Beach Walking

Everyone except Sadie got out for a walk yesterday. Smitty whined around all morning until we decided to try taking him out. Neither of them have spent a lot of time on the catio. They seem a little freaked by the ocean, but mostly, too many dogs walking by...even if they are clear down by the water. He held still while we put on his harness, and then he got out for a short stroll.

After that, we did a little more work inside the RV, hanging some things on the walls and working with some of our pantry storage. These wire shelves were in the closet of the old RV. They're too tall to use in the new RV, but I put them in the pantry. That was fine except that things on top fell off when we went down the road. I'd purposely stored lightweight things like paper plates on top, just in case. While we were out shopping, I found these low-profile wire baskets. Mike used zip ties to attach them to the top, and they provide both a container and a lip so that things won't slide off.

Now please indulge me while I show you the inside of the pantry. I put tea bags and Clif bars in this one. There's another one below where I was able to put some napkins and small paper plates. They aren't quite wide enough to cover the entirety of the shelf, but the space behind is still useful for things like boxes of pasta and a roll of nonskid shelf liner. Nifty, huh? We're feeling pretty clever, I'll tell you what.

Okay...time for a walk on the beach. Here are all the ways you can die. Still want to come along?

We'll start small...uh, large. I can't resist taking pictures of the Twin Rocks. You can see a little better the natural bridge through the one on the left.

Turning directly around, you can see where we're parked. This row of the RV park is mostly leased to people with "park models," but there are two spaces available for RV's. You can see a motorhome on the extreme right.

Here are some things we saw on our walk.

I don't hold out a lot of hope for this tree.

Mr. Gull.

Mrs. Gull.

Angel wings.

There were a lot of blobs of jellies on the beach. This one is mostly intact. You can see its tentacles there on the right.

Half a sand dollar, worth approximately 50 cents. (Ha!)

Not a cat.

Also not a cat.

Okay, so having survived the many dangers of a walk on the beach, Mike took a nap, and I worked on my embroidery. I've finished all but the last hooping of it now. Since I whined about the tiny chain stitch, I should also tell you that I love doing the buttonhole stitch on the left and the fly stitch to its right. Also, I like making French knots. I know some folks have trouble with them, but I could always do them since the very first time I tried.

It's no accident that I saved the section with the dreaded bullion stitch for last. It's that yellowish section with the six dots, just below the word "great." Wish me luck.

While I worked on that, the kitties took turns out on the catio.

Later in the day, we cooked up our shellfish dinner of Linguine alle Vongole. It's such a simple and delicious recipe, and the flavor of the clams really shines through.

Add some Oysters Rockaway grilled by the Resident Engineer, and you have yourself a pretty tasty meal.

After dinner, we watched as the sun set.

Day is done.

Today we'll head for home. Sadie maintains her vigil as the bedroom Window Watcher.

Sometimes Smitty helps by showing her his best side.

It's getting close to time for packing up and heading out. I know the kitties will be happy to be home again.