I like big beaches....

 try riding your bike on the beach, and take a picture of that....it ain't easy! I did it and I didn't crash, but I came ---- that close to falling over. Owww!
I have to go to the edge of the dirt, where the saltwater meets the edge, and gaze. I think about things, big thinking thoughts. I think how small I am.
I think about what is swimming out there. I think about a sailing ship setting out in 1600something and sailing across the wide wide ocean. I read a lot of Joseph Conrad. And I feel small.

my vintage Schwinn gazes out ....and she feels small.

The 3rd day we drove over that big huge ass Astoria bridge. It is very high, and I was getting scared. I drive over the Narrows bridge all the time...but it feels different.

This is me, not feeling so calm, but looking like I am.
I'm a pretty good actress.

Looking up into the beams of the bridge....

Finally we drove to the beach near Fort Stevens. It was windy and very warm. It was windy. It always is. The wind flies down from Alaska and over from Japan.
It is windy wind.
The sand moves all the time. It swallows anything it wants to swallow. There used to be an asphalt road here. Now, not so much. I don't think the State of Oregon spends much time sweeping and moving the sand back on to the beach where it belongs. ;-)

It makes waves in the sand.....everchanging patterns.....
each wave of sand is about 3" - 6" wide....

we walked out to the shipwreck....

It looks tiny from the top of the parking lot, but it's the height of  a two story building at the front of the bow. When it was a ship...you would stand on the top deck and gaze out to America, and wonder what in the flippin' hell you were doing out in the middle of the ocean.

The Peter Iredale, from Liverpool England, was a four-masted steel barque  sailing vessel that ran ashore on the Clatsop Spit at Fort Stevens on October 25, 1906, on the coast of Oregon en route to Portland while trying to find its way through the mouth of the Columbia River.  It was abandoned after it couldn't be pulled back out to the sea. The Captain was found to be innocent of any wrongdoing after an official inquiry. 

This is a picture of a 4 masted barque, the Kaiwo Maru (King of the Sea), from Japan.





I was amazed at the blowing sand and I took a tiny movie of the wind and the sand blowing....blowing....blowing....

Vintage bikes at the beach and baked oysters

summer isn't summer without water....A deep blue lake, a sweet creek strewn with boulders, a waterfall and tropical pool, a day at the seashore...or even a crazy day with kids at the local Water Park!
We took our bikes, the vintage Schwinns, to the Pacific ocean. Where the sand is packed it's pretty easy to ride, even with skinny street tires.

On Washington's beaches you can drive your car ! I think that is stupid-weird.


Here's a fantastic site, Sheldon Brown dot com, where you can learn all you need to know about vintage bikes.  Sheldon Brown was a joy and a delight, and he was an early proponent of fixed-gear, single-speed bicycles for ordinary street use.

since we were at the saltwater we bought oysters and baked them with wine, garlic, and butter, at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Perfection. They taste like the ocean....the result...is just below...

my bike. I love her !
When I stand at the edge of the continent...where the saltwater meets the dry earth, I am moved by deep emotion. I hear ancient sounds just as they have been heard since the beginning of time. I never tire of the ocean. I never get jaded. I always feel small.

 Back home in the Winnebago kitchen......$5.00 Turning Leaf Napa Valley wine.....and ....
right now, I'm also baking some corn muffins....I've been using Jiffy mixes for um, decades. Oh sure, there is no problem to mix up with a simple recipe, but I'm on vacation....

 ********* Fresh oysters, baked to perfection. ***********

Here's another favorite Baked Oysters recipe we love too, when we have a bit more energy. After riding bikes around town and on the sand, I took a nap....that, a nap, is a very rare occurrence for me.
I hope you're enjoying your summer! I'm out there soaking up the sunshine, and feeling very blessed.
Do you have special plans for the hot weather? Are there activities you save for summer?

BAKED OYSTERS

Allow 9 oysters per person. Butter ramekins, sprinkle with Italian seasoned bread crumbs. Dip oysters in olive oil (pure) into which garlic has been pressed. Over 1st layer (5 oysters) sprinkle bread crumbs. Repeat process.Melt 1 stick of butter for every 4 servings. Add 1 tablespoon Lea & Perrin, juice of 1 lemon. Pour evenly over each dish. Top with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve with spaghetti and garlic/butter sauce.

If you want to know more about keeping our oceans clean....I have a lot of links below the pretty picture of the Pacific Ocean....

"The Environmental Defense Fund’s mission is to preserve the natural systems on which all life depends.

Guided by science and economics, we find practical and lasting solutions to the most serious environmental problems.

What distinguishes Environmental Defense Fund is the combination of what we protect and how we protect it.
We work to solve the most critical environmental problems facing the planet. This has drawn us to areas that span the biosphere: climate, oceans, ecosystems and health."


All the Rich Republican Romney money in the world can never replace or out-do the simple pleasures of fresh food. NO Thanks to Republicans, do we have laws that attempt to keep our shores clean, keep our oceans clean...and protect our seafood industry all along the American coastlines. 
The EPA, the Environmental Defense Fund....all fight for clean water and clean oceans against Big Oil, The Koch Bros, and all multinational corporations that want to rape the world for short term profit. 


 If it were all left up to them, they'd allow all pollutants to flow into the waters...because that would increase their profits. Republicans only think of the short term and never...about the children of the future. Leaving a planet that is clean and healthy is the most loving gift. Romney's children will be left money. Just money. That is so sad.

It was a sunny day....and a thing of beauty....

it's a fairy tale...living here...
and here's the castle...On a bike ride thru the kingdom...and the queendom......
Stadium High...

what a great idea ! a view for when the action on the field gets boring...and if we're talking sports...and I am...it's always boring.
 Wow...look at the blue water...the line of low hills...the ships on the bay....
hey look...the lily of the valley is in bloom.....
and so is the ...version by Queen...

a pretty glade of English bluebells (Endymion non-scriptus ).....
 Endymion was a handsome shepherd boy of Asia Minor, the mortal lover of the moon goddess  Selene. Each night he was kissed to sleep by her.

and a poem by Keats.....

Endymion

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:

Its loveliness increases; it will never

Pass into nothingness; but still will keep

A bower quiet for us, and a sleep

Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

and on the way home, biking down 6th Ave.... the dude abides...and he's enjoying his coffee.....

my bikes strapped on the car ...which seems odd. Just ride there, OK !