Water and Whales

Sunday, February 24, 2013

We awoke at 3:15 am and looked out the window. The moon was over the Pacific and illuminating it, a long glistening ribbon reaching from the horizon to the shore! We went back to sleep and awoke again to a clear, windless morning. After having breakfast and stowing the gear, we decided that we would go exploring and probably come back in the afternoon and see if we could get a site. We saw Doug the camphost as we were leaving and said that we were going to Sand Dollar Beach and would probably be back. He said that if we thought we wanted to come back, that the two best sites had just opened up and we should sign up for one before we go. He said otherwise he expected that they would be gone in the next few minutes. We drove to the first one, site 8, took one look at it and filled out the sign in form. It had a view down the coast the opposite direction from last night's site. There was a large grassy lawn stretching to the edge of the bluff and we could sit on our own little stretch of real estate and gaze at the ocean.

We dropped off the form and headed south down the coast a short way to the next forest service campground, the one we were headed to yesterday when we impulsively turned into Kirk Creek. It was a very nice campground with grass and large trees, but it wasn't on the ocean. We pulled up to a water spigot and filled up our tank and a five gallon jug. Then we drove across the highway to Sand Dollar Beach. The first path took us down to an overlook and then down more stairs to a cove with a beach. The tide was up so we were unable to get to the sand. We tried to walk along the base of the bluff to the larger sandy beach, but decided we didn't want to chance soaking our boots, and more. So back up a large flight of wooden stairs we went. At the top we took another trail that took us to another overlook of the large sandy beach, but no beach access. We could see someone fishing down there, but didn't see an established path. We were joined by a surfer who told us about an undeveloped path down the bluff, so we found it and ambled down the steep narrow path to the beach. A few other people found their way down, but it was uncrowded and we spent some time walking in the sand and inspecting the rocks at the base of the cliff. We found several pieces of jade. Jade beach was just around the cliff in the next cove. The waves were calming, the wind died down, the sun was glorious and not a cloud was in the sky. We took off our jackets and soaked it all up!

Climbing back up, we discussed lunch. Normally we would have eaten in the RV, but we had the best campsite on the coast waiting for us, so we got back in the RV. First we drove a bit farther south to a small settlement, named Gorda, to see if we could get cellphone signals. Not a chance. We would spend yet another day and night off the grid. Back at the campground, we spread our lunch on the picnic table with the amazing view. After lunch we took our camp chairs and set them up on our lawn overlooking the sea. Greg read, I sketched and in between time we took the binoculars and looked for whales. The Grey whales and their babies are migrating up from the Sea of Cortez in Mexico, where the babies were born. We could see their spouts and an occasional whale back in the water. Usually their were two spouts next to each other as the mother and baby surfaced together. Late in the afternoon we saw a school of dolphins. Greg took a walk up the mountain behind us while I enjoyed the view. We sat together on our lawn as the sun set and hoped for a green flash. We didn't see one, but it was fun to be able to see the huge glowing orb of sun quickly slide into the sea leaving a citrusy glow along the horizon. The temperature dropped quickly and we went inside to fix our dinner.

The full moon is up as I write this, casting shadows across the campground. I can hear the crashing of the surf below us. We hate to leave tomorrow, but we feel that we need to check our cellphone messages and e-mails. We will need more water, and we are out of lamp oil. We still have plenty of food, so we are better off than when we were off the grid at Big Bend National Park in Texas. Plus, I want to post about all our adventures!