Of Flowers, Kiwi, Aspen + Other Stuff

Let me start off by saying I am watching a cooking show right now,

so expect typos, bad grammar and a REALLY random post:)

How is everyone? Are you enjoying winter in autumn weather like we are? Oh yes, we've been having our share of windy, very sunny days and now a "delightful" wintry mix. LOL.

 

Speaking of windy, dry, cold (low 40s) and sunny days, I finally had the chance to conduct the laundry experiment I've been wanting to do for a long time---and I was shocked with the results!

The experiment was to see if laundry (in this case towels and some clothes) would dry

--at all--

at such a low temp.

Unfortunately I was really late in getting them outside and so they were only out there a few hours,

but they were definitely a bit drier--

some more then others.

Next time I'll get an earlier start.

(BTW, I finished drying them on a rack over one of the heat registers.

I felt a bit like a pioneer except for the whole central heat, automatic wash machine thing)

 

Inside we (meaning Farmer Boy) have been hard at work --

and we (meaning both of us) now have sheetrock in our not-used-for-5-years bedroom!

I can almost see the finished project now:

 a big walk-in storage/utility room (easy oh beating heart of mine) and a bedroom or craft room or man cave or ??? 

Of course I am totally in denial that it is going to take the months Farmer Boy is talking about:)

 

 

While the man has been very hard at work, I have been doing far, far less--but the kitchen organization is almost done and -- for the first time in months -- our dining room table is decorated and empty of all the miscellaneous stuff that had taken up residence there in the last months.

I kind of like seeing the wood tabletop so maybe I'll work harder to keep it cleared off this time

:)

 

 Miss Pilgrim (well, Pilgrim descendant) blew it today. My best friend mentioned Michael's and the next thing I knew I was out the door. Of course, surrounded by aisles of Christmas ribbon, winter cookie cutters and more, I soon had a few items in my cart including a great book for Small One. Bad, bad me...I am telling myself it's OK since three of those items are for Thanksgiving.

Have I said we're having dinner at our son's (a Chef) that day?

I am SO excited to see what he'll be making:)

 

And now some photos from the past three (has it really been so long?) weeks...

 

From the vine to a ...

 

 

box.

This box will be stored in our RV during the winter.

Last year we had a full box and they kept beautifully for about 4-5 months in there 

(we keep the RV at about 39-40 degrees to avoid frozen pipes).

When we wanted some to eat, we would bring out a few to ripen.

 

 

Our second camellia sasanqua has totally come back from its near demise

and is filled with pretty pink flowers (as is the other camellia)!

 

 

When I was planning our garden years ago,

I tried very hard to have something in bloom each season,

because on those gray days there's nothing like pink flowers to put a smile on your face:)

 

 

Also abundant are the mushrooms--

they seem to be taking over our woodland or at least one part of it.

 

 

Look at what I found?

Yep! That's right.

Beautiful quaking aspen in WESTERN Oregon.

I am so proud of myself...

 

The Internet can be very handy at times when you are desperately

in need of an aspen sighting in autumn.

(I'll admit they are less golden then their east of the Cascades counterparts,

but they are aspen,  and autumn isn't autumn without seeing one of my favorite trees!).

 

 

Last but not least, I met two "angels" in the past three weeks.

Not REAL angels of course...

though I believe in them,

but two ladies who truly blessed me when I needed a bit of a blessing.

And I was thinking...

wouldn't this world be a better place if everyone lived each day being a blessing to others?

 

Until next time.

Blessings,

Aimee

Of Birthdays + Beaches

As always I stressed out the night before,

 trying to pick out the very best beach for her birthday celebration.

The timing of the high and low tides weren't what I had hoped for;

the expected arrival of the next storm system made outside adventures a bit iffy too...

 

I shouldn't have bothered with all that planning--
this girl knew EXACTLY where she wanted to go

 and her choice, though unexpected,

was perfect and a MUCH better one than I would have chosen.

 

And the other worries?

Totally a waste of time too.

You see--

God answers the prayers of little girls

(and their stressed out Grandma's).

A few drops of light rain at first, then a few drops towards the end,

with a whole LOT of dry

and even some sun in between!

And the timing of the tides?

 

 

Well it did mean we had to wade through the creek

 to get to the main part of the beach...

but that just made the trip all the more memorable.

 

 

Down by THE rock,

 waves were a bit wild and beautiful as they crashed against the island and then flowed around it!

(The waves and different currents around the rock and up the creek fascinate me)

 

 

The birthday girl.

 

 

At times, blowing sand created some very neat effects on the northern section of the beach.

It did sting the bare legs a bit though. Ouch!

Perhaps it's time to put away summer's cropped pants?

Probably.

 

The smaller castle 'cousin' of one built further up the beach by Small One and her Papa

(the huge one I didn't take a photo of--sigh).

I called this one a hobbit castle.

Love all the windows...

hobbits need to be able to watch for those wild incoming waves too.

 

 

No whole sand dollars here but all beaches have 'treasure' if one is willing to look.

A very adorable toddler we saw found a 'palm tree' and was happily carrying it up the beach:)

 

 

One of the many gulls who were visiting the beach on this autumn day. 

Poor hubby; poor quilt...

good thing both washed up well:)

 

 

At times the clouds parted and the sun lit up the waves. Pretty!

 

 

 Looking southwards towards the headland and 'the rock'.

A whole different perspective from this direction.

A great walk--a great day!

Is it possible to have a bad day when you're surrounded by such beauty?

Nope, not for us it isn't.

 

 

Happy Birthday (not so) Small One!

Love you always:)

Blessings,

Aimee

 

Photos:

Neskowin Beach, Tillamook County, Oregon

 

 

Liebster Award Winners

Hi! I'm back. It's almost 0230 even though this will post later today. Hubby is was up and feeding his cold (poor hubby) so I am going to follow up immediately with the Liebster Award winners (also in alphabetical order). BTW Liebster means beloved or dear and you are all beloved people with lovely blogs! One last note (sort of)--if you have already been blessed with the Liebster Award and don't want to duplicate it, feel free to consider yourselves awarded with the One Lovely Blog Award (from two posts ago). Remember to right click on the award and copy it to your computer so you can save it forever or as long as you'd like. For those who are Liebster winners, your award can be found on the post prior to this one. Follow the same instructions to save the award to your computer. BTW, the One Lovely Blog Award is in a JPEG format and the Liebster Award is in a PNG format--both are OK to upload to blogger should you choose to.

Another drum roll please for the Liebster Award winners...

1. Becky of http://grandmabeckyl.blogspot.com/
(PNW blogger. A lover of tulips, family and her country. Check out her beautiful tulip photos from a Willamette Valley farm).

2. Noelle of http://liveanddreamalittledream.blogspot.com/
(PNW blogger. A lover of books, islands, dogs and pizza. Noelle's recent post includes one of my favorite prayers and was a great reflection for this evening.)

3. Gracie of http://grayseasailor-onesaylorslog.blogspot.com/
(PNW blogger. A lover of crafts, traveling and beautiful Mt. Hood. Check out her blog for pics of her recent trip back east--including an Amish community, Maine and Prince Edward Island in Canada)

4.  Terri of http://southwest-arkie.blogspot.com/
(Blogging from the southern USA. A lover of genealogy, cute little McSqeezy critters and horses. Check out her blog for lovely photos of the South and more)

5. Jackie of http://homesteadwannabes.blogspot.com/
(PNW blogger. A lover of homeschooling, field trips to fascinating places and Celtic culture and recipes. Check out her recent blog post about a Celtic Festival. By the way she makes haggis--isn't that amazing?)

6. Sallie of http://travelingrainvilles.typepad.com/traveling_home/
(PNW and Florida blogger. A lover of adventures in places near and far, wildlife and history, Check out her summer travels in Alaska).

Again, this award isn't meant to add to your stress. All participation is completely voluntary and the award is still yours! However, if you do want to take part, here are some questions for you to answer on your blogs. The only other 'rule' would be to nominate other bloggers for the award and then give them some questions of your own to answer. I was very flexible in following the rules...

11 Questions to Answer
(Don't feel you have to answer all of these if you're busy or make up your own if you'd rather. It's about getting to know you better)

1. What got you interested in blogging?

2. Are you a beach, mountain or desert person?

3. Have you ever visited another country?

4. What was your favorite subject in school?

5. What was your least favorite subject in school?

6. What three books have meant a lot to you?

7. If you could live anywhere in the world what place would you choose?

8. What are three of your favorite movies?

9. If you could have three wishes granted to you, what would you wish for?

10. If you could be any age again, what age would you like to be?

11. If you could have lunch with anyone in history who would you choose?

Congratulations to all the winners. Hopefully, hopefully I didn't forget anyone. If I did and you are a regular visitor I am SO sorry! It is late here and I had some blog difficulties this morning. Blessings to you all and enjoy your awards! You truly are all lovely, beloved people!

Blessings,
Aimee

PS: You can find the One Lovely Blog Award post here and the Liebster Award with the One Lovely Blog Award recipients here.

One last photo for the morning...

 

SO MUCH better in person.

Lovely fog in the mountains.

I MISSED you this  sumer--

so happy to see you again:)

 

And now it's time for lullaby land.

Night (or day) everyone!

The Liebster Award (and First Awards)

Not too long ago, Miss Bethany blessed my blogging world with a nomination for

 the wonderful Liebster Award! I would now like to take some time and

thank her for this very unexpected blessing :)

By the way, if you don't know Miss Bethany of Liberty or Death AND you love history, photos of God's creation, chess and reflections of faith you should visit her blog soon.

Here's a link: http://todaylibertyordeath.blogspot.com/

Isn't it fun finding new blogs and meeting other bloggers? 

 



THANK YOU, thank you Miss Bethany for this awesome award,

your sweet comments, your strong faith and your support!

And now, Miss Bethany has asked me to answer the following questions. I will do my best. Hopefully I won't put you into a Aimee trivia overload:)

1. If you could have an expenses-paid vacation to anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

A) Well first of all we'll have to pretend I don't have a fear of flying. LOL. I would choose three places. First I'd love to see Norway which has captivated me ever since I was in junior high (today's middle school). And then, since I am already in Europe, and since this is an all expenses paid vacation, I would have to visit ancestral locations in Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. Finally, as long as I am already in Europe, the Holy Land seems SO very close and I would dearly love seeing where the Patriarchs, Moses, King David, Jesus and the Disciples walked---and see the differences from when my great grandfather was there and today.

2. What would you like to accomplish by the end of 2014?

A) Physically: get in better shape--yikes that's less than 3 months away! Mentally: watch less TV and read more. Spiritually: have a deeper, more trusting walk with God. Actually I have been working on most of these since I first started writing this post awhile ago:)

3. If you had a million dollars, how would you use it?

A) Move further out in the country, build a small log cabin with a covered porch, help family and give more to my favorite Christian charity.

4. What are your favorite foods?

A) So many to love--I am glad you made that plural 'foods'! I will try to limit myself to three--Japanese, Mexican and Scandinavian food. Of course, I have a very soft spot in my heart and my taste buds for Italian and Irish food too:)

5. What are your favorite quotes and Bible verses?

A) The Bible verses are easy! Many years ago I believe God gave me Psalm 121 and I have always loved that chapter! Periodically it seems a verse or two will be laid on my heart when I--or a friend--needs it. Quotes I will have to think about. I heard one recently that I really liked though. It went something like this "Don't impress; inspire" (OK that's not an exact quote and I can't find an original source either but I really like it!)

6. What is the best advice on life you can give in up to 3 sentences?

A)  Love the LORD your God with all your heart, soul and strength. Treat others as you would like to be treated. Life is a priceless gift and should never be taken for granted.

7. If you could live in any time period, which would you choose?

A) This one is easy--pioneer days:)

8. What is your dream car and your dream home?

A) I really don't feel the need for a dream car. I already have a dependable one with A/C that's paid off (yea). However, perhaps a horse drawn wagon or that Fjord horse I've been dreaming about would be nice. My dream home would be made of logs with some Nordic details and a woodstove. I wouldn't want it to be very big (more cleaning to do), but one with a loft would be great--then I could pretend to be Heidi instead of Aimee:) Oh and it has to be on a mountainside.

9. What languages can you speak?

A) English and a bit of Spanish (with a horrible accent). I also know some words/sentences in various other languages including Hawaiian and French. Recently I tried to teach my granddaughter a phrase I thought she'd like; perhaps you'll like it too --"J'adore la glace au chocolat".  Actually I prefer a nice lemon sorbet or smoothie:)

10. Do you have a current occupation; if not, what would your dream job be?

A) Homemaker---which is my dream job. Previously I worked in the medical field and also in education (but I am not a teacher, doctor or nurse).

11. What cause(s) are you most opinionated about?

A) Need to think about this one. I have VERY strong opinions on a lot of things and can be quite passionate about the way I feel. Sometimes too much so...

12. Is there any quality you think the Lord is growing in you right now (e.g., patience, love, trust)?

A) Several---trust and love. I can, at times, be quite stubborn and strong willed so it is good that He has never given up on me:)

 

And now to find some wonderful blogs to bestow the Liebster and the One Lovely Award on. Thinking (yep I found my 'cap')

 

And while I am thinking here are a couple more photos of our beach adventures.

 

LOVED these birds!

Should have cropped this a bit differently,

but since it's almost 0150 I choose to be imperfect:)
I also made these a little smaller but you can click on them to see a larger version.

This trip we actually saw a lot of the 'trails' the sand dollars

make as they move themselves along the sand. They really are quite interesting little creatures!

~
 OK, here are my choices for the One Lovely Blog award. This was REALLY, really, really hard
 because I LOVE all the blogs I visit on a regular basis and I think they are all LOVELY, but I tried not to duplicate awards and some of you had already received the Liebster award from what I could tell.
 

Drum roll please...

 

One Lovely Blog Award Winners--in alphabetical order

(BTW, you'll find your award here on my last post.
  Right click on the award and save it (JPEG format) to your computer--
that way it will be yours forever)
 

1.  Bethany of http://todaylibertyordeath.blogspot.com/
(Blogs from the Midwest. A lover of history, country, flowers and birds--
 check out her most recent post, including a reflection,
"The Feathered Invasion of Waterloo")
 
2.  Betsy of http://betsy-thesimplelifeofaqueen.blogspot.com/
 (PNW blogger. Betsy is a lover of family, crafts and the beach. Check out her amazing crafts--

loved her recently finished baby socks and photo of her adorable granddaughter).
 

3.  Deya of http://thepsalmistandhergarden.blogspot.com/
 (Texas blogger. Deya is a lover of worship and a very talented artist.
 Check out her reflections--the latest one being about trust.)

 

 4. Linda of http://photomomlinda.blogspot.com/

(PNW blogger. Linda is a lover of hiking, shooting beautiful alpine flowers

and a wonderful owner to Bear. Check out her most recent posts of her trip

 in the Cascades and central Oregon)

 

5.  Lorrie of http://fabricpaperthread.blogspot.com/
 (Canadian blogger. Lorrie is a lover of sailing, gardens and crafts. Check out her latest post which is about decorating and some lovely summer/autumn flowers)

 6. Sam of http://mydogsam01.blogspot.com/

(Canadian blogger. Very inspiring blog about one special dog and
 his family and friends--including kitties! Check out his blog to learn more about this

 amazing dog and his equally amazing owners)

 7. Teresa of http://teresakasner.blogspot.com/
 (PNW blogger. Teresa is a lover of crafts, history and sailing.
 Check out her blog for some lovely moon and Gorge pictures).

 

 Now it's your turn.
 In my research I've seen various rules about the number of blogs you should nominate (5-15). Some mention a limit on followers (200 or less); some don't?? And I even saw one that had a rule I'd never seen before, so I am thinking there might be a bit of flexibility in the rules. Since I know you're all busy bloggers (along with having busy daily lives) I am going to make my rules for this very easy.

 

Here they are:

 1. List 7 things we don't know about you on your blog

(optional but I do love learning about my fellow bloggers).
  2. Choose some other bloggers to gift the One Lovely Award to. You decide how many

 (again, optional).
 3. Know that I value you and your very lovely blogs!

(LOL -- required!) 

 

 Remember NOT to stress out about this as participation is totally voluntary and
 the award is yours whether or not you choose to participate. I will try to get around to your blogs and let you know about the award you've won, but I am having one of the
 most challenging weeks I've ever had.

 

Blessings,

Aimee

 

PS: BTW if you've already received the One Lovely Blog award but haven't received the Liebster award, go ahead and consider yourselves awarded that one instead. The rules for the Liebster award will be on my next post.

One Lovely Blog Award

I'd like to blame it on living so close to places like this...
(this kind of reminds me of an infinity pool--well sort of)

 

 

Or maybe on my constant need to meet cuties like these
(howdy feathered ones)...

 

but I can't.

The fact is I am just imperfect and blew it.

You may have noticed the One Lovely Blog Award over to the side here >
and you may have even seen this post from way back in autumn of 2013
http://aimeeonthemountainside.blogspot.com/2013/10/o-perfect-day.html
and wondered why Aimee would all of a sudden share a whole bunch of trivia with you all.

Well it seems like somehow I had a brain freeze or ? and
 I neglected to tie all that trivia to
the lovely award that Miss Willow of
 http://whimsywillowsfarm.blogspot.com/
bestowed on me a couple of months before that.
I did have good intentions though:)

May I now take a moment of your time and THANK Miss Willow properly--
along with her two fav blogging hens of course!
And, if you haven't yet had the pleasure of visiting HoneyBee, Cricket and all of the awesome residents of Whimsy Willow Farm I highly recommend a trip there--
you won't be sorry!

And now, since it's been awhile, I will share with you a bit more trivia---
(you can find the original trivia by following the "O Perfect Day" link above)
just because it seems the right thing to do:)

And THANK YOU, thank you Miss Willow for your support,  the One Lovely Blog Award
and for all the times you've made me smile and giggle these past months:)
Bless you!

Aimee Trivia

1.  I am very shy,
 except when I am not.
Then you get to meet extroverted Aimee:)

2. I am totally and completely in love with horses. When I was younger, I had a horse collection filled with lovely steeds with names like Little Con, Misty, Jupiter and so on. In my early 20s, I bestowed this collection on the daughter of a friend who also loved horses. Sometimes though, I dream of Little Con and his friends coming back for a visit. I also, as you may know, owned a real horse--actually a Welsh pony. If I owned one today I would be tempted to choose a Fjord horse. 

3. I am related (distantly) to at least one president and one of
my ancestors appears on a census sheet with another president.

4. I am Celtic, German, French and English with perhaps a bit of Danish thrown in.
I also like to say my heart is Norwegian. One of my goals is to get my kitchen organized so I can cook some of the recipes I have wanted to try--things like lefse which makes me hungry
 just thinking of it:)

5. I've read the entire Bible through several times and would like to do that again. However
 this year I am concentrating on just the New Testament.
I always find new things every time I read it.

6. The farthest west I've been was to Hawaii (Kailua-Kona); the farthest east was to Colorado, The farthest north was probably Jasper in Alberta, Canada and the farthest south was Ensenada, Mexico. Mexico was the birthplace of Little Con and Misty (of #2 fame--LOL).

7. I love learning and can spend hours on the Internet (as I used to spend with encyclopedias as a teenager). I have a special love for history and family history (doesn't matter if it is mine or a friend or relative). In fact I love to surprise friends and family with little tidbits of their family heritage once in awhile:)

And now I would LOVE to pass on this One Lovely Blog Award to seven or so other bloggers.

 

MANY of you come to mind that have fabulous lovely blogs filled with sunshine, mountains,
yummy recipes, flowers, grandkids, furry ones, crafts and more...
but I am not sure if you participate in blog awards or not.
Let me try and find my "thinking cap"
(stored during our very HOT summer of course)
and I'll be back:)

Blessings,
Aimee

Photos:

Necanicum Estuary during our continuing celebration this past weekend:)

Journey to Another "End": Pt II

On Monday,

 I showed you the perfect sand dollars we found on our recent trip to a 'new' beach!

But there were more exciting adventures and finds that day...

 

 

Our next find was a starfish!

Grandma was the first to spot it in one of the very, very shallow river 'channels'

of the Necanicum River.

She was SO EXCITED and started screaming at me to come QUICK!

I did.

 

At first she thought it was dead, since it was on its back.
But when she picked the starfish up she realized it was probably still alive--
how cool is that:)

She returned him to the water, this time right side up...
 

A few minutes later it was me doing the screaming because I found a starfish all by myself!

Did you see the first photo?
That was my starfish--
we were all pretty excited about seeing two of them within a few minutes of time :)

 

 

Grandma also found a purple sand dollar down on the beach.

Beautiful isn't it?

 

 

But when she looked at it more carefully, she could see and feel that it had a hairy backside:)
 

And Grandma knew, from her sleepless night of Internet research,

that this was indicative of a living sand dollar.

Her and Papa placed it gently back in a wet location and put a bit of sand around it.

 

 

No way was Grandma going to hurt a living creature!

Besides you're not supposed to do that.

 

 

Grandma is not totally fond of this photo,

but it does show the sand 'craters' near the "End"--

or I should say "The End of the World"?

 

Apparently that is a local name for this area--

and with all the unique aspects of this beach,

plus a great view out to the Pacific,

I think that is a good name for it.  

 

Here's a really good article about this area and sand dollars: 

http://henryehooper.wordpress.com/witness-post-sand-dollars/

 

Grandma says the beach here looks like a moonscape! LOL

What do you think?

 

 

Here I am trying out one of the sand 'craters':)

I couldn't stay long though because the tide was coming in... 

 

Grandma absolutely LOVED all the different patterns on the sand that we found;

she says this is was one of the most interesting beaches she's ever been too

and since she's been to a LOT of beaches that's saying a lot!

 

Here's another pattern in the sand.

Very, very cool!

 

 

It was an awesome day

and Grandma says we'll definitely be going back here again.

I hope they'll be taking me:)

 

 Hope you enjoyed our little journey.

Wishing you all a GREAT day and a wonderful weekend!

The Small One

 

 

Links/Notes:

http://www.beachconnection.net/news/bizbea010710_421.htm

http://www.beachconnection.net/vtour_seas6.htm

http://oregoncoast.beachconnection.net/news/sandoll030812_433.php

http://audubonportland.org/local-birding/iba/iba-map/necanicum

 

All beach photos from this and Monday's post taken in Seaside, Oregon.

Directions to the beach/estuary (south shore):

1. From Highway 101 turn left onto 12th Avenue at the traffic signal.

2. Travel down 12th, crossing over the bridge, until you come to the public parking lot at the end of the avenue. Make sure you look for the crab pots hanging over the bridge rail

when you cross over the Necanicum River!

3. Park your car and remove all the 'essentials' from your trunk. LOL

4.  Take either the concrete steps or ramp. Now take the short path you can see over the dune. This will put you on the beach. Turning left here (plus a long walk) would take you to the main promenade area of Seaside and an often very crowded beach.

5. Be different and turn right instead! Now you are on the less crowded northern portion of Seaside's beach. It's a whole different experience I promise!

6. Walk, walk and walk some more to the north if you want to go all the way to the "end".

You'll know you're there when you have a whole lot of river between you

and the next beach up the coast (Gearhart)  :)

Just to let you know, we arrived about an hour after low tide. We found the sand dollars in a wet area before the river and towards the ocean; the starfish were found in the estuary area.

Journey to Another "End"

 

Hi! It's me--the Small One,

aka Aimee's granddaughter.

Today I've taken over Grandma's laptop to tell you all about our latest adventure--

an early birthday celebration for someone I know:) 

 

HAPPY EARLY Birthday Grandma!

 

Now since it was Grandma's celebration,

 that meant she got to decide where we'd all go

and since she has a LONG list of places she likes,

it took her quite awhile to settle on the city by the bay.

No, no! LOL

Not THAT city by the bay,

but Astoria--

the city by Young's Bay in NW Oregon

and

famous for being the location of quite a few movies among other things.

 

But the night before the celebration,

Grandma couldn't sleep which meant she spent tons of time on the Internet

and unbeknownst to me (or anyone else) she found a new place for us to explore instead.

 

Here's what happened...

 

 

First we started with

breakfast in the Coast Range...

oh, and my first coffee

(Grandpa is such a PNW boy that thinks everyone should LOVE coffee.

Don't worry Grandma he gave me only a little itty bit.)

 

Grandma's family has been coming here to Camp 18 for years.

 

 

She loves the woodland setting along pretty Humbug Creek,

the very entertaining birds,

the historical outdoor display about logging,

the fact that you get to eat in a beautiful log building 

and the yummy food!

Oh, it's also very neat that it's so close to the coast!

 

 

I like it at Camp 18 too!

Here I am playing walrus...

After we ate and explored outside for awhile we all got into the car again.

It was then, as we were headed down the tree lined road, that

Grandma broke the news to Papa that she was thinking of a new destination for today's fun.

I knew something was up when she started spelling...

S-A-N-D  D

and she mentioned me.

Hum, where could she be thinking of having us go now?

 

 

Before too long we drove over a bridge and I heard her talking about crab pots.

I guess a lot of people hang their crab pots off this particular bridge.

Pretty cool huh?

Soon Papa parked our car, we grabbed all the 'essentials' out of the trunk and started walking--

first down some steps and then on a short path over the dunes...

 

 

Peek-a-boo headland.

Grandma loves headlands:) 

 

Pretty trees in a sea of grass. 

Grandma loves trees too!

 

When we were over the dune this is where we ended up at.

(Can you see Tilly?

I didn't know what Tilly was until this trip.

There's a lot to learn about the coast you know and my grandparents want me to learn all I can).

 

Then we turned right and started walking

a LONG ways toward a river.

 

On the way there we saw many interesting things...

a lot of broken crab shells,

a whole bunch of different patterns in the sand,

seagulls and dogs,

and

a whole bunch of broken sand dollars.

 

 

Then Papa found these!

Now, I know what SAND D meant--

sand dollars and perfect sand dollars at that!

Yippee!

I like this place:)

 

But that wasn't all we saw and found there...

 

Stay tuned for part two and learn more about this "End".

 

Bye for now:)

The Small One

 

Notes:

See next post for some links

(Grandma, what's a "link"?)

Journey To "The End": Part II

We finally made it--
sort of.

By that I mean we reached our goal -
Road's End Point -
and I was VERY grateful and excited to be there!

But, since the tide was coming in,
 we didn't have enough time to explore what lay beyond the first rocky area

(although one of us did have a quick peak at part of it over the rocks--
I'll let you guess which one of us that was. LOL).

 

The tide was coming in;

the hubby was going out.

 

Visions of hubby being on the evening news were playing in Aimee's head...

"man rescued by Coast Guard after being stranded at Road's End Point by incoming tide".

Hubby?

 

Very rugged, very picturesque  area.

It was definitely worth coming!

 

 

 I was impressed with the geology of the area.

The ocean seems a lot different here at The Point--so wild and untamed!

SO different from the part of the beach we had started at.

 

We were not the first creatures to arrive there...
of course the winged ones did have a SLIGHT advantage over us humans:)
Very, very neat!

 

Aha!
A bit of sand...
a rock that looks like it's watching me.
Hey! Could this be the famous Wizard Rock?
Could this be the rock that guards the way to the "hidden" beach and cove?

Incoming waves.
No, no!
I haven't "discovered" the "secret" place yet;
I haven't taken a hundred photos of the beach, cove, sea life and caves there.
Incoming waves...

So close and yet so far.
The incoming tide isn't listening to my pleas for it to take its time so
further discoveries and explorations will have to wait for another time.

Goodbye Road's End Point...
goodbye possible Wizard's Rock...
goodbye until next time.

 

Hello momentary safety!

Looking back from the beach along the headland

(I think some of this is covered up at high tide).

 

A closer look at one of the trees on top of the headland/point.

Look at those roots!
If only trees could talk...

Hold on little tree--

it's not long before those famous winter storms begin.
Hold on and be strong.

 

 The beautiful colors of the section that faces the main beach.
When we were walking towards the headland/point/promontory we saw some hikers on
 top of one of the rocks that are on the top.
From what I could find on the web it sounds like there's a trail that leads up there
from a private camp to the north of here
(along the banks of the Salmon River which is between this area and Cascade Head).
It looks just a BIT LOT too high for me.
I think I'll stick to walking along the beach.
Besides I LOVE walking in the ocean!

 

Looking towards the south...

somewhere down there is the Road's End State Recreation Site where we started from.

 

This walk was such an unexpected blessing.
We both got a bit of exercise on a perfect sunny day
and it turned out to be a spiritual retreat of sorts for me.

Walking amidst all of this rugged, untouched beauty reminded me
of God's power, glory and love for all of us.
 It took my mind off of the troubling news reports of late
and refocused them on the One who made all of this---and made me too.
My heart felt peaceful once again.

It was a journey to "The End",
but it also marked a new beginning for me -
and that made this journey even more special:)

Blessings,

Aimee

Links:
http://www.oregonstateparks.org/index.cfm?do=parkPage.dsp_parkPage&parkId=163
(Road's End Rec Site)
http://www.roadsendoregon.org/history
(Landowner's website that has some fascinating pdf files on the area's history)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/12150532@N04/7551007436/
(On Flickr: Old Man Travels Photostream. Some awesome photos of the "secret" place)
http://www.beachconnection.net/vtour_linc19.htm
(I think this is where I first learned about Road's End Point)
http://www.oregongeology.org/sub/publications/OG/OBv36n11.pdf
PDF file on the geology of the coast from Road's End through Tillamook Bay
 including aerial photos of the different areas.