Fun at the Beach

Whew! I'm finally back. We left Thursday to camp at  Pacific Beach over the Labor Day Weekend and arrived back homw safe and sound late Monday afternoon.

We unpacked the truck and trailer right away and everything was put away, and the mountain of laundry was started. Tuesday laundry was finished and put back in the trailer. Then I started the task of cleaning up the trailer from front to back so it's all ready to go for the next time before we put it back in storage. That sounds so sad "back in storage.".

I wish we could keep it here at the house but we just don't have the room. I also think we should name our sweet home away from home instead of just calling it "the trailer" because we always have such a fun time when we travel in it and it makes camping (if you can call it "camping") so comfortable. Any name ideas?

We had a great time with friends, the food was delicious, and the weather was glorious. Although it did start out with rain, as it poured on us pretty much the whole time we were driving there but by the time we arrived at the campground it had stopped and didn't rain again until sometime during Sunday night.

 

For some reason I always sleep so well when we camp at the beach. I don't know if it from the sound of the surf lulling me to sleep or all the exercise we get playing in the ocean and walking the beach.

 Nanook had fun playing fetch in the ocean with his dog friend, Lena. Whenever he swims you would swear he was a pup instead of a 12 year old dog. He loves the water so much. The waves don't even bother him anymore. When we first would bring him to the ocean it would take him a few seconds to jump in but now he runs right in without a second thought. Ha! Right now Nanook is under my feet as I sit here typing this at the desk because we are having some thunder. He IS a big chicken when it comes to loud noises and thunder is one of those. He will take on the ocean but he is inside before we even know the thunder is coming. :)

 That little black dot behind Nanook is Lena!

 Coming back out with his beloved tennis ball so it can be thrown again. My arm was sore from throwing the tennis ball all afternoon.

Let me tell you these two pups were tired and ready for bed early every night while camping.

 Saturday is the big Tug-of-War event between Moclips and Pacific Beach. Let me tell you they take this stuff seriously! The rope is marked with a red ribbon in the middle and is laid across the piece of wood you can see in the photo above then is measured equally from the middle on both sides and marked with white ribbons. So whichever side gets their white ribbon across the middle first is declared the winner. Each side  digs trenches to help keep their footing. Like I said they take this very serious.

 Here is the Moclips side. This year they had to have women and children help otherwise they wouldn't have had enough people.  

 Here is the Pacific Beach side. A bunch of young men on their side.

 Everything is in place and it's about to begin.

Pacific Beach looked strong at the beginning and were making progress then something happened and Moclips was beginning to to make progress. Then neither one was going anywhere, the crowd went wild each person cheering for their side. Then Moclips won! (I think they gained a couple of extra people during the pulling.) This was an upset for sure! I know the last two years we have been watching PB has won. I heard that Moclips continued celebrating their win way into the evening that night.

 After the Tug-of-War we went back to fly kites, play in the ocean and just sit and relax on the beach soaking it all in.

 That evening after a pot luck dinner with the whole group we sat around and watch a volleyball game and
the beautiful sunset.

It was a gorgeous one that night.

 Sunday is the Kelp Parade and this is our group waiting for it to begin.

 I'm not sure what the chickens were all about but there was a cool pirate ship that shots a cannon and scares everybody.

 My husband got a kick out of this float. Duck Dynasty is his favorite show so he loved the slight twist of the name. It's not a big parade but it's fun and they throw lots of candy for the kids and beads.
After the parade we walked down to the little town and wander among the shops and had ice cream before heading back to camp and having a late lunch.

 Here is the flower that we bought at the kite shop. I love how colorful it is

 It was late in the afternoon by the time we made it down to the beach.

 It was another glorious day and everyone was so relaxed and maybe just a little bit sad knowing this was the last time at the beach for this trip.

 The dogs were patiently waiting for someone to throw out the tennis balls.

Wayne, Nanook and I walked the beach all the way to town then walked up to our camp. Here is the last longing look we took of the ocean before heading back to camp for dinner and watching one more sunset which I failed to get a picture of. I just enjoyed it. 

I miss the ocean already.

Teresa