Clammin’ by the Dock by the Bay . . .

   
View of the mouth of the Siletz River.  This curve of sand allowed us to walk right out there! Extremely different than the winter view for sure!

 

Not to hard to get our limit – next time we will stick around and only bring home the largest possible. Each hole we dug had 5-7 Razor Clams and maybe on Butter Clam.

We brought them home, Boiled them on the BBQ burner for 10-20 seconds until the shells opened. Then quickly immersed them in ice water to stop their cooking.  We cleaned them up, then prepared half for fried clams, and half for Clam Chowder tomorrow. Yum-o. Not bad for an hour’s folly. :)

Enter your blog in the Field Trip Mc Linky so I can see where y’all have been too!

Morning Waves and Walk

Its been a while since Nate and I have taken a morning walk on the beach. This morning he slept in his clothes and then set his alarm to wake him up at 6:45.  These shots were taken between 7 and 8. The fog was low – the ocean seemed more lake like.  We have been talking about the “swells” – of the difference of a 6 inch or 25 foot swell  - We were both looking forward to the stormy swells in October. :)

Pacific City – Gorgeous Hiking Day!

Have you ever looked back on a fully thrilling day – and wondered if you had started the day knowing where it would lead – that in the beginning – you’d have been more stressed and worn out or worried about the timing of it all?

We started out our Monday Morning enjoying some seatwork time with Nathan – an online writing class he is taking – plans of cleaning the house and sorting out the classroom with a movie in the afternoon. When -

A friend called to say that they had their horses on the beach in Pacific City – about 15 –20 minutes north on hwy 101 – would our boys like to play with their boys while the teen girls and mom rode? Well, we quickly finished the online lesson – grabbed a bag of pretzels and some sand fun toys and our Oregon Parka’s (hoody sweatshirts) and zipped north.

Oh the joy of meeting with friends – picking up as if we had spoken every day – instead of the absence of presence for the past 6 months.  Encouragement and Joy and Sisterhood.  Rest and Peace. :)

The picnic was assembled, and the horses were tended, the boys ran off and were then found – and we all loaded up to go our different ways on the beach, 3 horses and riders to the south, 5 kids and a mom to the north.

Feeding the Baby Bunnies is my favorite way to start our time in Pacific City -

Then we ventured across the street to let the boys play on the sand dune hill by Cape Kawanda.

I thought I’d be content to sit with the other families at the bottom – but the vertical challenge pulled me up.

  
I’m not so sure that overweight almost 40 yr old moms should try to keep up with young teens and pre-teens . . . . But it was FUN!
 
The view was amazing. This is from the middle of the hill.

The views below are just below the tree line. I didn’t go up to the trees, I have my limits of climbing – but I loved the view from the “almost” top!
Nate spots the cave and asks if we can immediately go down there.  We did – but it was filled with water. No floats.

We watched three Dory Boats come in to the beach. So exciting to see them come so quickly onto the sand. This red Dory was a real beauty!

       

This is the last uphill climb before getting to the “edge”. 

      From this view, it looks like they are on the edge, but it goes back about 30-40 feet flat til the drop off into the Pacific Ocean. I heard 3-4 worried remarks from families standing behind me about Those Little Boys who were going to “fall off”.  This ledge is not so tall, and flat spots around that you couldn’t see from this angle.

                The view North towards Cape Mears and Netarts is Breathtaking!
The older boys on the “edge”.
 

This was my most nervous moment of the day. Yikes. My heart rate is increasing just looking at the photo! They are laughing because Nate’s friend realized they are about the same height. :)

  Panorama of the Town, the Surfers at Cape Kawanda ad the Horses meeting us –
They called on the cell phone and we waved from the cliff.

A little bon fire matches fun. The hill in the background was our “second” hike – we went to the farthest west point.

At the end of the day the beach quieted down – the footprints on the hill were beautiful, the fog lifted for a gorgeous evening sky, and the boy fell asleep with his head on a branch.  :)

     

If you recognize the faces of our visiting family and
would like the link to the entire album of about 70 photos,
send a comment/email or FB Msg and I’ll send you the link.

Please respect their privacy and not comment with their names. :)

Lincoln City Sand Castle Contest

Home after a long 6 hours at the beach watching the boys build and the maintain their octopus in the changing weather and meandering tourists.
I think Jon had his picture taken a bajillion times – Nathan wandered and found boys from the youth group and met a new homeschool friend who is twelve, but found out he doesn’t live here. Darren and I sat in our chairs drinking water trying not to voice opinions of how to do their project.
In the Child Category- 12 and under – parents were not allowed to help at all.  Strangely, the two winners, had mom in the pit quite often . . . the top winners over all had plastic buckets supporting their figure . . .a no no. 
The awards were anti climatic – quickly passed out and jumbled, judged 30 minutes early, rain was dripping.


Really deflating for a hard day’s work, I must confess to being a little pouty. (Feeling MUCH better now.)

There were about 11 child entries that I could see, only 2-3 standing alone without parents getting all the water and wet sand.

Seems like there would be a moment of thankfulness to the entrants – without us – thousands of tourists would not have filled the Taft beach!

So – Thank You Jon and Nate for participating!!! In the end – we had a great day in the sand talking to A LOT of people. :)
Here’s a little slide show of the day for ya:

What was your favorite adult creation?

6 a.m. Beach Walk

I headed out this morning with my 12 year old son to our favorite spot to walk on the Central Oregon Coast here in Lincoln City.

• Beach Lover?
• Agate Hunter?
• Rock hound?
• Bird Lover?
• Mammal Tracker?
• Dog Lover? 
• All of the Above?

Walks like the one this morning make me wonder what crazy part of my brain keeps me from venturing out every morning!!! Down with Facebook and Google Reader and Winter Socks and Mugs of Coffee!!!
On with the Show!
Best part of the early a.m. is fresh open sand, plenty of room for a dog to run. Your feet get to make the first tracks of the day.

The clouds are high- dark. Wind is faint enough on the ears, not bold enough for a pony tail, temperature is fleece jacket cold  - sandals stay on – toes do not enjoy long dips in the water.
We talk about the waves – the surf.  Of the difference between our arrival in the October/November months – rushing out to see the 25 foot swells that often came our way. Of how 2 hours after low tide, we would be forced to stay near the sea wall, if we were able to walk at all on the beach.
Nate talked about the waves, sharing his thoughts on the surf – even with a summer system coming in – there is not alot of wind to push the water forward, yet the movement of the water still comes. And then it stubs it’s toe, unexpectedly on the beach as the sand forces the depths to decrease. Moving along, its undertoe gets stubbed – and stopped, and the rest of the body of water falls over in the unexpected jarring.  And we see a wave. Beautiful. :)

We wander down to mystery beach  - up near the cascade head area -
and squeal in delight. An agate hunter’s dream spot. Enough bounty to make a seasoned rockhound be finding the need a neck brace at the end of the day. Agates, Corral, Jaspar, Reds, Greens, Blues, Purples, Petrified Wood, Agate Clams, Thunder Egg innards, Blacks, caramels – shells.  Even a foot ball we’ve been watching for months – still trapped in the rocks. :) Well go ahead, scroll down and look for yourself. I tried to take a few shots so you could pick out your favorites. :)
 
But the birds – the Common Murres and Guillemot were close enough for some nice shots  - which pulled the birding photographer away from the rock pile . . . .
 
We watched a black bird with a REALLY long neck (Brant's or Pelagic Cormorant?) pluck a red rock crab out of a tide pool – shake him, splash him – and eat him.  Amazing to witness!
 
Too cold and 3 hours past low tide – to meander in these tide pools north of Lincoln City. Also – there is so much birding activity, that one feels like they are trespassing on a breakfast diner. :)
 
But we did stop to pick up a few gems to tantalize the rest of our rock hound family to join us at low tide this afternoon!
 
Well – If it’s going to look and feel like winter – at least the bounty of mystery beach gave up a winters parcel!
 
The dog kept looking at something on the beach, we didn’t hear any people – or see any heads over the rocks – but she seemed to be aware of “something”.  When we came back to the beach, we saw evidence of what she must have smelled. :)  Good Girl! they walked down the cliff and walked right up to the ocean,  then turned around and walked back.  Funny. Even deers love the ocean! We’re thinking from the tracks it was 4-5 at least and a few fawns.
 
It took a while – but Nathan figured out where the deer came down, then walked along the edge to the rocks, and then circled back. This is the “slide” they used. 
Its a pretty large – tall cliff!  Jon would have been jealous!  Below, their tracks to find some water.
 
They meandered up the beach and took a much better path back to where ever “home” was. :)

7:30 – a few more people on the beach 7 or so – What a wonderful way to start the day!

 
Pocket full of blue, green, teal, white and brown sea glass with many colors of agate, petrified wood, jaspers and shells. :)
Until the Next Beach Walk!
If you can’t make it to the beach today- what is your favorite part of the walk?  If you’d like me to capture the photo – let me know a topic!