Nathan Found a Glass Ball!

Against all the “tips” that we’ve gathered -
It was 5 pm, on a Thursday, January 28, 2010.  Low Tide.
In the Tide Pools between 50th and Roads End.
Finders Keepers! 
 
I love taking the dog for a quick walk on the beach by myself ~ but I discovered that the negative low tide went beyond the tide pools ~ so I drove home to pick up the family, and went to 50th street to check out some Starfish.

Just before we got to the sand, we passed a gentleman carrying a glass ball. We asked for a picture, congratulated him and talked about the timing, of him finding one where I just walked, which is now the second time someone on the same path as myself found one, and chatted as a family of God’s Timing and such.  . . . .

As we approached the tide pools, Nathan spotted a glass float! It has the Finders Keepers sticker and embossed stamp on the ball!

    
One Pretty Happy Kid!

The Finders Keepers asks us to register the found ball at the Visitor’s Center.  They give the finder a certificate of authenticity, a poster, a flyer from the designer, take a photo for their book, and have us sign the register.

The visitor center is beautiful! They have informative staff, walls of information, local crafts and artistry, a log of glass floats found, beautiful building, great experience!

When Dad Says Yes

and I always say Sure or No.

Sure  = um, hm, I’m hearing you speak, you’re probably right, whatever, I’m in my own thought.

No = I’m too far in my own thoughts to answer you right now.

Dad’s Yes – YES you are RIGHT, and lets find out to make sure.

WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT you ask. If you’re still reading this.

Its about our rock hunts.  Is this . . . . Do you think this is an  . . . . .

We hear it numerous times on each walk. I usually have headphones blasting music in my ears . . . . .

Yesterday dad took the boys to the beach, and Nate found another smooth white rock that he swears is the inside of a crystal hollowed out.  hmmm. Sure would usually be my answer.  But he was with dad, so they brought it back and broke it in half. :)

And he was Right. :)

Fresh Agate Beds

Two of my favorite things to discover in the early morning landscape – I love it when the sun crests over the eastern hills, shining on the white crests of the waves, while the rest of the beach is blanketed in the dark of twilight. AND I love when the cover of sand has been pulled back from marvelous agate beds.  Reds, Greens, Clear, White, Yellow, Black, Banded, Petrified, Fossils. I was walking this morning, picked up 5-6 in one direction and 3 headed back to the car.  Found a carnelian about the size of an egg. Its my favorite.

Went back to the beach with the boys and made it to Mystery Cove,  scooping up 3 mayo jars full of agates in about 20 minutes. :)

Depot Bay Spout

Depot Bay is a tiny dot of a port town on Hwy 101, literally right on the coast. Hwy 101 is along the sea wall, with a lava outcropping to the sea.  There is a crevice, with a tube in 2 places along the sea wall.  If the tide is just right, high tide, and the waves come at the perfect angle, the water forces through the crevice into the spout, and up she blows. We could watch it for hours, here are a few moments from our hour of watching.

Slow Day for Agates

But beauty of a day for waves and family time!  January 20, 2010.

 

Beach Shoes!

Quicksilver Syncro Boot! 5m for warmth, the box says Department of Wetsuits, Cold Water Operations.  Very cool.  There are so many waterfalls that have cropped up long the cliffs, that every quarter mile or so the need arises to jump rocks to get across.  Inevitably, I miss at least once and walk with wet cold soggy toes.  Top that with the fact that I only own three pair of shoes, Black pumps, brown Mary Janes and Tennis Shoes.  I Aint Walkin in Pumps. So – I’ve been researching wet suit socks to walk in.  I’ve seen several people walking in them.  The other glorious thing, is it will allow me to walk more on the hard sand near to tide water.  Bummer part of that is that there are constanly sneaker waves to avoid. Not huge ones that will push you over, but the annoying ones that you have to run up the beach 50 or more feet to avoid wet mary janes. Watching the Eagle Fly? Wham. Wet toes again.

I looked into just the socks at a smaller 3m, but after talking to him about rock hounding and such, he thought this would be best.  So here’s a shout out to Oregon Surf Shop, We purchased wax for the wake boards there, and now the shoes. Looking forward to finding wetsuits in the future.

The link takes you to the Gallery of their shop, great pics of curls. Their staff is fun to talk with, we’ve been in three times and they’ve been oh so patient with our newby questions. :)

Here are some shots of them in action. I’m happy to report warm dry toes!

Morning at the Beach – A Perfect Curiosity Shop for Homeschoolers!

We endured a crazy loud rambunctious storm last night! The rain came in sideways, the wind was blowing at around 40 mph, the lightning hovered at between .5 and 2 miles away producing house shaking thunder, and the power kept going off and on.  The Noise. Impossible to explain! 

Here is a little tour of our walk – On Roads End Beach, Lincoln City.

This morning I woke early to the stillness of the morning. I know we are in the middle of 2-3 storms, so it was a good time to leash up the pup and go for a walk.  Jon woke up and wanted to go as well, and I am glad because the changes at the beach were awe inspiring!

We started in the Morning before the sun had a chance to crest the east hills.

 

 

 

Jon spotted this Millipede in the parking lot. He was almost 3 inches long. Beautiful!

Several places along the cliffs were sporting new waterfalls, Jon’s fascination since he was little. This particular one was cool because it drained INTO the cliff, then came out on the beach. 

 

We heard from the walkers ahead that an Eagle was looking for breakfast from this tree branch at the top of the cliff.

He was so intent on watching the waves that we were able to walk right to the bottom of the cliff and take a photo upwards at him.

  

Leaving you with a few wave shots. This area usually doesn’t have the “curl” type waves – it is where we walk at low tide and find starfish, mussels, and agates. Wouldn’t walk out there today at low tide!