Long Beach, Day 3 & 4...

Well, the grey skies arrived on day 3 and they didn't leave us until way on our way back home... No bother, we were at the ocean and that's what happens...

Somebody drowned on that beach just the day before!
No wonder, the rip tides are horrendous
and the water's temperature is extremely cold!

On Day 3 we visited Cape Disappointment State Park where they have not only one, but two excellent looking lighthouses!  We started with North Head Lighthouse and boy, the wind just about knocked us off of the cliffs!

We continued on to the jetty which you can see in the far distance in the bottom left photo (see above) and then we turned toward the same lighthouse. (see picture below)

Still very windy, but the temperatures rose a bit so it was a lot more comfortable down there. Huge flocks of birds kept flying over us on the jetty and when I looked closely I realized some of them were Pelicans! Very exciting as I think of Pelicans being tropical birds and really did not expect to see them there...

And look, some seals were hanging out on the other, quieter side of the seawall:

Over there you could also see the next lighthouse called Cape Disappointment:

Another visit to our local beach was called for...

Mr. G. and Miss M. having some seaside fun...

That was the end of day 3 (no sunset because of all the clouds).

At 3:45 am (!) our alarm clock sounded the next day for it was time for Mr. G.'s big salmon fishing trip out on the ocean! The fishing boat left at 5am so I had to drive him there. The kids and I didn't do much that day, being a bit tired and all, so no pics but we did go and pick up our fisherman at the dock of course at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. He caught a fabulously sized Silver Salmon and had had the time of his life! What a great end to our 'super short but so much fun' holiday!  {smile}

Mr. G. is wearing a cap and is standing next to the pole on the left...

I will end this post with some more favorites...

Long Beach, Day 2...

Oh boy, this was a most excellent day and I think I took about 240 pictures! As to not bore you with all of those, I've created a few collages. The collages don't the photos much justice, but this way you can see the prettiest ones in small groupings...

We first drove down south to Iwalco, a small harbour town at the mouth of the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean. There Mr. G. booked a full day of salmon fishing out on the ocean for day 4...

After that we drove past Chinook where they had the most beautiful mud flats. I just love all that tidal action and then all the sticks in the water, and the sun and the waves: just plain gorgeous!!!

We also came across these two huge birds of prey, and believe me, they were big!

We stopped at Fort Columbia where we had beautiful views of the Columbia River basin and in the far distance you can see the Cape Disappointment Lighthouse. (more of that on day 3)

Onward we went to Astoria which actually lies in Oregon. We had to cross the river on a veeeery long, and in the end very steep, bridge to get there. We found the highest point (the Column) and again had beautiful views from there. What a lovely town Astoria was! We didn't spent any real time there but just driving through it I saw the most vintage looking houses ever...   {smile}

And then there was The Beach! 
    
                   "Sunshine, on my shoulders, makes me happy!"    (John Denver)

Master C. and Miss M. sat patiently for a short photo session...

And then there was the sunset...

PS I was not very happy with the quality of some of these collages, so I'm adding those pictures of the mudflats again, but now by themselves...

Long Beach, Day 1...

North Head Lighthouse in the far, far distance...

Ah yes, this was the feeling I was looking for! I just simply love anything to do with salty ocean water. The Pacific Coast definitely gives you all this and more: tons of wind!!! Man, was it windy or what...  <wink>

Anyway, I shall begin with the beginning.  We had rented a very cheap and oh so cute cottage in Ocean Park, about 20 minutes north of Long Beach. (Washington State) I took us four hours to get there and so our doggy was anxious for a walk. Off she went (with Mr. G.) down the street. 

Within several minutes a lot of yelping reached our ears: she was attacked by another dog!!! (without any provocation from her side may I add) Four puncture wounds in her throat! Olive herself seemed rather stoic under the whole ordeal, but we were pretty upset and worried. We had to find a vet in a totally unknown area for us, plus, no internet!

The good thing with such a small community is that everybody is willing to help and there was only one vet in town so off we went, another 30 minutes in the car. The vet was extremely helpful and saw to her immediately. They cleaned everything, gave her antibiotics and a special cream for us to squirt into those puncture wounds twice a day. (yuk!)  On the way back home we stopped by the people whose dog had attacked ours (Olive was on a leash, the other dog wasn't and so definitely at fault) and they immediately gave us the money for the vet's bill. ($90!) 

It all ended well thank goodness, but that was not a good start to our little vacation. We will have her checked out by our own vet tomorrow...

--  **  --  **  --

So, let me introduce you to our little cottage. It came equipped with a full kitchen (so pots and pans, a coffee maker, a fridge etc) and with bedding. All we needed to bring were our clothes and our food!
The TV and the CD player didn't work and there was no internet so we were completely cut off from the outside world. Just fine... for four days only! I was very happy to be reunited with our computer again... <wink>

Cute right?

Only four rooms in the house (mudroom and bathroom not pictured),
but plenty of space for all of us and the dog was more than welcome as well.

And after all that I will show you some beautiful pics of the beach which was only a ten minute walk from our
 house. Or a less than 5 minute drive from our house. Yes, in Washington State you can drive your car out on the beach! It is the weirdest thing but so handy at the same time. No more schlepping of all your gear through the sand etc.  {smile}

Here we go:

Exhale!

And exhaling some more...

Master C. looking after Olive who was still recovering from the attack... 
(and so was Master C.)

Miss M. getting the kite ready... 

Wind!!!  (and our car on the beach...)

Father handing over the kite controls to daughter...

End of Day 1...

Gorgeous or what?! Our first two days we had beautiful blue skies and it was reasonably warm, the next two days were completely grey and boring (weather wise) so a good thing I took as many pictures as I did during the first half of our stay.

Tomorrow pictures of the Columbia River, Fort Columbia and a short visit to Astoria, Oregon. And of course more beach pictures!  {smile}

Raspberry Reds...

Freshly picked from the fields this morning, all 19 pounds of them!  (Yum!)

Long Beach...

We were in Long Beach, Washington for the past four days...

Apparently it has the longest beach in the world: 27 miles of this gorgeousness!!!

I made 500 pictures (!) so it will take me a bit of time to go through them all. Plus tomorrow is Miss M's turn to have her wisdom teeth removed so first things first...

I'll be back though! {smile}

Macro...

Having some fun with the macro lenses...

Not perfect but fun nevertheless...  {smile}

The Parade!

Beautiful blue skies, bright bright sunlight and lots and lots of people: what a great day for a Parade!

(click on the photos to enlarge)

The Mexican horses were my favorite and so lots of pictures of them. In total I made 103 photos and I had a hard time just showing you the highlights. 

Later in the afternoon we had a grand old barbecue with our neighbors and a lot of other neighbors and their friends across the road with Margaritas and garlic chicken and lots of different kinds of salads etc. And while all that was going on there was The Sun shining down on us: 'Perfic!'  (from The Darling Buds of May)