I've never read any of the Dune series, my apologies to Mr. Herbert. Science Fiction has never been my particular cup of tea. In fact, the only one I can remember reading that I really enjoyed was Heinlein's Starship Troopers. Please, don't judge it by the movie, because, as I'm sure you've heard many, many times before, "The book is much better than the movie!!"
But, y'know, it's tough coming up with kitschy and amusing titles. Very, very tough. But now that's out of the way so let's begin today's adventure.
It's fun looking at each new day as another adventure waiting to happen. That's one of the neat parts of retirement. I can get up each day and wonder at what new adventure I will find. And mostly, like today, I didn't know what was going to happen until it happened.
For example, the only thing we did this morning, it being Monday, was go to the Friends of the Driftwood Library Book Sale. Every Monday. We've gotten a lot of good books there for a great price....$1.
Hahahaha, my kind of store!!
Hahahaha, my kind of store!!
Then the rest of the day was open. After spending some time with my new recliner, I opened up the computer and put it on Google Map and looked around the area and noticed Bob Straub State Park. Hmmmm, I wondered, have we been there? The answer, best as I could tell, was Nyet.
Since it was only 16.7 miles away and we weren't doing much of anything else, we were off.
Hahaha, I know it's an old story, but I never get tired of driving along The 101. It's simple and the pace is just right. At least for me it is. But, judging by the unpleasant looks, foul words and rude gestures given to me by the folks that eventually pass me, it's probably not as high for them as it is for me.
Life is a highway
I wanna ride it all night long...
(Thanks and a tip of the hat to Rascal Flatts)
And we got to The Bob Straub State Park in apple pie order.
Fun Facts: Ol' Bobbo was a one-term Governor of Oregon from 1975 to 1979. The park was originally known as the Nestucca Spit State Park until 1987, when it was renamed after the former Governor.
Known for his conservation efforts, he was key element in the start of mass transit systems in Portland and, in fact, was a strong force behind the start of the light rail system in Portland.
He was also a strong proponent for public domain on Oregon's coast keeping many beach areas accessible to the public.
Thanks, Bobby.
And, to get to the beach, you have to cross over a sand dune. Hahaha, I've never had much affection for walking in the sand....I have even less for walking up a hill covered in sand.
Thank you, Mrs. Maynard.
My continual paean of thanks to Doc Maynard's wife who introduced the dandelion to the Great American Pacific Northwest in order to make some meds for her hubby.
We finally made it to the top of the dune and got our first glimpse of the ocean...from this park.
I gotta tell ya, I do like the photo opportunities sand dunes and beach grass offer. Especially when they're coupled with a blue sky.
And great views, too.
Bob Straub State Park is just south of Pacific City. In fact, the northern end of the park butts up to the southern end of Pacific City.
There is Chief Kiawanda Rock, out in the ocean. And on the right is a glimpse of Cape Kiwanda itself. Pacific City lies just this side of the Cape.
The beach here wasn't crowded. I think there were, maybe, 15 people on the beach while we were there. And by the time we left, there were probably less than 10.
But the surf here is rougher than along our beach. And parts of this beach have a sharp drop from the waters edge into the ocean and that causes the waves to crash real close to the shore.
The dunes gave me plenty of shooting opportunities.
And this one was looking good, too.
See the huge mound of brown there in the distance? That's part of Cape Kiwanda and it is also where all the cool kids go to slide down the hill on their sand sleds, pieces of cardboard or whatever else they can find that will let them whizz down the hill like crazy people.
Someday, if we have the energy to climb to the top or some other cool kid gives us a ride to the crest in their 4-wheel drive Jeep, we're gonna slide down that mound ourselves.
Someday. You betcha!!
Someday, someday!! Someday I will get a shot of the waves that I really like. Hahahaha, like all my other 'someday' shots, I keep working at it .... and hoping.
I'm being followed by a Moon Jelly....
Fun Facts: At first glance, a Moon Jellyfish doesn't look much like anything so it is hard for us to think of them as animals. Jellyfish, or 'jellies', are an exceptionally old species. Fossils discovered in Utah in 2007 indicate that jellyfish may have undulated their way across ancient seas over 500 million years ago. Surprisingly, they have changed relatively little in all that time.
Like other jellyfish, the Moon Jelly has the ability to deliver a sting through their tentacles, a feature which allows it to immobilize its prey such as plankton and mollusks. The sting causes little discomfort to humans, however. I've had the misfortune to have, accidentally, stepped on a number of these washed up Jellies and I can attest to the fact that the Jellies do not sting....at all.
We've had a lot of Moon Jellies washed up on the shore for the past month or so. First it was the By-the-Wind Sailors washing up and dying and now it is the Moon Jellies.
Yeah, that's a Moon Jellyfish there, in the picture.
Hahahaha, still working on the waves shot. I have never thought of myself as an overly persistent kind of fellow but, maybe, I was wrong. I'm sure stuck on a couple of themes in my picture-taking.
We took a walk along the beach. Me just walking and wading and Carol looking for her treasures. Oh, that's not Carol there on the left. That was another young girl, also searching for treasures along the beach.
Don't ask. I don't know.
I've tried to come up with some purpose; some reason for these strange blue globular things and I can't. I think there is a hollow center and so I'm gonna guess and say that maybe you can squeeze inside the middle of one of them and roll along. Other than that, I ain't got nothing.
They were light enough that the two men picked them up with one hand each and carried them away.
Strange.
Hahaha, sand dunes, beach grass and clouds. Got it!!
I call this..."Footprints In the Sand"
You can see, after you get done laughing at the stupid name, that the beach is particularly rough here. The shelf drops off quickly along this stretch of beach.
Whoa, Dude!!
Dunes, Grass AND Clouds!! Epic, Man!! Totally epic!!
It's tough for me to get shots of birds in flight. It's even tougher when you're just framing the shot with just the LCD panel, then it gets to be a matter of how lucky you are.
And, for this shot, I had a little bit of luck. I caught two of them in flight and one of them in shadow.
Score!!
Hahaha, I are persistent!! Oh, yes, I are!!
Carol was, as I mentioned, on the hunt for treasures and not above playing a little game of Catch-Me-If-You-Can with the waves while dashing in and out for them. Hahaha, I can safely say that she lost as many as she won and her trouser legs were as wet as mine.
But she definitely has game!!
I was walking along, disregarding all the lessons I learned from Army Jody...
Ain't no use in looking down
Ain't no discharge on the ground!!
Sage words, Army Jody. Sage words.
However, I was looking down and, what to my wondering eyes should appear!?!
But a fast little Sand Dab, trying hard to disappear!!
But he wasn't fast enough for my flying feet and I nuzzled him out of the sand with my toes to where Carol could quickly get her hands on him.
Then, of course, we had to make him pose for some pictures.
Of course.
Smile, Sand Dab Dude!!
Hahahaha, no Sand Dabs were hurt in the making of this blog. After our photo session, we released him back into the wild and he was under the sand and out of sight within two seconds of touching down.
And we went on our merry way, looking for treasure.
Much like these Three Stooges.
Hahaha, I just realized, I gotta thing for taking pictures of gulls, too. An obsession, maybe.
Uh, oh!! Not again!!
Yeah, but we're almost done with them. Honest.
Sand + Grass + Clouds = Keen Fun
Right!?!
Almost there!!
Hahahaha!! You made it!!
And, so did I.
I, resentfully, hauled my rather ponderous and ample rear end up and over the sand dunes. Finally.
And, since my feet were coated with sand, I thought I'd go over to the grass and wipe them off, sort of, on the lawn. I kicked off one of my sandals and stepped onto the dried out grass and, OUCH!!!
There were stickers there just like in El Paso!!
WTH!?!?!
I did not expect that!! I haven't run into any goathead stickers up here!
(Not so) Fun Facts: These pesky little suckers are named Tribulus Terrestris. It's an annual (naturally) plant that grows around the world. But I didn't think it was in the Great American Pacific Northwest!!
It's an invasive species. This thing is so hated that it has more than one name by which you can curse it. Here's a short list of them: bindii, bullhead, burra gokharu, caltrop, cat's head, devil's eyelashes, devil's thorn, devil's weed, goathead, puncture vine and tackweed.
I think my favorite is Devil's Thorn. Very dramatic and descriptive. But the other ones with Devil in them are good, too.
Hahaha, so there I am with one foot raised up in the air and full of stickers. I couldn't bend over to get to them (couldn't get past Bruno, Number one. And not agile enough for those kind of antics anymore for Number Two).
Carol to the rescue. She came over and, like the mouse pulling a thorn out of the Mighty Lion's paw in Aesop's fable, she pulled the thorns from my pore little paw.
And then it was time to put it back on the road and point that wagon towards home.
Through Pacific City.
We did drive on over to the beach area in the center of the city but it was so crowded that we decided to put that trip off to another day. Neither of us care for crowds.
We drove on over to a small market, got a couple of sodas, marveled at the kayaks for sale across the street and then headed on back to LCO.
It was a good trip and and we had a good time. Except for walking up and down the dunes. And the stickers. That wasn't a good time.
But we got out, had a mini-adventure and saw some new things. All in all, a definite good day.
That's the thing with making your own fun...once you get the idea that you have all the control, it's easy. You can make anything into a fun event. Anything can become an adventure. It helps that you don't have any other concerns like a job. That helps.....a lot!!
Hahahahaha, love this retirement thingie!! What a great idea!!
And so, it was a good day.
It just reminded me that, like always....
....life is good!!
Hooah!!
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