Monthly Archives: May 2010

Crabs, Pelicans, and Deer…Oh My!

Before heading out to lunch we stopped by the dumpsters to drop off our garbage. About 50 yards away we saw 3 of the 4 deer that hang out around the park.

AmSunSet Deer

Then we drove over to The One-Eyed Crab for lunch. This place is so good it’s the 3rd time we’ve eaten there in 3 days. My shrimp salad sandwich on ciabatta bread was fantastic. And of course the obligatory clam chowder.

After lunch we perused a couple of gift shops and then went back down to pier 21 to check out the pelicans again.

And I’ve never seen pelicans in a close swarm like this.

MorePelicans

Getting back home, Jan sat out with Mister. While he explored the area, I worked on my on-going tire problem.

MisterStaked

I installed the 2nd valve stem extension, put on the remote pressure sensor, and monitored the pressure for a while. Unlike the other day, this time I didn’t show any loss. After checking for a couple of hours I decided it was safe to top off the tire pressure, so I fired up the coach engine so I could air up the tire using the on-board air compressor.

Then about 5:30 we drove to Half Moon Bay restaurant for our last dinner with our friends Al and Adrienne. We leave tomorrow morning so this will be our last get-together for a while.

Tomorrow we head for Cle Elum, WA, about 195 miles away. Cle Elum is right down the road from Roslyn, WA, where Northern Exposure was filmed. We stayed here two years ago on our way to Alaska, and it’s a really nice area.

More tomorrow…

Pelicans and One-Eyed Crabs…

We picked up Al and Adrienne about 9 am and headed out for breakfast at The Fogcutter restaurant down near the beach.

After breakfast we walked across the street to check out the Gray’s Harbor Light Station, the tallest lighthouse in the state of Washington. Very picturesque.

Grays Harbor Lighthouse

Next we walked down to the end of the road to check out the ocean. Certainly a lot calmer than yesterday.

Ocean 1

Ocean 2 

Then it was on to the marina area to look for pelicans and sea lions. And boy did we find them.

But this picture is just the beginning.

Pelicans 1

 
When we got to the marina itself, specifically pier 21, they were everywhere.

Marina 1

The whole end of the pier had about 300 pelicans all lined up.

Pelicans 2

And some sea lions too.

SeaLions 1

And more pelicans.

Pelicans 3

It looked  like a pelican convention.

Pelicans 4

Pelicans 5

And more sea lions. They kind of sound like dogs barking.

SeaLions 2

 
These guys look like they’re doing some serious thinking.

Pelicans 6

And this old guy is just catching some rays.

SeaLionBig 1

I think he knew we were talking about him. Note the one eye open now.

SeaLionBig 2 

I think this one’s kind of old too. He was the last one to fly away when we came down on the pier.

Pelican 7

 
They had some really nice boats here, like this trimaran.

Trimaran

 
But this one looks like something you’d take a “3 hour tour” on.

3HrTour

Next we drove over to Grayland to check out the clam beach.  Here’s Al, Adrienne and Jan walking out to the waterline.

BeachWalk 1

The sandpipers were running around too.

SandPipers

The surf was still pretty rough, Note all the sand still stirred up in the waves.

BeachWalk 2

This is a razor clam which is what everyone goes clamming here for. They’re called razor clams for a reason. The edge of the shells are razor sharp and it’s very easy to cut your hand just picking one up. Don’t ask Jan how she knows.

RazorClam

 
We didn’t realize how far we had walked until we looked around for the truck.

BeachWalk 3

 
On the other side of the main road from the beach there are cranberry bogs everywhere.

CranberryBog

After getting back to the rig, about 2 pm we headed over to Aberdeen for the 3 pm showing of Robin Hood starring Russell Crowe. Although it changed the story up from the conventional telling, it was really good.

After getting back from the movie, we headed over to have dinner at The One-Eyed Crab again. And it was worth the 2nd trip. Just as good as last night.

We got home about 8:30 pm, just in time to watch the season finale of “Fringe”

More tomorrow…