Back to the beach (photo heavy!)

Since I couldn't spin for awhile*, I had time to finish going through the photos I took at the coast on Tuesday.

I had wished out loud that I could take my horse for his first beach ride on this trip, and Rick offered to haul Lance along with us. But there was nowhere other than our horse trailer to put him when I wasn't riding him, and riding him for the seven-plus hours we were there would not have been fair. But I would LOVE to return someday to ride there! Rick's client lives across the road from a "dike road" that provides high-ground access across a broad, shallow tidal bay to the tree-covered dunes and eventually the beach, about a mile away. This road is a lovely, lovely trail, well maintained and mowed, with beautiful views of flora and fauna.

The dike road, headed towards the beach.

The dike road, headed back towards human habitation.

And the beach itself – what a surprise of sweet solitude this stretch is! Separated from development by the tidal bay and dunes, there is nothing man-made in sight. Brian and I saw a grand total of two other people, joggers, in the hours we spent there.

If you look closely in that last photo, you will see hoof prints and horse droppings. A local enterprise offering beach rides avails itself of this area, as do the locals like my husband's clients. And someday I plan to avail myself of it, too!

There wasn't much to find in the way of rocks and shells, but Brian and I had fun looking just the same. Brian also made "sand angels," took flying leaps off small banks, and just wallowed about in the sand – "happy as a clam." :-)

There were lots of birds about, including some very noisy kingfishers. Unfortunately, we never could get close enough to them to capture them on "film."

White-crowned Sparrow

Great Blue Heron

We were told to keep on the look-out for bears – which we didn't see, as well as river otters – which we did, totally making our day!

(Hey, I warned you this post was photo-heavy!)

*I'm home again, and back on the bike! Actually, I was back to spinning before I left my dad's today. He helped me glue and brace Olive Friday night, and by this morning she seemed solid. I put her back together and started making yarn again; yay! It is also good to see my boys and beasties again. :-)

That's it for now from . . .