A day in the life of two beachcombers

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 .....starts at low tide.  We rise early before the sun is over the horizon to drink fresh coffee and to partake in a hearty meal of oatmeal, fruit, and nuts.  We leave the condo shortly after 6 am, wade through the ankle deep creek, hike through the dunes, and walk down to the water's edge.  At low tide, the water is 200 feet or so further away than usual.  Fog is in the air and the temperature is 50 degrees.  We pause to take a photo of the nearby lighthouse.

As we walk down the beach we find several whole sand dollars.  We pick them up with the idea of giving them to our grandchildren.
As it is low tide we are able to reach tidepools and rocky areas that are normally under water.  And...wow....it is well worth getting up at the crack of dawn.  We have never seen so many sea stars  (formerly known as starfish) and anemones - hundreds of sea stars and thousands of anemones.



One tide pool has a sea of sea urchins.
We find many moon jellies of various sizes that have washed ashore.  The biggest one is about 10 to 12 inches in diameter.  Moon jellies are safe for humans to touch as they rarely sting and would cause no harm if they did.
Another type of jelly fish we see washed on shore is the sea nettle whose sting may cause a mildly painful rash lasting about 24 hours.
As the fog begins to fade and the sun rises we see clammers are busy looking for the highly desirable razor clams.
Here are some miscellaneous pictures as we comb the beach.

The early bird gets the fish and boy was he proud!





As we conclude our trek, we notice the fog has cleared over the lighthouse.  We never tire of its beauty!
We walk up the trail and stop for a morning snack of blackberries.  Blackberry bushes grow wild everywhere here in Oregon.  The weather here is so cool that they are finally ripening.  We each eat about a quart!  Donna remembers making blackberry jam when she attended Oregon State back in the 1970s.  (Don says the stone age - which makes him a cave man too!)

Our nine mile walk takes us to two beaches and has us back in town in time for lunch.  

We can't believe we've been here for almost three weeks.  There are 10 days left.  Stay tuned for one more post from Newport before leaving for Portland by way of Corvallis.

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