Monday, January 11, 2010

My Winter Trip to the Beach

Yesterday, I took a trip to the coast with my friend Kyle. I had alot of fun during my first winter experience at the beach.  The forecast said it'd be rain, rain, rain.  I found it to be quite the opposite.  There were a few clouds in the morning, but it soon broke to a beautiful day. I love the coast. The following pictures were taken through out my trip to Long Beach, WA with the first photo taken at our first stop by the Julia Butcher Hansen Wildlife Refuge.


Looking out through an opening at the refuge.  We were looking for white tail deer but didn't see any.

An upclose pic of a log that makes up part of the viewing platform.



Along the way, we always pass this church.
I've taken pictures of this church several times before, but they were always while in the car. This time, we stopped.

Me on the stairs.

In Illwaco, WA, there is a little garden along with this area behind the Columbia Pacific Maritime Museum.

A sturgeon among smaller fish.


One huge stop, Cape Disappointment. This was up on the top looking out at the Cape Disappointment lighthouse.

This is actually the end of the Columbia River right before it begins to enter the Pacific.

The white oceanic waves to the right were converging with the mouth of the Columbia which was the mass of water in the foreground.

Looking down the cape. Am I really here?!  Beautiful.

Some other pictures along a trail on the cape.


Inside the Lewis and Clark Historical Museum (Located on top of the cape) was this old lighthouse lamp.  Awesome!

I love these glass fishing floats.  They come off of Japanese fishing nets and make their way across the ocean to land here on the beach during strong wind storms. People collect them like crazy.

A model of the area.  The Columbia River cuts straight through Washington and Oregon to empty into the Pacific.

Fort Canby is also located on the cape.  It was used until a little after WWII I hear.


This is a room here in the fort. 

In this same room was this painting.  I don't know much about it, but I found it quite interesting.

Finally moving along, this sculpture was in a small park in Long Beach.

Walking along the beach, several sea gulls decided to chill nearby.

Quickly, I ran as close as I could when the tide rolled back out to get these few pictures. I LOVE THE OCEAN! :)

I was down on one hand and almost a knee to get this close up picture of the incoming waves.

Beautiful.

I wonder what kind of fish this was.

This blob of substance is a dead jelly fish. 

This is the largest kite I've ever seen in my life!  It kept rotating in the breeze.  This guy was tending to it while we were walking up.

Did I say huge?!

Walking along the Discovery Trail in the dunes, I took this pic!

Another pic on the dunes.  You can see Cape Disappointment to the left and a littel bit of the ocean in the horizon.

This is a statue of a sturgeon (Yes, they're huge!) and Lewis or Clark (I don't remember) They found one beached when they came out this way.

YEEE HAW! lol

For non-coastal people, we may not know what in the world these things are for.  They are used to shield one from the sand on extreamly windy days.  They are needed, I've felt the wind's wrath at the beach before.







4 comments:

  1. Awsome pictures Mark! I'd love to find one of those glass fishing floats. I only found broken shells. LOL Love the pics of the water, always a favorite. ~

    Sis

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  2. Great post, Mark. Thanks for sharing your experience here at the beach!

    One note; the garden you detailed is in Ilwaco, behind the Columbia Pacific Maritime Museum. All that tile is the work of artist Renée O'Connor. Here are a couple of links for you:
    columbiapacificheritage.com and willapabaytile.com

    I think you'll especially enjoy this one:
    www.funbeach.com/blog/bloggermark

    Cheers!

    Kara Funbeach
    www.funbeach.com
    www.facebook.com/funbeach
    www.facebook.com/longbeachpeninsula

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  3. Very nice blog all about a place on earth that I love. That park in Chinook was really in Illwaco. Thanks for sharing these beautiful photos and comments. ;-D

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  4. Thank you all for your comments and extra info! I'll correct my mistake of thinking the park was in Chinook.

    ReplyDelete