For a Quick Reference

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Today we drove to a campground on the northernmost shore of Washington , where we can see Canada just across the water. We are surrounded by towering pines and mountains to the south and the wide expanse of seawayter to the north, and Canada is a horizon of bluish grey mountains to the north.

Today is a very low tide, which enticed us here in the first place. This was our first experience with tide pools, and it was such an adventure



 


We clambored over boulders, slippery algae, and rivulets of freshwater as we explored the coastline.













We oohed and aahed over the treasures we discovered in the pools. We loved learning about Star fish, crabs, sea anemones, limpets, mussels, rock fish, octopus, and sand fleas.





Matthew and Daniel both caught beensy baby crabs and played with them in their hands.



Everyone gently caressed the lacey tentacles of green sea anemones and squealed ( at least I squealed, maybe I was the only one) at the sensation of suction. We found baby starfish, shellfish of various sorts, and some odd creatures that I couldn't identify but they reminded me of sea cucumbers. Brian was a great tour guide, pointing out different creatures.


We all had a delightful time and look forward to repeating the adventure in the morning at the next low tide.

We pitched our tents before lunch, picnicked together, then played the day away. We lucked out and secured a campsite within twenty feet of the park playground, so we have played there for hours. The boys LOVED using Brian's knife to carve pictures and names into walking sticks.





We played leap frog and duck duck goose in the meadow, explored the shady forest floor under the huge trees, hunted together for firewood, explored old world war two bunkers, and enjoyed roasting marshmallows after the sunset.




The air has been full of children's giggles and shouts of joyful play. It has been such a soul nourishing day.

Oh! Some campground neighbors also gifted us with pecan pie and carrot cake. It had been the wife's fiftieth birthday, and she wanted to share her birthday desserts with our families. What an unexpected and fun surprise it was! We wrote her a thank you card (luckily I had some handy thank thou cards in the van), and caroled a birthday song to her.

What fun times we've been blessed with today!

No comments: