Glass Beach, Fort Bragg, CA

 In the early 20th century, Fort Bragg residents threw their household garbage over the cliffs above what is now Glass Beach. They discarded glass, appliances, and even cars. The land was owned at that time by the Union Lumber Company, and locals referred to it as "The Dumps." Sometimes fires were lit to reduce the size of the trash pile.
In 1967, the North Coast Water Quality Board and city leaders closed the area. Various cleanup programs were undertaken through the years to correct the damage.
Over the next several decades the pounding waves cleansed the beach, wearing down the discarded glass into the small, smooth, colored trinkets that cover the beach today. (info taken from here)

 Fort Bragg (30 miles on windy, drop off cliffs - enough to make even me sick) was on our way out of Irish Beach and our group had made at least 5 trips to there for various reasons - it was the closest store of ANY kind, the pharmacy and now for Glass Beach. I was anxious to just GO, but we stopped for one last hoorah before heading North to Portland, OR

yes I have a death grip on Abbey because 5 ft back and it was bye, bye baby! She got too close for my comfort and was unstable on the rocks.

 Abbey had to use the bathroom and the only bathroom was a port-o-potty at the entrance - not close by. Thankfully when we got back there, the potty was being cleaned. YEA, we didn't have to use it!! Our van was right there and a Denny's down the street, we hopped in and went to Denny's for a potty break. When we came back everyone was down there checking out the view and heading back to us. Each one taking a different path to the same destination..........(it's a deep thought, just give it a minute) :)

 It appears as if they just have to walk up the hill, but it goes WAY down, then they get to climb back up the path to us. Notice my wandering son......

A seal - right in the middle of the picture and one slightly to the right in between all the rock formations. My camera was acting up and wouldn't work very well. something about sand in the lens....causes problems.

 another seal - looks like a dead fish.....but it's alive and it's a seal. :)

 posing with grandpa - one last time.

 Are the berries poisonous?? I don't know, you try.
Me: I saw a lady eat one just a second ago and she's not dead yet. :)

(I thought this was a good father/son/grandson moment)

 Ammo loves his Da-da!!

 So long California!!

Trouble....

I got in 'trouble' for the last post. (maybe this will inspire Jeff to write about his own experiences - haha!) Jeff DID actually dig part of the sand-pit, castle, whatever you want to call it. He claims to have a scar from a blister that was incurred while digging. 

Pictures only tell part of the story I guess. :) And you may have noticed only 3 of the 4 kids were in pictures. The mother-in-law offered to stay at the cabin with Ammo so he didn't have to be outside in the wind - darn ear infections.

That's all. :)

THE Sand-pit?

The Sand-castle. This is serious business. These guys do not mess around. :) You see that is not your run of the mill shovel. Nathan brought it from home - 3 of them.

First you gotta plan - I guess the plan involved seeing if they could build something to withstand the waves....ummmm, good luck with that.

This is more my speed of digging in the sand - a pink bucket and shovel.

Trying to give myself a pedicure with the sand by burying my feet and trying to stay warm.

Luke helping on the front lines of the castle and watching the waves very closely.

Abbey was content to stay as far away from the water as possible.

 The Sand-castle was starting to look more and more like a Sand-pit.

 Anna and Lea digging with plastic shovels. 

 At one point, the kids had to get out of the middle. A wave came crashing through and was a little too high when it filled the hole. Can you see the little red-heads just barely above the walls??

Crushing the clusters of sand with his BARE HANDS! So strong! :)

Seriously!?  I thought she'd grown out of eating sand......at least this sand gets washed every day. The playground sand is just plain disgusting.

 Every time I looked up at the progress, Steven was the only one digging. Jeff and Nathan were admiring their work.

 Again, Steven slaving away and Jeff just watching the tide come in. :)

there was some Ninja fights with the waves

hiiiiiiii - ya!
Lucas digging in and trying to get warm from that freezing cold water.

 Abbey relaxing on her 'sand-pillow' she built

 An Ocean-away-inator (courtesy of Dr. Lukenshmirtz)

 AGAIN! Just standing around. :) oops, got caught taking a picture.

 searching for buried treasure (sand toys)

 ALL DONE!

 you can't see Jeff in the next picture - his hair color matches the sand and he's sitting farther down than the above picture.

 It's a bit cold!

 not loving the cold water.

 seriously, it's really cold!

 Fine. One more picture, but hurry!

 It was cold out of the water too. The girls wanted to sit on the edge, not in the water. Jeff and Uncle Steven were nice enough to build seats for them, then bury them in the sand to keep warm.
They were less than thrilled when we had to rinse off the sand in the ocean.......did I mention it was COLD!? But no way was I taking back part of the beach with us in the car.

 Happy digging!

Drive-thru tree

The only thing I remember from my last/only trip to the Redwoods was driving in our huge brown and tan van (not even sure where we were going - probably LA) and I asked my dad if we could drive through one of the trees. I think it was one of those moments for him - a clever thing to think, but not really true by your funny kid. I have those moments a lot for my kids. :) But when we got there, there it was! A tree you can drive through. Our van however was too big, so we got out and stood under it for pictures. I couldn't find any of those pictures - must be at my parents house. But I still remember that and I wanted my kids to see it to, even if I couldn't be there. Lea promised to remind Jeff to do that. Well I remember that and A LOT of really, REALLY BIG trees. Pretty sure they were still there and I didn't need to see them again.

And here it is!!! The Drive-Thru tree. Okay so it has a real name - it's called the Chandelier Tree. 

It's $5 per car and Jeff's parents took their own car. So there was some discussion about whether or not they were going to go with Jeff, Steven, Lea, Lucas and Abbey. And because they're all cheap as they come, they weren't about to pay $5!!! just to see a tree you could drive through.......finally convinced, they moved carseats around and all fit in our van to go see the tree.

 The van would ONLY  fit if the mirrors were folded in. This was part of the problem with my first trip there - didn't have foldable mirrors back then.

  Had to climb out the windows in order to leave the car parked there for a photo-op. I would have like a picture of Jeff's 'Duke's of Hazzard' exit from the van. :)

Good-bye Redwood Forest and good-bye Chandlier Tree! Thanks for the trip down memory lane and new memories for my family.

Walk tall

As much as there were times at Girls Camp that I didn't enjoy - caterpillars EVERYWHERE, bickering, less than desirable food because we got to cook it :). I always remember those spiritual moments where I knew, I know, this to be true. I made new friends and strengthened friendships already there. This song reminds me of those times and is something we all need to be reminded of.We are each precious, even on days where we feel less than precious. The Lord loves us and doesn't leave us alone.