Sand In My Britches

I've got sand everywhere!  I guess that's the price you pay for being at the beach so long, but well worth it when you get to fly with the best in the world.

My tire held up long enough to get me to the beach for a second day of flying.  I figured I was hedging my bets, since letting air out of your tires is a way to get UNSTUCK in the sand, should you drive where you shouldn't or not drive fast enough.  Don't turn too sharp either ... we saw two pickups get trapped yesterday.

It is no accident that John has his kite in the water.  With short lines, he dunks it in, spins it around while touching the water, then dances off on to the sand.  There was one little error when he walked through the middle of a big puddle, not realizing just how deep it was.  Good thing he brought a change of clothes!!

The weather was crazy the night before.  This storm lasted from 4:30 pm until 9:30 the next morning.     I was hoping it would quit in time to fly .... and miraculously it did.  It was a perfect day with great wind.

When I arrived, John was live on Facebook.  He attached his phone to a tiny tripod and was flying for his Facebook friends ... that is until a big surge of water took the sand out from under the tripod.  Glug glug glug .........  Sadly, I thought I had the video button on here.

This is only the second time I've ever driven on the beach.  That $200 bill to get pulled out if you get stuck isn't fun at all.  $500 if it's a motorhome ... which has happened several times.  It's nice to have your vehicle close, but that also means every single nook and cranny gets full of sand, not to mention your clothes and hair.  

I flew much better yesterday.  Rather than beating myself up for not doing the moves perfectly, I figured at least I now know HOW to do them ... it will just be a matter of practicing over and over.  It's like sticking someone on a horse and saying go.  Even though you tell them which moves to make, it takes practice to get the horse going in the right direction every time.

It wasn't any help at all that the seagulls kept banging into my lines while flying.  Someone dumped a ton of tuna carcasses right on the beach.  Stinky poo!!  I suppose they figured the seagulls would eat it up, which they did to some extent, but all the bones and fish heads are a little too tough.  I didn't get a closeup, for obvious reasons.  No use making you lose your breakfast!

The tide is out in the picture of my Jeep, but it came in rather quickly.  I turned around and pointed the other direction for a fast getaway.  The sand was very deep at the end of the approach, so I was REALLY thrilled when I made the corner and got back on solid gravel.  It's kind of like driving in mashed potatoes!!

It was a great day to fly kites ... the beach was pretty much deserted.  When I returned to the RV park, it was a ghost town ... just my style!!  Today I'm hitting the Tire Shop again to get that leak fixed before getting in a couple more hours on the lines.  Sadly my time here in Long Beach has come to an end and I'm headed South.

I found this old picture to show you.  For those who have been here and seen the world's largest (or at least it used to be) frying pan .... here it is in action.  The world's largest clam fritt.  Look at the crowd ... the men all dressed up in suits, ties and hats!!

It's raining again this morning .... seems winter decided to come in early.  It's going to be a lazy day with the puppies if it doesn't stop, which suits Cooper and Jesse just fine.  Now if I can just get all the sand out of the rig (and my kites) for the trip back down the Oregon Coastline.