We have a trailer so it’s really not ‘camping’. It’s more like RVing. Camping requires a tent. That’s my belief, anyway. Could be wrong, but I’ll stick with that belief until someone gives me empirical proof that I might be mistaken.
So, after getting home from our last getaway, I got a little eager about getting things put away and violated a prime directive about opening the refrigerator too quickly.
Yeah. That happened to me. Seventeen eggs fell and only two survived. Yup. Just two of them. All of that happened in slow motion for me. Kinda like when you fall? Time slows down so you can anticipate the impending pain longer.
This can also happen with cherry tomatoes. I have a photo of that one somewhere but can’t find it.
One thing I failed to mention while sharing Lydia’s birthday … Bob, Steffani, and Berke were visiting us so they also attended the party. This is them with Max.
Somewhere in there we also had a hail storm. I think ‘hail’ is an Indian word that means ‘bouncing rain’.
We also went to a concert by this guy. Luke Yates. Look him up. He tours the USA playing in small venues like our humble church in Warren, Oregon. The group he toured with was New Legacy Project, but they disbanded recently and Luke chose to honor his commitment for venues already scheduled by going solo. He is without a doubt the best piano player I’ve ever seen. He’s amazing.
I guess I kinda wandered off the title topic, huh? That’s just the way my mind works as most of you already know.
Better quit while I can. Is anyone watching the NCAA Ladies basketball games? I’m pulling for Iowa. Just watch UCONN take down USC. So, The final four should be lots of fun.
Here I am, sitting in my recliner, Max hanging out between my legs, watching an NCAA Men’s playoff game (Clemson vs. Alabama) while Diane watches a recorded episode of The Bachelor. Living the dream.
In case you missed it, Kelsey (sp) won and got a humungus ring. Also, Alabama won the game. I don’t know who they play next. The game I watched before that one was UCONN vs. Illinois. Quite an amazing game. When the score was tied 23-23 UCONN went on a 30-0 run which kinda sealed it for them.
Now I’m compelled to lean into the goofy side of my brain. You may stop reading at any time and use your time in a more constructive way. I won’t mind at all.
Recently, Diane and I, and Max, spent a few days at Cape Lookout State Park near Tillamook where we didn’t even take one walk on the beach as a complete family. Max and I got out because he made it very clear that if I didn’t take him out he was going to crap in the trailer. That would not have made Diane happy. The weather was crappy so it really wouldn’t have been upset. But, we walked on the beach numerous times to avoid an unwanted nature call on the couch. He’s never done that but sometimes it’s difficult to deny physical needs that are ignored for too long. So, we walked and played.
The tide was out most of the times we walked making the beach appear to be enormous.
I tried to get him to run in the waves, and he did for about 30 seconds before dragging me back to the high tide mark that was littered with thousands of dead velella. They were odiferous and Max found them to be very appealing to his sensitive nose.
Left to his own devices he did his best to roll his little body in the sweet perfume of dead sea creatures but I won that tussle. He still needed a bath which he got when we returned to the trailer.
Those things were everywhere amongst the rocks.
To make the trip a little more enjoyable, we came upon some waterfalls that dribbled themselves onto the beach. They were very pretty and I did my best to get Max under them be he wasn’t having any of that.
Instead of choosing to rinse under one of the waterfalls he wandered toward the incoming tide, climbed on a rock and was promptly washed off into a roiling spin bath. I wish I had had some soap with me. I would have taken a photo but didn’t want to take a chance of dropping my phone into the water. Just trust me when I say he was thoroughly soaked when I managed to get him back to dry ground.
We left Beatty about 1030, right on time. Not the time we planned to leave, but it is what it is. Getting to NAS Fallon was an uphill drive the entire way. Seems like every direction in this part of the world is uphill, all the way. NAS, by the way, is an abbreviation for Naval Air Station. This particular NAS is a Top Gun training facility. Fighter jets are flying around every day, and they are loud. Diane calls all that noise “the sound of freedom.” I agree.
I didn’t get photos of the fighters during the day but did visit the flight line museum which is a static display of many aircraft, including Russian MIGs. But first, here’s an old COG plane that used to be on the USS Nimitz.
And lastly, here’s an American jet with the Super Moon in the background.
Actually, sometimes we went downhill, but not as often as uphill. During one of the downhill legs, I had to stop for a nap and some food prior to tackling the next uphill battle.
We got to the Fallon back gate at about 1500 and discovered it was closed. Nifty, right? Tried to turn around and got in a pickle. That means I was jackknifed and stuck. A Navy policeman magically appeared at my window and tried to help. Apparently, he and another sailor were manning the gate so they could open it when people like me showed up. Sadly, they didn’t get to the gate before I made a hasty decision to turn around without disconnecting the truck. As we worked, a local farmer stopped and also helped. He offered to go home and bring back one of his tractors so he could lift the back end of the truck and move it in line with the RV.
I couldn’t disconnect the tow bars so I disconnected the entire hitch but we couldn’t get it out of the receiver due to the pressure it was under. I had farmer get in truck and put it in reverse while I backed up the RV and the hitch came right out once we got to less than a 90 angle.
I’m sure you’re sad, like me, that no one took any photos of all that commotion so you’ll have to just let your imagination run wild.
We happily got on base, found the RV park, found the MWR office purely by luck and checked in. We found our space and I drove over the space marker while parking on the gravel which was next to a really nice patio. After some discussion, and observation Diane determined the RV was supposed to be on the patio, not the gravel. I reparked in the proper place, straightened up the space marker, and only had to adjust 4 times to allow room for electric, water, and sewer. What a day.
After all that was done, I hooked up the satellite dish and it wouldn’t work. don’t know the problem. I didn’t really care right then so did a search for over the air channels and got a bunch, but the signal wasn’t very good. Diane watched them anyway. We were just happy to be there.
The next day I found a screwdriver and dismantled the satellite antenna to see if something fell apart inside. I was curious what it looked like anyway, so it didn’t really matter if it was OK. I also checked the cable using a continuity check with my little handy meter. About the time I was ready to go out and get a replacement system, I did one more check on the small cable that connects the Satellite receiver to the internal line from the antenna and found it to be faulty. I replaced it and the system worked perfectly. All the while I was working on this, Diane was nearby doing laundry. It was hard to pass it up because it was free. She was a happy camper. Happier, even, when she learned that the satellite worked again. She got even happier, if possible, when I drove into town, all by myself, to get a haircut.
Life is good when you can be happy over small things like that.
Another lazy start to another beautiful day. Every time I check the temperature, it’s 82. Makes me wonder if my temperature taker is faulty. Doesn’t really matter. Whatever the temperature may really be, it was a beautiful day.
Our primary destination was the MWR (Military Welfare and Recreation) office at the NEX (Navy Exchange). We got there around noonish and decided before we did anything else, we’d eat something. So, we went upstairs to the food court and visited Taco Bell. “Really,” you may say, “Taco Bell?” Makes one wonder, doesn’t it? Well, we go where our stomach tells us to go. No reason to go elsewhere. I had a Crunchwap and Diane had two Chicken Chalupas. When we opened the bag we discovered that each of those orders included one crunchy taco. I, of course, had to eat the unexpected extras.
Then we went shopping for shirts and stuff for all the people we left behind to make this trip.
Diane is the expert shopper and does way better when I’m in a different part of the store because she thinks I’m hovering, trying to speed things up. That’s not true. I just want to be near the love of my life. But, to make her more comfortable by spending my time in the electronics section looking at TV’s, and laptops.
When Diane was finished it was after 4:00 pm and we hadn’t located the MWR office yet. So, I took my tired feet around the corner from the NEX main entrance and found the office. The door was open so I went in and was promptly told they were closed. They close at 4pm. I thanked the young lady behind the desk and said, “Thanks, I’ll see you tomorrow.” As I exited I heard her say, “We’re closed tomorrow” which drew me back inside. She said they are only open Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Great! I thought. Then she said there was an annex office on the main Navy Base that will be open tomorrow, 9am-4pm. She even gave me direction which was very confusing to me. In her effort to clarify, she asked if I knew where Willamette Street was. When I heard that name I perked up because it’s a NW name we know well. She mispronounced it, however, like a visitor. You know what I mean – she said it like Will-uh-mette with emphasis on all the wrong syllables. Like a foreigner. Being who I am, I had to explain that I’m very familiar with that name and told her how to pronounce it properly. She took it well.
So now we must go back to the Pearl Harbor Naval Base tomorrow on our way to Waianae. We’re actually finally going to the beach. Been here six days and haven’t even got our feet wet.
But, we’ve been busy.
Now for some random stuff …
First, here’s a photo of the front of our hotel. Our room is up there somewhere.
A sign Diane wants after we get the new floor in the Cricket House.
Here’s a fun sign we’ve seen a few times while traveling the freeways.
Simple advice, right? Well, let me tell you that drivers here pretty scary. It’s pretty much guaranteed that after a light turns red, at least one car is going to run it. Sometimes more. Not joking.
Today we slept late, a planned event for the duration of our stay. It works for Diane but I still wake up early. That’s OK.
After a bite to eat we took a trip to the North Shore to visit Waimea Bay Beach Park. Perhaps some of you already know that’s where the Eddie Aikau Invitational (a BIG Wave tournament) is being held Saturday & Sunday. Eddie was a famous, fearless life guard at Waimea back in the day (he was Diane’s age). The tricky weathermen over here apparently can predict when and where to find the big waves. Depending on which news broadcast you watch, the waves are expected to be anywhere from 30-60 feet high. Even at the lowest, it should be fun to watch.
On the way up Nimitz Highway we saw this building on fire. Turns out 911 got the call about 10 minutes before we drove by. Sadly there were three fatalities – 1 elderly man and 2 dogs.
Once past this sad event, we departed H-1 west and took H-2 north to Wahiawa. That’s where we lived from 1986 to 1989 during our last tour in the navy. My initial duty station was at NAVCAMS Eastpac located near this village, and Diane worked for Dr. Corboy at the Hawaiian Eye Center in the town. After two years I was moved to CINCPACFLT Headquarters at Pearl Harbor.
Wahiawa is where many of the Dole pineapples that you eat grow up.
Without incident, we made it to Waimea Bay Beach Park where we just sat around for a while at a picnic table. The parking at the park is limited to only about 20 vehicles. But, if you have a handicap pass you get an extra chance. Thankfully, Diane thought to bring ours with so we generally don’t have any problem finding a place to park, even in small lots. That pass, however, doesn’t help with the incredible amount of traffic traversing the two lane road that connects all the villages on the north shore. It really didn’t bother me at all because I wasn’t driving. Diane, though, had a few choice words for the way some Hawaiians drive. That didn’t bother me, either. I just sat in my seat minding my own business for the duration of the trip.
Although the big waves weren’t here, yet, the surf was pretty stunning by Oregon standards.
Same is true for some of the beach-goers.
On the wasy “home” we stopped at Zippy’s in Wahiawa where we had some Saimin (fancy Ramen). I knew what Saimin was, but asked the waitress if it was like Ramen anyway. She said, “Yes, like Ramen but way bettah”. She was right. Diane did half of her bowl and I ate the rest, including mine. Quite tasty.
After Zippy’s we drove in to Mililani Town where Jeff attended High School. Mililani it the next village down the hill from Wahiawa as you head back to Honolulu.
This is H-1 East on our way back to Honolulu. Notice the people heading West. They’re going to the North Shore, all of them, and this is just a sampling of what the weekend will be like for all roads leading north.
Thought you might like to see the fancy toilet we have in our condo. Once I figured out what all the buttons are for, I found myself going to the bathroom more frequently.
Ala Moana Blvd from our porch. This is one of the busiest roads on the island as it’s right in the heart of the Waikiki area. A number of years ago we stayed in a nearby condo where we survived a tsunami caused by an earthquake in Chile. At that time, there was not a car on this blvd and no one was allowed on the beaches. It was quite interesting. Diane bought me a Tsunami Survivor T-shirt. It’s brown.
Sunset with a friendly bird. Notice he’s standing on one leg. He just came up and landed a couple feet away from us while we were watching the sunset. He didn’t leave until we did.
When staying in tall buildings, I use our assigned balcony railing to ensure neighboring buildings are straight up and down. This one looks to be pretty plumb to me.
Having verified that it was OK, I was able to relax.
Got up at 0500 to go wait for the airport shuttle.
We were dropped near the middle of the terminal which left us with a very long walk, to the right, to the Hawaiian Air Lines checkin area. None of the kiosks worked which required everyone heading to Hawaii to get in a Conga Line so we could check our bags. Some folks were bummed about having to get in such a long line but they didn’t consider that even had the kiosks worked, they would have still been required to join the line to check their bags. Surprisingly, the line moved along quickly. To dispel the growing feeling of being left behind, an HAL agent spent a lot of time walking up and down the line assuring everyone that the plane would not leave without us. I’m thinking, “Really! Pretty much everyone in line constituted the entire passenger list for FLIGHT 25 so, of course, they were going to wait.”
I was a bit concerned about the weight of our two big bags because Diane insisted on packing them. We were both surprised that both were accepted as being on or under the limit so we didn’t have to pay the $200 I was expecting. One came in at 52.5 lbs, the other was 49.2. Yippee! I think we both said that out loud causing the ticket agent to wonder what kind of people she was letting on the plane.
We got to the gate just in time to board. Diane got us seats just behind the kitchen and toilet section that separated common folks from 1st class folks. Since there were no seats directly in front of us we had about 4 feet of leg room. Plus, the toilet was right in front of us, next to the section that contained our food, How handy is that?
It was a 5.5 hour flight crossing two time zones. Since I forgot to get our iPads from the front pocket of a checked suitcase, we had to use our phones to read our books. It worked OK. We read a little and actually nodded off a couple of times. Since Diane wore her mask the entire time we were on the plane she was equipped with a perfect sleep aid:
We landed safely at 11:16 am local in Honolulu. As it was with Portland, where we had to walk 1-2 miles to get to the departure gate, in Honolulu it was easily that far, or further, to the baggage claim. We walked, rested, walked, rested, walked, etc., until we finally arrived at carousel 7 and noticed right away that it wasn’t running. After all that travel, and resting, we beat our luggage to the carousel. Then we waited a while. And a little longer. It was the typical “wait for your luggage” moment. Whoever flies knows this.
Our suitcases finally made it around the last corner (I was at the end of the conveyor belt where it disappeared into the wall). Had I not snagged them in time it would have been another aggravating 5 minutes until they reappeared. With them in tow, we shuffled off out of the terminal, across a street, to a shuttle bus that looked suspiciously like one headed for some sort of rental car place. Luckily, it was. Turn out that Honolulu, like Las Vegas, and maybe many other airports, have a garage facility dedicated totally to rental car folks.
Diane had already reserved a vehicle so all we had to do was find the Budget Car folks. We did and walked right up to an agent and was issued keys to a new Chevy Malibu after agreeing to pay for an incredible amount of money for insurance. It’s Hawaii so it’s OK. I suppose we could have not rented a car and paid for an Uber every time we wanted to go somewhere but that would never have worked. We plan to go everywhere on this island. We lived here from 1986 to 1989, and have had short visits since, but we’ve got 2 weeks to see it all.
We drove to the Grand Waikikiian in the Hilton Hawaiian Village, where Waikiki resides. We parked out front while checking in to our room. When the lady checking us in discovered we had a car her eyes got big as she exclaimed, “Do you know how much it costs to park here?” I said, “No” because I didn’t. She said, “$65 a day for a total of over $900 for your two weeks!” I said, “No one told us” and she said “did anyone ask?” I said “Let me go get the boss” and went to get Diane involved. I was all ready to pull that chain but clearer heads prevailed when she said parking at the Hale Koa lot was more reasonable and the walk wasn’t much further. So, we decided to do that.
I left Diane at the hotel while I arranged for parking the car. I got a lot of walking in getting this all done. Something like 4 miles. But, I got a pass for 30 days for only $120. That’s like stealing for parking only a couple blocks from Waikiki.
Then we went to dinner at Fresco, a nearby Italian restaurant. The food was great, we had a terrific view of the Hilton Lagoon, and we could hear the music from a luau going on in the park.
Fortunately I didn’t spill anything. Diane, however, spilled her water. It was OK. Our waiter had a mop.
We walked back to our hotel, took a shower called it a night. It wasn’t even 8 pm, but our bodies tell us it’s 10 pm so went to bed.
Today is Wednesday. That mean we’ve been here four days and we’ll enjoy our 5th nite-nite tonight.
My last post was on Sunday. When we arrived the temperature was 100+ and it was still around 90 when we finally went to bed. Those are outside temps, of course. Inside it’s a comfortable 72 because the A/C runs constantly, 24/7, in every hotel/motel/resort room in every village in this part of the country. The electricity necessary to make all that happen is immense but, as luck would have it, there is one of the largest wind farms in the world. I’m guessing about “in the world” but the Palm Springs Farm is really BIG. So big that there is a local company that providesself-guided toursof the farm for the paltry sum of $24.50 a person. I’m pretty sure we won’t take that tour. I don’t see the logic in taking a self-guided tour of a facility that I can view for nothing simply by driving back and forth on I-10. True, there wouldn’t be the drama of driving on roads that weave themselves around the towers on which 150 foot long blades of death spin uncaged above our heads killing birds that dare to investigate them too closely. What fun would that be?
We’d rather take a ride on the tram, one of the things on our to-do list, but wait! It’s closed for maintenance until the 10th. Not a big deal, really, because there are many other things to do here.
For instance, just driving around looking at stuff, using up all that $7.09/gallon gas. We expected that.
I’m complaining, aren’t I? Sorry. We’re actually enjoying ourselves. One fun activity is visiting thrift stores. We do that wherever we go. Kinda lame, you might think, but we enjoy it. That’s what we did on Monday in addition to grocery shopping to get the items we missed on our Sunday shopping spree.
There’s a pool here that we’ve walked passed a few times, but haven’t taken that next step to shed our clothes, jump into a skimpy swimming suit, and test the water. I suggested that we hit the hot tub first, but since it’s been over 100 degrees pretty much every day that seems kind of dumb. So, we won’t do that.
Yesterday we went to see the Salton Sea. Never been there and decided it would be a nice trip. I made sandwiches which we packed into the new foldable cooler we got for that purpose, choosing a foldable one that can be placed in Diane’s already overweight suitcase. Actually, we’ll fill the foldable cooler with excess items from Diane’s overweight suitcase and it can be her carryon.
On the way to see the Salton Sea we saw a sign pointing to Mecca. We’ve always wanted to go to Mecca so we went.
Turns out it’s not what I expected, but it was interesting. Then we continued on to the Salton Sea.
We drove down the west side of the sea to what we considered a likely place to see the sea but the road was closed. They should have put a sign on the highway to save adventurous people from wasting their time.
So, we made our way north to the top of the sea and headed east so we could venture down that side to a designated state park. We drove for many miles looking for an entrance to the state park. Turns out there are many entrances that head toward the beach but they don’t have signs for the little gravel exits along the highway. We noticed that there weren’t any vehicles along the shore which was probably due to the extreme heat. All the smart people stayed home with their air conditioners.
We finally found an entrance that led us to a number of picnic tables and ultimately to a covered one near a restroom. And, it had the only handicap parking slot in the entire park.
That’s where we ate our sandwiches, waved at a couple of park rangers as they drove through the park. Then I walked down to the shore thinking I’d like to see how salty the Salton Sea is but changed my mind when I remembered a small sign on the fence when we entered the park. I said something about poisenous algae in the water. Looking around, I saw the culprit and saved my own life by not touching anything. Also, there was a particularly nasty smell down by the shore.
Then it was time to leave.
On the way back it became abundantly clear that we were traveling through the date palm capital of the world.
I’m guessing, of course, because I really don’t know if that’s true. I just know we saw many dozens of orchard filled with thousands and thousands of date palms ripe with fruit all protected with bags.
When I saw all those bags around all that fruit I was impressed with the monumental effort it must have been for people to do all that bagging.
Diane and her Mom have been watching The Bachelor every chance they get. Normally, it’s when I’m off doing something else. This morning, however, I was busy working on a 1000 piece puzzle Diane got me. It’s on the dining room table close enough that I can hear the dialogue between all the pretty girls and the very well developed Bachelor. I admit, he’s a hunk, but I, personally, do not feel the attraction, like, you know, whatever those girls do. It’s, like, you know, a competition that’s usually won by the friskiest (in my opinion). But, you know, they all, you know, speak the same, like, language, so what’s, you know, not to, like, like, right?
I listened to those conversations until my eyes started to blink out of sync making puzzeling difficult. I then retreated to Mel’s (Diane’s Dad) little shop in the garage. It’s very quiet in there and it has a heater.
When I have conversations with kids I tend to keep track of how often they use “like” to fill the quiet spaces, and I count them by holding my hand out and extending a finger every time I hear them use that word. It doesn’t take long for them to wonder what I’m doing. When they finally ask I explain my actions, explaining that when counting the “likes” I lose track of what they are saying and the conversation devolves into a blur of words punctuated with a lot of “likes”.
When I’ve finished explaining my actions, we continue our conversation and they keep an eye on my hand, doing their absolute best to avoid filling spaces with “like”. It’s quite effective and they quickly learn that it’s much easier to engage and maintain conversational continuity by leaving the likes alone.
You know? And that’s, you know, another problem for me.
Now, let’s get back to that puzzle Diane gave me …
It’s truly brutal and a serious challenge for someone with fat fingers. It’s 1,000 pieces that fit in 12 x 16.5 inch border. I know that’s true because I measured it … see …
I know, it looks more like 16.75″ in the photo, but if you look at the dumb end of the tape you can easily see that it is at least 1/4″ away from it’s target so I extrapolated a little.
Each piece is about 1/2″ by 11/16″ and they are all the same shape. The edge pieces are an exception to that rule.
So now you know what I’m doing, you know?
Now, although it’s not truly lunch time yet, I must go prepare.
Somewhere in our travels Diane obtained a couple of car bibs for us. Since we eat in our car all the time (who doesn’t?) we use them all the time. I’ve threatened to take control of Diane’s sewing machine so I could take a shot at making a few of them, but that hasn’t happened, yet. Maybe soon.
While working toward that possibility, I’m sharing what I know with all of you knowing that many of you are crafty people who can fathom the intricate details required to make these a reality for yourselves.
.5First, you must obtain a piece of material that you won’t miss from the piles of scraps in one of your drawers. Actually, get two pieces. They can be any size, but the finished example is 14.25″ X 26″.
The scraps must be larger, of course, to allow you to stitch the pieces together, good sides facing each other. Once they are stitched together, you must devise a way to turn the material inside out. You already knew that, of course, and probably left a gap at the bottom, or side which can be closed with hot glue or wood glue, whatever is handy. You can also stitch it with the sewing machine.
I’m getting ahead of myself.
Once you have the material, you need to cut out a circle large enough to go around the neck of the person for whom you’re making the bib. Use the example as a guide.
Once you’re done stitching it all together, and figured out how to get the thing inside out, dig around in your sewing supplies and find the velcro you bought six years ago. It’s in there. You just have to find it. Attach opposing pieces of velcro to the little tabs on the pieces that go around the neck opening.
Easy Peazy, right?
Now that I’ve shared all that, ETSY provides an easier way but it’s not as much fun as making them yourselves.
Warning!! This is an old entry that I started on September 9th, I think, and never finished. But, it’s got a nice photo so I’m sending it anyway.
Right this very minute Diane and I are enjoying the unseasonable humidity and heat in Kehei, Maui, in a condo that doesn’t have A/C. I’ll expand on that later …
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Reports of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. Actually, I seriously doubt that anyone even considered something like that even though the last post I made was August 1st. I know that’s true because I looked. Since then an incredible number of ‘things’ have occurred that I simply won’t address because I don’t remember most of them.
An admission like that could possibly cause some of you to question the condition of my short-term memory but let me assure you there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that part of me. I say that with confidence because, at Diane’s request, I was tested and have been duly certified. I aced the test. Honest, I did. Ask Diane. I’m pretty sure she’ll concur.
Even so, I can’t possibly remember all the stuff that’s happened during the past month and I’m just lazy enough to not have any desire to search my calendar, like I used to, to review events. But I do remember what happened today, so that’s where I’ll start.
Diane and I are currently ensconced in a room at the Hillcrest Inn in Seaside, Oregon. I may have mentioned in previous posts, that we’ve been here before. We stay here because we live on Hillcrest Rd. in St. Helens and when Diane was concerned about my failing short-term memory she figured I’d be less likely to get lost if we stayed in a place with a similar name to our home street. Now that’s I’ve been certified, however, we just stay here because we like it.
The occasion for this visit is to be at the beach for a large minute tide. The kind where you can walk all the way around Haystack Rock when the tide is at its lowest. That’s what we plan to do around 0700 in the morning when the tide begins to go negative. That gives us a 2-hour window to make it around Haystack Rock. unfortunately, the tide didn’t go out quite far enough to make it around, but most of the tide pools around the monolith were accessible.
Sadly, I used my really good camera to take all the photos then I was unable to download them from the SIMM. Very odd.
This evening we sat in our chairs on the beach for a couple of hours watching the ocean. Then the birds came and began obscuring our view of the water. Well, they really didn’t obscure the view as much as cause a huge distraction. From our vantage point, about 1/4 mile from the water, we watched pelican’s soaring in graceful lines, dipping into the trough’s between waves, then rising briefly and soaring into the next trough. It was fascinating to watch. There were literally hundreds of them swooping south, then north for the entire time we were there.
Then we saw the smaller birds flying south, then north a little beyond the surf line in vast numbers. My first guess was that we were watching at least 37 million birds up and down the beach. That’s a huge number, I know, but I’m sure it’s close. Perhaps thousands would be more accurate but not nearly so astounding. Turns out they are cormorants and exhibit this kind of behavior this time of year on a regular basis. Neither Diane nor I had ever seen such a display before and it was quite amazing. The sea shimmered with the number of birds moving in vast herds just above the surface as they sped left (south) for half an hour, then right (north) for another half an hour to even things up. Back and forth they went, the entire two hours we watched them. We would have stayed longer but it got chilly, and dark.
Temporary Sanity ... 