From The Beach To The Mountains

 I left the beach yesterday morning.

Most people don’t seem to make it out before 11. So from 6 am until 10 I can be pretty alone. 

There were some birds, 

Goodbye beach for this trip. 

Golden Boy (not his name) is filling out. 

Then for the evening Joe and I went to the bluegrass night at Chautauqua. 

The head line band wasn’t exactly bluegrass. I made the comment that if someone came wanting to hear bluegrass they might be disappointed. 

Joe’s reply was “they have the same instruments but they make a different racket.” But they were still good. 

But I had left 90 degree weather to come back to 60’s. 

Good thing I dressed for it and had a blanket in the car. 

On The Beach

There is always something happening out on the beach. 

Sunrise this morning was beautiful.  

The pelicans are always flying overhead.  I saw dolphins on Saturday. 

I saw a creepy bug. 

There are half a dozen or so turtle nests along my route. 

And something I don’t see much on the beach, starfish. Then on my walk to the pier Saturday a man stopped me to talk. I got way too much of his life history. He talked so long I never made it to the pier. 

Then Sunday I saw he had captured another innocent beach goer.  I used the distraction to get past and made it the pier this time. 

One my way back he had captured another one.  I didn’t see him out there today. 

But I did find this cool guy. 

And not a face but a bunny rabbit. 

I have found lots of fossilized fish poo. 

And I have a large collection of Hag Stones to put on eBay. The ones I found last year sold. That was a surprise. 

And I have yet another new collection, letters from beach rocks. They are pretty difficult to find. Then once found, trying to come up with words is also challenging. Maybe someone on eBay needs some CLARITY  

 

Surprise Vacation

Emily and Keiran were headed to the beach this weekend. Joe said he could take care of the colt so I took off. 

Yay!

The weather has been beautiful. 

And the ocean is pretty calm. 

Lots of treasures searching. I spy with my little eye…

Oh, not with the shells, just laying out there in the sand. 

I couldn’t believe it!  

We ate lunch out at the outdoor fish taco place.  It was very good. 

Stay tuned for more updates. 

 

Beach Girls

Sadie, Allie and I headed to the Saturday.  Gigi had made the trip for the first time in over two years, so we wanted to go enjoy the trip with her and all my sisters an brother.

Virginia was worried that Allie would not listen and would run out and be swept away by a rip tide.

To help alleviate Virginia’s worries, we formed a circle of protection. 

We had lunch at Riverview. Sadie and Allie declared it at “Good Restaurant.”

There has been more beach time with shell collecting. 

And running around. 

Mitchell was showing them how to do a puzzle on his phone. Carol has been doing crafts, Ann has been playing Go Fish and War, and Linda did nails. 

After the first day, the beach circle of protection disbanded and I am on my own. But there has been no worry about Allie, she is being a good listener. 

The enjoyed the fruit pop break. 

 We have been having a great time. Today’s weather is supposed to be warm and sunny, so maybe we will get to go a little deeper in the water.  

The Sea Turtle Hospital

As promised, here is a little about our trip to the sea turtle hospital.  They have a volunteer lead tour every 10 minutes. 

The volunteer we had was very perky and passionate about turtles.  

She lead us through several exhibits with some hands on displays. 

Then we got to see the turtles.  There were not many current residents.  Google AI said they release about 100 rehabilitated turtles back into the wild every year.  But some of the rescues are not releasable.  This one is not able to dive.

And this one is blind. She has been here for 19 years.

Most seem to have wounds, either caused by nature, boats or fishnets and fishing line.

 It was a very interesting tour.

On The Beach Part 2

We ended up not attending any official July 4th  fireworks. 

But as it turned out we did not have to. There were plenty of amateur displays up and down the beach that were pretty spectacular. 

Sunday, after two fun nights of playing Wings, Keiran and Emily had to leave us. (Wings is a board game based on birds and their habitats, very challenging and fun)

On the subject of odd things to bring with you to the beach I am adding guitar. 

Then yesterday, I was standing in the surf trying to decide if I wanted to get all the way in and jump some waves or not.  I am finding that I have to be a little more careful with my athletic decisions since my broken back than I use to. Anyway, while contemplating the situation I saw this knife right at my feet. Now I had to decide if I could snatch it out of the water without cutting myself before a wave could impale it into my leg. I was successful and carried it back to my chair. 

My second try and getting in the water was met with more danger.  When I looked down in the surf this time there I found this tackle set stuck in the sand. Another trip back to the chair.  My third attempt to get in was successful.  I didn’t find any more hazards. 

 It is also always good to see the sea turtles nesting.  We even made a trip to the sea turtle hospital. I have always wanted to go but it never seemed to work out. But this year Linda got us tickets and we went. More on that next time.