From the Forecastle to the Ocean - how long?

Ahhh- had an excellent restful night in the Forecastle after that marshmallow roast around the firepit last night.

Hey! Look! It's gorgeous outside! Maybe you should have a sit on the porch while you drink your coffee.

Mmmm... That's a pretty rose just outside the window. Does it smell as good as it looks?

Yes, it does! Now that you're outside, maybe a walk. Yeah - you can hear the ocean loud and clear - go  West, young wo/man!

But first go a little East, down the driveway. Dig those fluffy clouds! It's like they're just there to show off the blue of the sky. The Willapa hills in the distance look like an old ink painting.

It's a quiet street, is Ocean Beach Boulevard North, but look both ways!! Then turn right. 

Hey - fire lane! That was quick - just about three minutes away from that rose. Could go that way - it leads to the beach. But that arch - you want to see that arch, right? Arches are cool.

They keep ice cream here - many kinds of ice cream. Candy, too. Cold drinks. Scoopers - maybe stop on the way back. It's just four minutes from the hotel by foot.

The arch! Horses! The ocean's in view!

Neat! Made it to the arch in six minutes flat! Including picture-taking time. Not bad, not bad at all. Make a wish as you go under the sign. Will it come true? I dunno - worth a try.

Past the arch - on the road to the sand and surf!

Disclaimer - this walk was taken with an eight-year-old. Six minutes, with a kid in tow. If you're in a hurry, you can make it in four, I betcha.

From the Bridge, you go.....

On a day like today, you should be at the beach! 

 Drive across the Astoria-Megler Bridge!
Be careful!

This is a great time to be a passenger, because the views are really cool - to the left (West) there's the peninsula and the Pacific - to the right (East) there's Astoria, ships, and the Columbia.

On a clear day - you can see Mt St Helens.

At low tide, the sand bar in the middle of the span is a tempting thing - but do not stop!

Once across, you can see the mouth of the Columbia - look back at Astoria - very pretty on that hill! The Bridge from this angle reminds me of a roller coaster - it's not so scary when you're on it, though!

This tree is on the left after the tunnel as you head toward Chinook. In certain lights it looks almost like a Chinese dragon. Chinese dragons are fun to think about - not so fun to think about is the possibility of a speeding ticket - so watch your speed! Very soon after the dragon you must slow to 35 mph!

Just on the other side of the cute town of Chinook the marshy forests pick up again - we've got our leaves back, thanks to spring! In winter, when the trees are bare, the moss and lichens are visible - looking like furry green coats.  

 COWS! Well, I like them, anyway - when I'd passed by earlier, they were all lying down - lazy things. I think they're in a gang - they all wear these red earrings.

If you turn right onto the alternate route, you will get to this sign - then go left! 

After stopping, of course. 

The reason to take this route is because there is a cranberry field - beautiful red!

Ah - you have reached the stop sign! Go right!

Stop at Sid's IGA - groceries! Snacks!

You have reached our fair city! This is a planter - I caught it a little between flowers - Tangly Cottage keeps it tended and beautiful.

Did you stop for groceries? No? Yes? Either way, you can't go wrong stopping at Surfer Sands - delicious and creative sandwiches and salads!

Downtown Long Beach! 

This is the second, and last, stoplight. It's at Bolstad Blvd. Go through this - four blocks up you'll see Chen's on the right at fourth north - turn left, though!

LEFT! Turn left and stop at this stop sign! There we are, you can see us - turn right and----

OMG! You're almost here! 

Turn left into the driveway! Check in! Relax! You made it! Hooray!

March!

Here comes Spring - it's so good to see the flowers poke through. Though it's been a mild winter for the most part, we get a bit antsy at this time of year - sort of a fever left over from childhood, when we knew a break was coming and the weather was so in-betweeny that it seemed we could just *will* the warmer times to be here already.

Flower boxes coming to life - March 6.

In our wanderings we've seen the signs around town - cleaning taking place, a general tidying up and awakening. On the hotel grounds we have the showings of green leaves, the early birds - and bees, our fuzzy honey-producing friends.

The ubiquitous grape hyacinth, common but welcome.

Of course - there's always stuff to do - as we can see from the picture below - the process is ongoing. Soon we'll be painting and putting up the trellis for hops and sweet peas. The Crow's Nest (room above the lobby) will be getting a snoot full of light scent this summer if all goes well.

Roses are just putting out leaves - the trellis will be going in, the tree-that-ate-Cleveland will be tamed sometime soon.

One thing's for sure - these bright days are teasers. It's still sweater weather, but it's nice not to wear a coat over it all. Layer by layer we get closer to the busy summer season.

Plants to be - poppies, cerinthe, pinks, snapdragons, and a tomato.

January - Mid

It's been pretty sunny here for most of the winter so far - with the exception of a couple of days a week or so ago. Very mild and bright. There is the illusion of warmth, but you will want a sweater.

 Things are starting to come into flower again - just barely, but once it starts, it really takes off. So far, the rosemary's showing the color. It seems to be an early indicator in these parts.

This was tonight's sunset - it looks like a huge fiery fingerprint right over the ocean.

Late December Around Town

It's been unusually clear for a December this year - which means a walk around town to see the lights and sights. Here we have the bandstand (about half a block from Banana Books), which is, in warmer times, the site of many a concert. 

The sea monster - with wagging tail (caught here mid-wag) lives in a pocket park right next to Marsh's Museum. (Jake the Alligator Man is inside, being a warm-weather creature.)

Another pocket park has an orca, a giant razor clam, and a suitably-sized frying pan. 

It's a good place to walk around. Not pictured, because you really  have to see it yourself, is the amazing village set up in the back room of the Hungry Harbor, where they also make a very smooth espresso. 

Around town in December

Starting out  from downtown where I was visiting the wooden fisherman- walking along clean sidewalks to the Cottage Bakery on my way back to the hotel.

It is possible to be too close to something, maybe. I suppose an argument could be made, however, that if you have to be too close to anything, the Cottage Bakery's not such a bad thing.

A lot of the cranberry growers in the area are part of the Ocean Spray collective. The eyes of a couple of people on this mural on the side of the Dennis Company will follow you. Somehow it's not creepy, but reassuring. "Would you like some fresh cranberry sauce, ma'am? We can help."

Yes, and when I got home I was forced to share these florentines - what you should know about the Cottage Bakery is that the more subtle "grown up" pastries are kept on the bottom two shelves in the case by the spinning cakes. All of it about 7 minutes from the hotel.

Strolling down Bolstad - Almost December

I started out at almost noon, up Bolstad just a couple of blocks from the Arcadia. It's gorgeous out, as you can see - November 30 never looked so pretty.

This buoy is huge - and has a warning about the dangers of swimming - you will see this warning all over town. Really, Long beach is not a good swimming beach, but you can usually wade out pretty far, and we do surf here. It's also not as cold as one would think - due to the Columbia flowing out and North. But be careful - it is the ocean, after all.   

There are several of these neat little mosaics around town - I think there are about five or ten of them on the Bolstad approach. There are real black bears in the area. Mind your picnic baskets!

Bolstad runs through the Discovery Trail - there are several monuments and statues just yards off the street. It's funny how the seagrass rises up around you once you're on the trail - despite being paved, it's still a very peaceful and nifty place to explore. It's also a great bike path.

The dunes - a recent (last hundred years) addition to the Long Beach Peninsula. Accretion has added about 400 yards since the hotel was built - the grasses and (not pictured) young pine forests are teeming with tiny life.