CHRISTMAS AT THE SEA!

We took Mistaya for a fun Christmas Day on the beach.

I was curious to see if the Giant Kelp had washed back out to sea during our recent King Tide.

And it had.

But in place of the Giant Kelp we found a lot of the 6 foot variety.

It look as if it fought very hard not to go back out to sea as it had wrapped itself around any stick or log it could.  What a twisted mess!

Mistaya and I want to wish all of you a very Happy New Year and and that wish comes directly from my heart!

We ventured back to the sea

We recently ventured back to the sea because a very strong storm had blown through the day before and we thought we could find some treasures on the beach.

Well....we did!

What we found was a very large mass of Giant Sea Kelp that had washed in during the storm. Each of these Kelp has a large root that attaches it to rocks on the ocean floor. Apparently the tide and the storm was so strong it tore this mass of Kelp loose and when is reached this bay, the bay is so shallow that it rolled and rolled the mass of Kelp until it reached the shore.

The Kelp grows up to 40 feet in length and we had no doubt that these giants were easily that long.

Who knows what else is tangled up in this twisted mass of sea life.

Amazing sight to see!

I wonder how long it will take this Kelp to wash back out to sea.  It would need another strong storm I am sure.

There is always something of interest to find when we visit the sea.  My favorite place to be..and as you can see, Mistaya loves to be here too.  She did well this time without Maggie at her side. I think she is spending less time looking for Maggie which is making it easier on all of us too.

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OUR GRAYLAND VISIT

We did enjoy our visit to this campground just South of us but...

We were camped just about 75 feet from the sand with our own private trail to the the sand. But...

Once we made it to the sand the water was more than 600 feet away!

Of course the pups loved running in the sand but it seemed to take forever to get to the water.

But once we made it to the water the walk along the beach was beautiful.

Those tiny dots are JW, Mistaya and Maggie making their way to the water!

What a fun day we had.

On Mothers day M.O.M. and M.O.D. took us over to the harbor to see some really pretty ships.

This first ship is named the 'Hawaiian Chieftain'.

Then there is M.O.M.'s favorite...

This is the 'Lady Washington' and she is one of the Tall Ships seen in the great "Pirates Of The Caribbean" movie series.

She is a beautiful ship...especially up close with all the vintage details on her.

But actually, M.O.M. thinks it's pretty cool because Johnny Depp stars in all those movies.  Oops...I mean 'Captain Jack'....sorry M.O.M.!!

These beautiful Tall Ships call our harbor their home port. And every time they return to port there are several cannons that shoot off a salutes to the 2 ships....a very loud display indeed!

The ships attend many events along the coast and also in Pudget Sound near Seattle, through out the boating season.

And when they are moored in our harbor they give river tours to our visitors.

If you look closely you can see several guest passengers on the ships enjoying a beautiful ride up the river and back to the docks.

It seems we find new adventures weekly here in our new little town.  We thought the sea was the best but this little town is full of surprises!

A TYPICAL WALK WITH THE DOGS

When we take the dogs to the park or the beach this is usually the scene we see just after we have released the dogs from their leashes.

They are always so excited to start running as fast as they can in which ever direction we direct them.

And of course it is always little Maggie that is bringing up the rear.

But she does not give up and can often catch up to Mistaya while Mistaya is busy sticking her nose into some strange smell some where.

Maggie is the first one to slow down and wonder where we are.

And on the return trip she does an amazing job of keeping up with speedy Mistaya.

Often by the time the have run themselves out they have been seen walking like to young ladies back to us.

No, that doesn't happen often but once in awhile we spend enough time beach combing that they have lot's of time to explore the entire area of the bay area.  And of course this only happens when we are lucky enough to be the only people and dogs in the area.

Rain or shine we all have a wonderful time.

Even the dogs do not want to head back to our car on sunny days like this one.

But we know we have a long wonderful summer ahead of us with plenty of chances to visit this place again and find even more interesting treasures and time for miles and miles of excited dog running.

WE ARE BACK AT THE BEACH!

We went to go to the beach for M.O.M.'s birthday.

We noticed that there were a lot of shells on the sand from a storm during the night.

So while M.O.M. and M.O.D. were busy hunting for treasure the dogs took off exploring everywhere.

Of course Mistaya always runs so fast that little Maggie has a hard time keeping up with her.

But once in awhile Maggie manages to catch up with Mistaya and some times the results are not what Maggie expects!

Mistaya seems to enjoy a "drive by" attack to little Maggie.  She often spins her little body,growls like a mad dog then runs off at top speed.

And usually by the time Maggie recovers Mistaya is no where to be seen!

Maggie doesn't give up and looks every where for her.

And in no time at all she is hot on Mistaya's trail again.

This behavior goes on and on until Mistaya thinks she has covered enough ground at top speed and she returns to the water near us and our beach combing.

Because of Maggie's prior experience with the large waves she does stay away from the water...which we encourage her to do.

I can not go through another close call of little Maggie being swept out to sea.

The waves began to get very large after we had been here for a few hours and we decided not to take a chance so we headed back to the car for our return trip back home.

And as usual little Maggie is fast asleep in her dog bed about 2 minutes out of the parking lot.

And Mistaya is not far behind into her deep sleep.

What a wonderful Birthday it was with my wonderful husband and 2 delightful dogs to share the day with.

Life is so good

GUESS WHO GOT HER WAY TODAY!

Yes, Little Maggie has learned all her tricks from Miss Mistaya!

And she works them very well.

Maggie knows how to work those pretty little eyes and that very expressive face of hers.

We took a drive to the ocean on Monday to hunt for shells and to let the dogs play.

It didn't take Maggie long to make us realize she wanted to be off the leash just like Mistaya was.  Since we were lucky enough to be the only ones on this sun filled beach we turned her loose.

She and Mistaya raced up and down the beach, over the driftwood logs, into the waves...at least Mistaya tried to get her to follow her.  But Maggie just isn't ready to face the water and waves just yet.

Occasionally, Maggie had to make a rest stop to catch her breath.  Mistaya's legs are a bit longer than little Maggie's but she tries so hard to keep up.

Several times Mistaya finally realized that she had left Maggie behind and would come back to us to find her.  And Maggie was wonderful about returning to us when she felt left behind.

Finally they both seemed to run out of steam and wandered back to us.

We packed up our shell treasures and headed back to the car to fresh water for the pups and a soda for us.

Little Maggie was so tired she couldn't even make it all the way into her bed before she was deep into her sleep.

And Mistaya found herself a sunny spot to make herself comfortable as we headed back home after another wonderful play day at the Sea.

We feel so fortunate to have 2 such amazing little animals live with us and bring so much happiness into our lives.

Rescued dogs are the best.

MAGGIE'S FIRST TRIP TO THE BIG POND

It was a tough day for Maggie's first adventure to the sea.  There were high winds there when we arrived and decided to brave the weather to see how she liked it.

I really think that with all the wind and new world for Maggie that she was a bit intimidated about the whole experience.

I did begin to think that we had not choose a very good day for her first day at the sea.

But she did run a bit with Mistaya in the sand but always came running back to us to make sure we were still all together.

But all seemed right with the world again after we returned home.

We will return to the sea again soon but not until we can find a day that the winds are calm.  That way Maggie can get a chance to really explore her new world and still be able to hear us when we call her and Mistaya, and the sand will not be blowing in our faces!

THIS IS MY CHRISTMAS GIFT TO YOU

From Gail and Mistaya...author unknown

This is one of the kindest things you may ever see..


It is not known who replied, but there is a beautiful soul working in the dead letter office of the US postal service.


Our 14 year old dog, Abbey, died last month. The day after she died, my 4 year old daughter Meredith was crying and talking about how much she missed Abbey.. She asked if we could write a letter to God so that when Abbey got to heaven, God would recognize her. I told her that I thought we could so she dictated these words:

Dear God,

Will you please take care of my dog? She died yesterday and is with you in heaven. I miss her very much. I am happy that you let me have her as my dog even though she got sick.

I hope you will play with her.. She likes to play with balls and to swim. I am sending a picture of her so when you see her You will know that she is my dog. I really miss her.

Love, Meredith


We put the letter in an envelope with a picture of Abbey and Meredith and addressed it to God/Heaven. We put our return address on it.. Then Meredith pasted several stamps on the front of the envelope because she said it would take lots of stamps to get the letter all the way to heaven. That afternoon she dropped it into the letter box at the post office. A few days later, she asked if God had gotten the letter yet. I told her that I thought He had.

Yesterday, there was a package wrapped in gold paper on our front porch addressed, 'To Meredith' in an unfamiliar hand.. Meredith opened it. Inside was a book by Mr. Rogers called, 'When a Pet Dies..' Taped to the inside front cover was the letter we had written to God in its opened envelope. On the opposite page was the picture of Abbey & Meredith and this note:

Dear Meredith,

Abbey arrived safely in heaven.

Having the picture was a big help. I recognized Abbey right away.

Abbey isn't sick anymore. Her spirit is here with me just like it stays in your heart. Abbey loved being your dog. Since we don't need our bodies in heaven, I don't have any pockets to keep your picture in, so I am sending it back to you in this little book for you to keep and have something to remember Abbey by..

Thank you for the beautiful letter and thank your mother for helping you write it and sending it to me. What a wonderful mother you have. I picked her especially for you. I send my blessings every day and remember that I love you very much. By the way, I'm easy to find, I am wherever there is love.

Love,

God

MY DAY AT THE BEACH

We went to the beach yesterday afternoon and I again had so much fun running all over the beach.  As we went farther down the beach I noticed a dog running along the edge of the water.

As I started to approach him he looked up and ran towards me.  M.O.M. called me to her side until she was sure it was safe for me to be near this dog.  She looked for the owner of this dog and noticed that there was a man about 100 feet away on the beach.

She was certain the man would call back his dog when he saw that he was bothering us but he didn't seem to care what the dog was doing.

The dog did approach us and seemed to be friendly so M.O.M. let me run with him for awhile.  We did have a lot of fun racing around but he had very big feet and he would reach out and strike me with them.  I managed to keep enough distance between us so his feet didn't make their target.

We played for awhile when M.O.M. finally said we needed to be on our way.  The dog didn't seem to be in any hurry to return to his owner and the owner wasn't the least bit concerned about the dog.

M.O.M. was a bit upset that this man didn't seem to care what his dog was doing so we were happy that the dog was a friendly one.  As we were trying to leave he even posed for a picture for us.

 

We were finally able to get away from my new friend as M.O.M. reminded me that we were here for a purpose.  Below is a photo of why we came to the beach at this time of day. 

This was M.O.M.'s first attempt at a sunset over the ocean.  She said not to worry that she will have plenty to chances to get a great photo.

Well, you know...any excuse to come to the beach is okay with me!! Let's keep trying for that perfect picture M.O.M.  And of course I must come with you...I will keep all the stray dogs out of picture for you!

WE'VE BEEN BUSY

M.O.M. and M.O.D. have been very busy working around the house this week.  I haven't seen the ocean in days!!!  Well, at least not this week yet. Darn.  But I have been promised that we will be going again real soon and to not worry...the sandy beach will still be there for me to run on. Yea, I know that but I want to run on it right now!!

NO FOREST BUT PLENTY OF TREES

I just want you all to know that I have found where I can still run and jump over fallen trees.  Well, I guess they have really floated ashore and I have no idea where they really came from but they are everywhere on some of my favorite beaches. And I can tell you they are sure fun to jump over and to run on!

There are some trees that are so big around that I can not jump over them or to run along them.  M.O.M. said she will get some pictures of these giants to show you just how big they really are!

Of course, I feel like I am in the best place in the world as we get to the beach at least a couple of times during each week..Gosh, I really like my new home!

MY LATEST ADVENTURE TO THE SEA

M.O.M. and M.O.D. have been taking me to the sea as often as possible.  I kind of thought it was because they knew how much I enjoyed running on the beach but I am beginning to suspect that we go often because they too, love it so much!

 I just hope we keep going a lot!

As you can see, I like to run a lot on the awesome sand.

M.O.M. snapped this picture while I was playing in the surf.  We really don't know what caused the pretty light that shows around me.

We have been on a few very fun adventures and I will try to post about them soon.  It is so good to be back to blogging again.  We have missed you all!!!

THIS PUPPY HIT THE JACKPOT!

M.O.M. and I went for a walk to explore our new neighborhood and we are both so excite about what we found.

The first picture is the sight we found when we reached the end of our new street.  It is just a block from our house.  This is a paved pathway the looks over Grays Harbor to the North side of Aberdeen.

But the best thing about it is that there is a paved pathway the follows the harbor for a very long way.

M.O.M. and I walked and walked and wondered just where this trail went.

We walked along this brown metal wall that is called a Dike that keeps the Harbor water out of  our front yard. (Yikes!)

The path kept going farther than we could see.  M.O.M. said that we needed to head back because M.O.D. would be wondering where we ran off to.

So as we continue our exploration of this awesome trail, we will post pictures of what we discover.  I am excited about this as M.O.M. let's me off my leash so I can run and explore everywhere!  It is not quite the beach at the ocean but it sure is fun!

ABERDEEN TRIP

Because we had to rewire almost all of the house we had no power until the work is completed and the electrical inspector comes and gives us the okay to turn on the power.

So we are off to the motel for a few days until the work is done.  Of course it didn't take Mistaya and her M.O.D. very long to find the TV and get comfortable.

Of course after I snapped the first photo Mistaya gave me the look of... "Don't disturb us!!..We are relaxing after our hard day of work!!!"

Yeah, she can be real funny!

THE DOG DAYS OF SUMMER

Our temperatures are continuing to be very warm here in Montana.  The above photo was published by our Humane Society from Wenatchee, Washington and I felt that if a picture is worth a 1,000 words then this one says it all!!

We feel very lucky that our temps cool off so well at night here.  Two mornings in a row now the temp at 7 am has been right at 40.  It is wonderful to open all the doors and windows in an attempt to capture some of the cool air to start the day refreshed after days of the high 90's.

Mistaya has returned to her favorite resting spot under the very large Lilac bush and still enjoys playing in the water from the garden hose.  What a great way to cool off!

We are all still worn out from our Aberdeen trip but are beginning to feel are energy levels rising again.  Mistaya didn't do much running on our short walk today.  I am afraid she is as out of shape as I am.  We are both anxious to get our toes back in the Pacific Ocean!

I promise to try to get a photo or two of Mistaya posted tomorrow.