A day at the beach (with Lewis)

But first, an update on our neighbor, Karen Killdeer.   Evidently she has a husband and she's called him in to flop and flap and fall down in front of us while she sits on the children.

Keith Killdeer

Keith not only uses the normal Killdeer techniques, but he also throws himself against  the boulder next to their nest for a more dramatic affect.

As I watched his act last night, I glanced down at little Karen and she quietly stepped aside and introduced me to the kids.

Karen Killdeer and the four kids

After the rain stopped late this morning, we piled into the Jeep and went looking for our own stretch of beach.

Lewis was very excited for his inaugural ride in the new Jeep

This was Lew's first ride in the new Jeep and I think he liked it.   Normally he doesn't particularly care for car rides.   He tolerates them but never really enjoys himself until the vehicle stops.    Today he seemed much more relaxed and comfortable.

We stopped at the remnants of the 1906 shipwreck of the Peter Iredale but there were too many people crawling around....not the right beach for us.

Next we drove out to the South Jetty, directly across from Washington's Cape Disapointment State Park at the mouth of the Columbia River to see if we could watch a ship cross the infamous Columbia Bar.

No ships today, the ocean was a spectacular color but just a bit too wild for our idea of a beach day.    We broke out lunch and watched the waves for a bit before continuing our search.

We drove south towards Seaside and took the road alongside the Astoria Country Club straight down to the beach and onto the sand.

Perfect!   This is what we had in mind.   Hard packed sand, pretty low tide and very few people.    The beautiful cloud formation to the south was something to keep an eye on, but we were happy.

Lew was ready to run in the surf and chase his ball.    We parked away from the tide line and walked.

It was about 65 degrees and pretty windy.   We walked a long way, Lewis walked twice as far - back and forth, chasing his ball.     When we turned around we realized we couldn't see the Jeep anymore so Dave hiked back to bring it closer.

Lewis didn't like the fact that Dave was getting out of sight but he waited with me, more or less patiently.

can you see Dave in the distance?
Lewis can.....

I found a nice warm spot out of the wind and when Dave returned he set up our beach chairs.    We sat in the sun and just let Lewis play his favorite game.

He hasn't given this game a proper name, but you know it involved a ball.   He loves to kick it backward through his legs and then race after it.    He brings it back to the exact same spot, drops it and shoots it away again.    Over and over again until there is a huge hole at the starting spot.  No matter, he drops the ball into the hole and jumps down in to fling it up and out between his legs and onto the beach.    Sand flies everywhere....occasionally we get nailed but its all part of the game.  

Occasionally he looks around to make sure we're still there, but only for a minute.     Back to the game.     Its a hoot to watch.

His huge grin gets caked with sand, it was especially bad today because he needs to be clipped.

We lost track of time today, enjoying the sunshine and enjoying Lewis enjoy himself.    We forgot to keep an eye on that big cloud formation and the darkening sky.

A clap of thunder brought us back to reality and we decided it was time to end the game and pack up our chairs.

Luckily the storm was south of where we needed to go to get back off the beach so we just drove away from it and up the beach.    Only a few raindrops on our way back.    Seaside wasn't so lucky we think....it was lightening and thundering mightily back there.

We drove along with our windows down looking in the sand for our favorite beach thing, sand dollars.    I can't count how many hours we've spent walking on Florida and Carolina beaches, searching for our "lucky" sand dollars but we've never, ever, driven along a beach in our quest!     We laughed and laughed...     We saw millions of pieces,  broken or crushed by the waves or tires or careless feet.     Dave has wonderful eyes for spying the little circles in the sand and twice he slammed on the brakes and jumped out, returning with two perfect dollars!

What a simple and wonderful day we all had.