Showing posts with label waves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label waves. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 13, 2015

The Joy & Breathtaking Beauty of the Beach - Pixel's Getaway in the Sand & Sun

Our family loves going to the beach once a year for a fun in the sun getaway. I love the feel of the ocean breeze, the coastal sunshine, the sand under my paws, and the smells that only the beautiful sea can bring. These are some of my special memories...
Each morning started with an amazing sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean. This is exactly what it looked like...no alterations at all. It was incredible!


We'd go walking and exploring on the sand and find all kinds of shells, living creatures and interesting things on the beach. The living things, like starfish, living sand dollars and sea anemones we'd throw back into the water. Jellyfish we avoided like, well, jellyfish.
We went out exploring each day. It was such fun! I loved sniffing the shells, and occasionally would find one and pick it up if I liked it enough. Mommy made sure I didn't walk too much of course, Dr. Mask's orders, but I got to go out for little excursions with her.


Mommy and I found such pretty things. Beautiful shells, a lovely piece of driftwood, coral, a couple of conch shells, some cochina, and in an amazing moment when Mommy went to wash a simple shell in the ocean as the tide was going out, the sand suddenly separated away from a perfectly whole sand dollar that had long since dried out. There were even beautiful rocks at the beach!
One of the shells that actually made Mommy laugh was a shell that had her initials carved in them. We walked up on a pile of shells that had washed up during high tide, and there was her shell. "J/L" was carved in it from some little sea creature that was trying to get in or out of that shell.
She took a photo of exactly what she saw, then she just had to take it home with her!
The photo below is a small display of some of our favorite items we collected together.

There's a million other things to share about my time at the beach, so much beauty, so much precious time with family, to much to fit in one story. But I will end this time of sharing the joy and beauty of the beach with this amazing sunset that ended our first full day there.

We were awestruck by the vivid colors that crept over the western horizon at dusk and just kept coming. It was truly incredible and a memory we will never forget. The breathtaking beauty we experienced was so invigorating. We breathed it in, we felt it on our skin, we lived it as long as we could, and we took a little bit of it home with us.

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

The Joy of Beautiful Memories at the Beach - Pixel & Mommy Moments

My time in Florida, enjoying the beautiful beaches and rich history, was such a wonderful special time, filled with precious memories. On this Wordless Wednesday, hosted by my BlogPaws friends, I wanted to share some of the beauty that I beheld.
This image shows the text Beautiful Florida Beaches with ocean waves inside the text. This is the gorgeous view of the ocean from the back deck of the beach house where we stayed. Mommy and I couldn't get enough of the view and the sounds. We constantly had huge pelicans flying overhead, as well as a variety of seagulls and other ocean birds.
As you stood on the deck and looked far to the left and right, there was hardly any people. It was just endless beautiful sand, shells and surf. Mommy and I were awe struck by it.


From the first moment we walked onto the beach, I felt so connected to it. All of Mommy's stories and descriptions, as wonderful as they are, paled in comparison to actually being there. I was mesmerized by it's beauty, grace and power and spent long periods of time just watching the waves roll in.
 I did spend some time 'running' with the waves. They were such fun to watch...I just wanted to see if I could either beat one in a race or catch one. Doesn't the Beach Boys song say, "Catch a wave and you're sitting on top of the world!" I just wanted to see for myself.
 There were SO many sights, sounds and scents that captured my attention at every turn. I also enjoyed looking for tiny little shell treasures with Mommy. You should see our collection of beautiful shells!
 Some of the beaches we went to had sand that was actually cochina, which is ground up shells. The shells (besides the cochina sand) were so very plentiful that you couldn't even step without stepping on thousands of little and big shells. Mommy took this photo of my feet after stepping into the ocean for the very first time. I didn't go deep of course, too many dangers, but I let a few waves "catch" me after I tried to catch them. See the plethora of shells underfoot?
The amount of shells just laying all over the beaches was incredible! In fact, there were so many shells that you sometimes missed things due to the sheer volume. Can you see in this photo below the beautiful little perfect conch shell that Mommy never saw (in person) until she looked at her photos later? But that's okay because they are all beautiful and she at least has a photo of it.
 Even I found beautiful shell treasures. I enjoyed looking for pretty shells too. I saw a beautiful large piece of a huge conch shell in light gray/beige and decided it should be mine. I picked it up and carried for a few minutes until Mommy offered to hold it for me.
Pixel Blue Eyes found herself a treasure as she carries part of a conch shell in her mouth The local residents were very kind. These two gentlemen chameleons even did a special ritual type tango thing where they took turns showing their red neck bubble and doing push ups. It was really funny.
The day before we were set to leave, we were blessed to see a school of dolphins surfing the waves for about 20 minutes. Mommy's camera didn't have enough zoom to get much, but seeing and experiencing it from the back deck of that beach house was a real thrill!
Pixel Blue Eyes posing pretty for a picture on a bench by the ocean My time with Mommy and our family at the beach was incredible! It's an experience full of joyful memories that I will never forget. It is such a special, magical place and I hope we get to go again real soon!
Pixel Blue Eyes and her Mommy share a snuggle moment on the beach Did you enjoy my collection of photos and memories? I'd love to have you leave a comment and tell me what your favorite part was and what photo is your favorite. I'd also LOVE to hear your own beach story or memory...it would certainly mean a lot to hear about it.

The Joy of Traveling - Part I: Pixel's Road Trip to the Beach

My Family just recently took a long, much needed vacation to the beautiful shores of Florida. It was such an incredible experience for me, as I've never even seen the beach before. I'm six and a half years old now, so it was always something I wanted to experience with Mommy. See, I was born and raised in the Appalachian Mountains of Virginia. I love the mountains and beautiful seasons that I experience here, but I've always wanted to see the ocean. Mommy grew up on the eastern shore, and she often told me stories about the beautiful beaches; describing the ocean, the waves, the wildlife and the wonderful experiences she had there. It has made me long to go for years.
Once we set a plan into motion and started preparing for our 10 day excursion, Mommy and I were so excited we could hardly contain ourselves. I've only long distance traveled once in my life, and that was to the 2013 BlogPaws convention last year. That was 4 days and 3 nights, but this beach trip was going to be 10 days, which might as well have meant we were moving there. At least when it came to my travel needs. I double and triple checked Mommy's packing skills when it came to my stuff, and we both packed WAY more than we ever needed. But our philosophy is simple:  better to pack too much and not need it than not pack enough and be left without what you need. Thus, Mommy and I packed at least 2-5 times as much outfits and toys than we ended up using. Anyone else pack like that?
After making enough food to feed a large iditerod team of dogs and people, and after packing 3/4 of the house into Grampy's van, we were off. It was a long drive so we split it up into two days. We stayed at a FANTASTIC Pet Friendly hotel in South Carolina that really made us feel welcome and comfortable. I will be doing a full review of the Residence Inn Marriott in a later post. Once on the road, me and my sisters informed the family that we would be doing spot checks of every single rest stop and gas station from Virginia to the beaches of Florida. Thus, we only had to stop about 35 times times per day,  meaning that our 5 hour first day's travel turned into 8+ hours. We found nice rest stops all along the way that had real nice pet walking areas that even included supplies for picking up any 'messes' you made. In our defense, traveling with three little girl dogs, and a van full of people with differing "break" schedules, requires frequent stops...especially when you're doing surprise inspections.We didn't mind all the stops though. We were together and that was all that mattered.
So do you want to know what happened next? Stay tuned for more posts detailing my amazing beach trip! Wait until you see all the photos...you're going to love it!