Because the beaches are so different than here in San Diego, Mom, Tyler and I took Apollo to North Jetty. When I was a kid, you could sit in the parking lot and watch the water lap up on the beach. Now, sand has blown in and created sand dunes. So you have to walk quite a ways out until you see the water.
We decided to walk out on the jetty. I used to love walking out on this thing and sitting on the very end. The waves splashing violently were so beautiful, I loved it! Now the sand has come in and built up a wall of sand on one side.
Of course it's still beautiful but the lapping waves just aren't the same as the crashing mother-nature-gonna-kick-yo-ass waves. I didn't see any starfish either but it's most likely because I didn't walk out far enough. Oh, if you click on the pic, you may be able to see what appears to be an ants house out there in the sand. In reality, it's a shelter built from the ever-present driftwood. People like to build shelters and camp out on the beaches with fires and what-not. There are no fire-pits here. Another thing, even though it was August, you won't see anyone on these beaches in bikini's, shorts or even in water past their knee's. It's too cold.
Mom, Apollo and Tyler. He's taller than me now. And considering that I measure in just a couple inches over five feet, this is no shocker.
Mom sure does love to point! Especially when driving. It doesn't matter if you're driving or she is. Her pointed finger will end up in front of your face pointing at something that you MUST SEE RIGHT NOW.
I took this on whim, I thought it looked pretty cool. I didn't really pay much attention to my own shadow until later. I'm currently trying to decide if I should get a gym membership or if I should just buckle down and start doing stuff here on my own. Like going for walks and not eating ice cream.
We found this shell tucked into a hole in a rock. After looking it over, we put it back for others to find.
My "little cousin" Tyler who will some day be over 6 feet just like his Dad. He was playing with a piece of driftwood Apollo found and decided to take home to use as his club. Apollo, being the city slicker that he is (hehe), carried that club around with him everywhere at Mom's. We have it here with us in SD now. The area behind Tyler used to be filled with water.
Oregon is famous for its sand dunes, apparently. My former mechanic used to travel up there with his wife and kids just to drive dune buggies several times a year. The dunes stretch over a small portion of the Oregon coast but as far as I know, the most popular ones are just south of Florence. It's possible I'm saying that because I have *ahem* never seen the other dunes.
One area with a fence separating the parking lot from the dune buggies. We watched them for about fifteen minutes, it looked like a lot of fun. Those dots are dune buggies. The three on top were waiting for that other dot to finish running over a large hole another guy had made when he got stuck. Several of them ran over it repeatedly until it wasn't a hazard.
We found several pockets of salt created by dried up ocean water. I wanted to taste it soooo bad. Mom has always teased me because I tasted a lot of stuff when I was a kid. But this time I kept my distance.
I wanted to get more pictures but I was still hacking up lung at this point and the cold and wind wasn't doing me any good. Maybe next time!
Those of you that remember the problems I had with caterpillars last spring will understand why my heart almost stopped when I saw what appeared to several of the beasts sticking straight out of a weed only inches away from my face. I immediately had flashbacks.
Of course, my brain told me that it was impossible for a real caterpillar to stick straight out like that but as you can see from Exhibit A, there is a striking similarity to the real thing:
Leave it to mother nature to remind me of her evil little minions!
