrified I think a lot of them put it off for a while because yeah like 40s 50s 60s 70s 1970s In some cases some cases the eyebrows shot up in some cases you dirt bag Dirt bag. Yeah, I would never even think that in my head land lover

17:04 So, yeah now we we have no more keepers past that point it's kind of crazy Two days after the pearl harbor attack the light went dark what a shock They they put out the lighthouse for good It never was never really dark. So that wasn't going to be bombed probably. Well, yeah, we don't want to aid enemy ships and like submarines We'll get by So we're going to have to get rid of that So we're going to have to get rid of that Probably. Well, yeah, we don't want to aid enemy ships and like submarines or get bombed And so and they never relit it. No is the end 1941 You'd know better than me circa 1941 You don't remember off the top of your head when pearl harbor was well June 6th 1942 Um was d-day let me look at that up. Okay, this is a quiz. Hold on history quiz You know more about war than 1944 oh, I thought the war ended in 45 Well, yeah, that's Okay attack on pearl harbor was december 7th 1941 and June of 1944 we were in the war Okay, so december 9th this lighthouse 1941 crazy for good traffic Kind of right Huh? That was kind of right. Yeah for sure. Let the record show

18:35 There were some correct numbers in there But yeah, most of the lighthouses on the west coast went dark after this happened just to avoid aiding But point for a man did not get relit so Well that that's that was unlike most other lighthouses. I'm not sure. I'm not sure why but Probably because it's surrounded by other lighthouses that had similar light characteristics Shortly after extinguishing the lantern room was removed and replaced with a chicken coop Which is basically just a windowed room to keep an eye out from like a lookout tower Oh, yeah picture of what it looked like with its chicken coop Uh interesting so basically anything from the balcony up was removed and replaced to be useful in war And after the war a light on a metal pole replaced the light Which is always so funny like I'm like Which is always so funny like I I didn't include a picture in here, but you can look it up It's literally a metal pole with a light on top. So sad like, you know with some antenna or whatever like ah We have this gorgeous architecture just beautiful historical lighthouse and then it's just like It's a little antenna the coast guard considered demolishing the light in 1972 and then bill Will oleson I want to say i'm just gonna go forward with that and Anyone feel free to correct me He had first visited the lighthouse at eight years old and spent his whole life nearby and he teamed up with the coordinator of the cabrio

20:07 Maritime museum Very good According to online pronunciation lady, it's cabrillo So we don't pronounce it like I was wrong um So that's all in there forever, um Cabrillo Okay. Wow. Let me start again now that I know it So bill oleson teamed up with the coordinator of the cabrillo maritime museum to save our lighthouse which was in danger of being demolished In their campaign to save the lighthouse point firman was added to the national register of historic places in the same year 1972 Let's go and over the next two years the chicken coop was removed and the lantern room Reconstructed based on the original blueprints. So smart kept it historical and Returned it to its formal glory much prettier. Yeah, so much better By 2002 the lighthouse got another renovation this one 2.6 million dollars My gosh, so here's a I put up a before and after it's It's hard to tell but it really is like it gave it got a facelift. First of all all the colors Yeah washed out. It looks way better. Yeah, there's like some corrosion and stuff going on fixed it right up, which is Great and that that's only on the outside. It also got new plumbing electrical work alarm systems air conditioning and period furnishings

21:37 So it's historically accurate on the inside as well air conditioning. I know Missed out all this time Is it hot in california is one of those places where it's hot? Okay. Yeah, it gets hot doesn't really get cold Oh, they think it's freezing if it's 60. Yeah Oh, I guess if you're not used to it not all of california. It's a huge state, but my grandma who lived in ventura She would uh comment how cold how she could get a jacket anytime. It was 60 So funny, well, she was also a grandma. She was a grandma. They're more sensitive to that I don't want to live somewhere where it gets hot and not cold I'd rather live somewhere where it gets cold and not hot. Yep. You agree with that?

22:18 It's important. Am I signing off on something? gosh We'll see we'll see What do you mean? What do you mean? This has always been something that you knew Somewhere that gets cold and not hot. Yeah Yeah, it gets too hot here then we'll have another house in arizona. We'll go there every year to golf I'm never going to no no no only when it's nice there. You can't drag me there. It's a golf mecca Incredible place anyone that wants to weigh in let us know Yeah, let us all let us know about how hot it gets in arizona. Oh, no, don't say that. I lived in arizona for a short time 125 degrees is the hottest I saw There were heat stroke warnings You'd get tired walking between your car and the restaurant Yeah now That's when you don't live in arizona is the summertime Yeah, that was also a terrible That was also a terrible. Um, well we had a terrible experience in a town called kingman, arizona What happened? Oh, it's just not like we live there and we didn't enjoy it. Okay, we So you're not thinking of that. I don't want to trash kingman But the experience wasn't good. Was it 10 years ago?

23:35 Maybe in the past at least 10 years ago, maybe in the past decade. It's turned itself around 15 years ago Maybe you're insulting like an arizona mecca. It's not just a golf resort. This is the whole Okay, okay. Sorry No, I know you did this. Yeah. Yeah, sorry. Sorry. Sorry Okay, sorry so after many years as park employee housing it was open to the public after this renovation and this Kind of led into the question. Where did the lens go? Because someone definitely has it we've heard it a couple times that a war happens a lens gets crated like taking apart and created somewhere and They just lose track of where it is. It's just I'd love to see these warehouses where lens get lost it would have to be like Don't you think there's probably like really awesome stuff hidden in there that nobody knows?

24:29 I think there's some in some warehouses. I think most That were ever in warehouses have been rediscovered and sold yeah for cash And what does that mean? Like? Where are these warehouses where things get rediscovered like who goes in there and Look at the crepes. There's gonna like imagine. It's a it's a shipping receiving dock area And they have a massive storage and there's this one that Something happened a business went out of you know out of business or something Changed there was a war that started it's like some big event and some warehouse was left dormant shipments were lost or whatever They were never processed well before too long The odds are that shipping yard handling area that I clearly I don't know anything about this world They're gonna say hey, we need to use that one again Everything that's in there is trash because we got to get rid of it so we can use it to make money So someone on their off time wink It's gonna go through and see if there's anything valuable Things like historic items things like a fresnel lens that you know they could it's not black market But it is just unofficial. I know a guy and they buy it and this guy just gets the cash He's a he's a shipping worker versus whatever. There's there's a house in california I think los angeles that was sold not too long ago has a velociraptor Skeleton like fossilized

26:00 Skeleton just as part of the house. Oh my gosh. It's included in the house There's people out there that are that wealthy Like there's like like beyond you can imagine there's people that have a giant first order from that lens in their living room Just like as a talking piece gonna be us one of these days and we're not gonna steal it in a person Instead of having another house in arizona, we're gonna have a friend of ours Yeah, we're gonna have a copy of gay head Fresnel lens first order Clockwork. Oh, whatever. What's that clock? Yeah, yeah a rotational device And um, we'll decorate it around the christmas time like a big ass tree Very nice, that's the plan someone has it somewhere. Yeah, and you're right So old listen remember he was the guy who saved it originally He wanted to find the lens before the hundred year celebration back in the 70s. He found the lens he wanted to And he was talking about it in a restaurant and apparently met somebody There who knew where it was kind of wet market. Is this very strange? I'd be like why are you following me?

27:11 How is that possible that someone just like oh I know where that is some kind of trench coat you're looking for a Fresnel lens Like yeah, but not from you A guy named louis bush worked in real estate in malibu And there was a fourth order lens sitting in his office Nice and he was told that the lens came from a nautical museum on santa monica pier And was a gift from a family friend. So like there's a lot of backstory to how sure he came to have it But there was like a storm and it got damaged. So then the guy Who worked there or something took it home and then he died so then his son got it then this south a family friend got it too Nice louis He didn't believe that it was from point firman and hung on to it for many years because it's cool. Yeah So then jim woodward a fresnel lens expert gave some insight on how to tell if the lens was from point firman or not So this is a new thing. I learned like it's when you hear it. It's like oh, yeah, that makes sense But in the early 2000s a member of the coast guard auxiliary and jim compared a photograph of the lens from 1912 And the lens in louis's office and because the lens was made by hand the screw slots would be in random positions They're not like all perfectly lined up or anything So it was like a it was like a fingerprint. It's like You'd never unscrew so then you'd screw it in and then you'd screw it in and then you'd screw it in and then you'd screw it in Never unscrew the screws that were in the copper. Yeah, or brass. Yeah the brass screws

28:44 You would compare those in a photo and if they matched up then it was like because apparently no two lenses ever made have the same positioning of interest Not made by electricians Yeah, wait what? It's a it's kind of a joke electricians when they put those plates on Yeah, like on a light switch they so focused on making the slots run perfectly up and they do Some people I guess if it's like the only visual Proof that something is like well done. Yeah, it's like you might as well make them perfectly up and down, right? Yeah, not here not our lenses So here's a picture of what they were comparing that is so cool a picture of the first photo they were using and then There's one of it at the lighthouse right now because by using this they compared two photos and found that They matched perfectly. There was no doubt that this was the point point firman Brunel lens so there was a lie told to this guy Who someone had gifted him?

29:48 Well, that's not true because the lens could have ended up at a maritime museum, but someone lied or forgot The history or maybe it was just in an unlabeled crate and they're like because it doesn't have any sort of plate on it That says where it's from so it was probably just uncovered. Like you said somebody sold it off and yeah, like oh, that'd be great And it's a museum. It's portable enough. Yeah, it's uh, yeah Couple dudes I forgot. I had a really cool picture of them Uncrating it at the lighthouse. You can go to their website. I have it linked in Uh our references in the show notes and they have tons of pictures of when they uncreated the firnell lens and were Setting it up back in the lighthouse So this is on the ground floor in 2006 Um, louis allowance allowed the lens to return to the lighthouse where it was placed on display on the ground floor And on december 16th, they had a celebration for the lens return complete with a parade free cake and ice cream and fireworks It's like heck. Yeah. Oh, yeah That's the kind of energy we need to bring to the table when something like this happens I mean, it's just like a little lens nobody who?

30:55 knows I mean some it's a big deal though people who don't know anything about lighthouses would be like Cool, but we like wow We'll set off fireworks Yeah, very exciting. So now you can see the original lens that was used Since it's the lighthouse's conception. Yeah, there's only ever one lens there Other than a little light they still have that light on a pole. Is it somewhere else on the point? Heck. Yeah good for him Good for him. He has a job. It's super cool In 2015 the los angeles department of recreation and parks was awarded the lighthouse under the national historic lighthouse preservation act of 2000 I can't help every time we talk about it. It just I can't help but say it That house preservation act. Yeah punchy because it's so long But um, they run it today as the crown jewel of pound. Oh my gosh. I did it again point firman park point perman Pound park I don't know why and it's open for free guided tours from 1 to 4 pm Tuesdays through Sundays. So they're only closed on Mondays, but it's free free. It's nice. Of course. You should always donate donate. Yeah But keep it spinning. They do I think one tour every hour. So it's actually pretty limited. You gotta It's got a beautiful floor. Mm-hmm. It does It was beautifully restored. So it's definitely A gem that everybody should be going to see They're quite romantic too. In fact, emily thought that I would propose to her at a lighthouse. Yeah, which is why I fully convinced

32:28 No, it's not true, but I didn't because we are living in kansas. Yeah, we don't have any of those. Yeah So I would if I if we plan a lighthouse trip, I would be expecting it And but now we're engaged we're gonna get married Just as a fun side fact emily's christmas present this year. I finally hung it it is a It's a it's a ship mounted lantern That is red. So what is that port side starboard port? You sure because I don't know Anyways, it's from japan and it was manufactured. I think in the 70s 1970s so, uh a really cool company That um, I guess it's not sponsored, but I should shout them out because they're cool. They're nice to me big ship salvage Um, yeah, they worked with me. I mean they worked with me. They answered questions. I wired the thing So there's a light inside of it Anyway, so now we have a red lantern in our living room. It's pretty dope. Yeah, I cried when I opened it First I was like, what the heck is this and then he wrote a little note In there about like what it is. Yeah, and I was like, oh It just thins wasn't around. So I just sent him a video be like this is the best gift i've ever gotten Then I got a ring shortly after that. So Trumped it gotta keep going up Next to be a fourth order for now lens. Yes That's all I want put it in the bed of your truck That would be my wedding gift Yeah, if anyone has one just sitting around anyone who wants to donate really

34:01 any order Anything anything eight would even be spectacular Or just a picture of it I guess i'm a little pickier than that. All right. All right. I interrupted so we're talking about the tours They got tours every hour. They're free. Yep. That's it. Oh What a perfect time for me to interrupt Everyone's probably annoyed. What a perfect time to bring focus to the fact that I had no more notes Everybody's probably super annoyed by me this episode. We're just really Super annoyed by me this episode. We're just we're back in the saddle again As that song says everybody likes when we just chat I everyone who leaves review or leaves comments or everything says that they just like to have us chatting in the background Well for those that are still listening and there are some I would like to thank you because you listen longer and longer on youtube Yeah, which means even though right now the numbers are not growing as far as our followers Um, which we don't advertise zero with zero percent. Um, those who do listen are listening more and longer So that's invested in our content and that's all we want is for people to Listen about lighthouses appreciate that. I think we're the number three lighthouse podcasts in the world and number two in the us Pretty sure That's what I tell people In the world, I think there's three lighthouse podcasts in the u.s. Oh that i'm aware of I think you're right Yeah, so at least in the ones that i'm aware of which we've been doing this for several years Uh, we are number two in the united states behind Jeremy de etremont and lighthearted from the united states lighthouse society

35:33 they are very in depth and focused and uh professional folks and Uh, what's the uk one? I've forgotten I'm sorry. I don't I don't forget on purpose I also forget the name of the venue that emily likes wants us to go get married at over and over and over again Yeah, it's like I swear it's on purpose It's not Oh keeping watch perhaps believe it's keeping watch Let's go. Let's find uh The host name so we can Let's I feel like we talked about them. It's part of the association of lighthouse keepers. So it's the uk Okay produced and presented by a lk member edward pebbot Cool. That's also a nice it's a cool name. Yeah, it is. That's a podcast name We're about to both have the same last name for our podcast. Yep. He's so cute. I'm still working on swag I know I keep saying that I'm stuck between like doing a hoodie Or a shirt which that's kind of the same thing or a hat maybe a crewneck Sweatshirt, we're already a couple hundred dollars invested in hat research. So Maybe maybe both we'll see I wore the hat a lot on vacation if it's a really cool design. I wouldn't mind just Uh, no one wants them and I just have you know, 20 sweatshirts the minimum order of folks is uh Anyways, no one cares. We're working on swag. Keep you on your toes. Maybe 2025 it'll happen

37:04 We're also supposed to get married So there's a lot going on going on multiple trips might be helping my dad move. Yeah, this is going back to sweden So back to sweden. I really want you to see a light lens sorts. Sure. Sure Sure Long sorts. I don't know. It's a pretty cool lighthouse and you should check out our episode And the guy that owns it will take you up there. Yeah, he was super nice. Although we didn't meet him Um, i'm gonna be so jealous. Let's briefly revisit this. There's an episode we covered L-a-n-d s-o-r-t-s Yeah, long sorts. But we didn't this we recorded it before we went on our trip. So we didn't actually I I don't know if we actually said anything about it. Oh, well, it's in sweden it's A couple hours from stockholm via bus and then ferry. Yes, we missed the ferry um and the next one was Three hours later and then which doesn't sound that bad, but we had other plans You know we're international traveling. Yeah, the spot where you stopped for the ferry has a really nice restaurant. That was delicious But there's not much else that that's like it you're you wait for the ferry and eat at a restaurant and it was a good restaurant the last ferry out of the island was like An hour and a half or something so we wouldn't have had enough so we wouldn't have had time To uh, we had a whole day planned on the island. So it just kind of got screwed

38:35 So my my mom is uh, obviously my family that's not obvious my family comes from swedish background um The the name family name was uh, johnson before that it was swanson and then I'm not sure before that but um my my mom My my mom and my grandma who's now gone She really focused a lot on family heritage Towards the end of her life. She she wanted to reconnect the people and she She took my mom to sweden when A long time ago. I think I know my mom went to sweden when she was studying abroad She went as a college student and then she took my sister to sweden when she was young. She my sister was the firstborn and then Now we're gonna go back and it's gonna be me and my brother I don't know if my sisters are going or not. I don't think so And then my mom so she's gonna she's gonna take us And who knows maybe she's got one more trip. Maybe two more trips in her life. Who knows? Yeah, but uh, I i'm really excited to be a part of this one So I got to go to sweden with emily. Obviously we had some time there with her and her brother but uh, this would be a family focused visit Uh kind of learning some history about yeah, you can see a lot of sweden instead of just stockholm and a little bit extra Yeah, I don't even know where i'm going yet. It's all on a spreadsheet of course, but so cheat family if um Lensorts Sure lawns lawns sorts. I always say it wrong americans

40:07 If that's of interest particularly or we know it is but if there's other lighthouses that you should say we should check out Even if I can't go for some reason We're going between two major cities Stockholm and Another big one that I should know but i'm not very well trained. Oh, you don't have the you haven't been studying your spreadsheets. So Yeah, all the apps i'll just be jealously waiting at home for him to come back i'll send pics We'll facetime you snapchat give you a call when I get there Very good Yeah, we'll still be pushing out episodes and thank you all for Listening in and keeping track. You can see our stuff on instagram. I I haven't I haven't posted Um our instagram post from the last episode. Oh my gosh. I'm so that's all right. We can stagger our releases Post whenever you get a chance Gosh, it's a failure. I've never done this before. I I was a day late on youtube Once and then I was a day late or a week late or two on linkedin Those are the the platforms I run now. We're doing a new screen recording software and a new video editing software, so hopefully that means we can improve the quality of things and Get things out on time But either way different people see instagram and youtube and maybe spotify or apple music they see things different times So yeah anywhere you're seeing this anywhere you're hearing it. We appreciate you. Um, thanks for following along

41:40 Yeah, it's even if we're a little sporadic, but hey we do have other jobs So this this one is like our second hobby. This is like our philanthropy every time we're like, yeah, you should Leave them a donation. That's our that's our Our efforts so we love it so much though and we're glad you guys are long for the ride And on that note we will catch you next time on the lighthouse