Sonya's Blog - Day 191 - The Beaches
Sonya’s Blog - Day 191 - December 30th - The Beaches
Today was a beach day because it was going to be 28 or 29 today, so a perfect day for the beach. Blake needed to run to the hardware store and we decided to walk there. It was about 5 KM return and we could take the beach almost the whole way. Blake and I set off just as Isaac was getting out of bed. We left him a list of things to accomplish while we were gone, grabbed Kizmet and took off.
The beach was quite foggy this morning, but you could already feel that it was going to be hot, it was already over 20. We realized, once we were on the beach, that neither of us had our phones. We were pretty sure the kids would be alright until we got back. The other problem was that we didn’t have the map with us (as it is on the phone) and we were not sure where F street was. This is where we would need to exit in order to get to the hardware store. We knew it was about 2.5 KM’s, so we hoped we would guess right. The walk on the beach was lovely, lots of people out enjoying it with us. Kizmet met lots of friends and tried to chase all the birds. After awhile, I felt that we had walked long enough and we looked for an exit from the beach (there are sand dunes, so you have to exit where there are pathways). We saw one a little ways up and headed towards it. When we got to the path a guy was coming onto the beach with his surf board and we asked him what street this path led to. It was F street, how lucky was that!
We were smokin' hot by this time, but luckily there was a small coffee shop on the corner. We had a water bottle for Kizmet, so I gave her some water while Bake went in and ordered us some cool drinks. With our tasty drinks in hand, we continued on our way. We had to walk a few blocks to Ace Hardware, but that was okay. It was a really pretty street and nice and shaded, which was nice. Blake got his stuff from the store and then we hoofed it back to the RV. It took us quite awhile and it was well past 11 by the time we got back. We all had big drinks of water and then Kizmet had a nap. That is what Blake and I would have liked to do, but we had work to do. We wanted to flush out our tanks before we headed to the beach, so we had to get busy with that. We also needed to pack lunch and snacks for the beach and get the chairs in the truck. Isaac had done almost everything on his list, except for making his lunch. He got busy on that and we got busy with our chores. Everything got done and we were ready to go to the beach by 12:30. I had looked on the map and there was a public parking lot a few KM’s down the road. We decided to try that location today, to see if that worked better.
We found the parking lot and lucked out by getting a parking spot:) The parking lot was almost full so we felt pretty good about getting a spot. We grabbed our stuff and headed to the beach. Right beside the pathway there was a Gopher Tortoise walking around. I actually didn’t see it at first, but Kizmet jumped back because it startled her and I looked down to see what was up. It was munching away on the grass and just hanging out. It was right beside the parking lot, not the safest, and after we had our look see and lady grabbed him and put him back in the dunes. He was not very big. They live in the sand dunes and make burrows there. Their population is in steep decline and there are lots of signs around showing how we can help keep them safe. They are a keystone species, because of the burrows they dig. These burrows are also used by many other species (up to 350 different kinds). Their burrows can by up to 10 feet deep and 40 feet long, pretty impressive. He was pretty cute and it was funny that Kizmet was scared of him.
The beach was very busy, but not packed. We found a nice spot and set up all our stuff. Kizmet was pretty hot, so I took her for a walk down by the water. We walked down to an area where there were no people and I found an oyster shell and threw it in the water for her to chase a few time. When I looked up I saw the Sheriff driving down the beach and quickly put her back on leash - oops. He didn’t say anything to me, but she is supposed to be on leash. I saw a dead jellyfish, it was clear on top and bright blue on the bottom. I went back to see if Isaac wanted to check it out and everyone came with me. It was pretty cool, here is the picture:
Blake and Isaac stopped to play football where there weren’t as many people and Natasha and I kept walking. On our way back, I wasn’t paying enough attention to Kizmet because there were birds out over the water and they kept diving in for their catch. It was fun to watch. Well, there were groups of Sandpipers on the beach and Kizmet lunged for them, pulled the leash out of my hand and had a great old chase down the beach. Natasha and I took off after her, but until she was done chasing, we were never going to catch her. What a brat, but she was pretty proud of herself.
After that little adventure, Blake and the kids went boogie boarding and I stayed back with Kizmet and read my book. They had a great time out there, but they broke both the boogie boards. They were a couple of years old and they always break sooner or later. Isaac then built a sand village, while the rest of us relaxed and read. It started to get a bit chilly at 4 PM as the sun dipped below the sand dunes. We decided to pack up and head back.
I made supper while Blake and the kids had their showers and got out of their wet clothes. After supper, Blake and I decided to head to the grocery store to get more supplies to get us through the rest of the week. The kids stayed back and did the dishes, which was a fair trade off. When we got back, Blake and the kids watched The Mask of Zorro and I went and had my shower to get all the sand off of me.
New Years Eve tomorrow. We think we are going to head back into St. Augustine tomorrow for more exploring. They have a family friendly beach party tomorrow night from 5 till 10 at St. Augustine Beach. There will be live bands, food trucks, kids entertainment and fireworks. We will head over and check it out. Our campground, thankfully, prohibits fireworks. Hopefully there will be none going off too close to our campsite, scaring the crap out of Kizmet.
Sonya