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 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.
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!
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!
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!

Pixel Blue Eyes Presents: The Accidental Tourist on Wordless Wednesday

I'm back!! I took an extended leave of absence from my blog and social media sites to focus on helping Mommy during a serious neck issue. Well, the family also took a much needed vacation that no one knew about.
They said "Beach" and I said "WHERE?"
They said "Florida" and I said "WHEN?"
They said "now", and I said, "LET'S GO!!"

I grabbed my collar camera, a bunch of toys, several outfits and my favorite doggie bed and blanket and we were off to the gorgeous shell-filled, sandy beaches of Florida. Over the next couple of weeks I'll be sharing all the adventures, as well as reviewing the places we stayed that were pet friendly, and places we visited that were not so 'pet friendly'. We sure did learn a lot and I want to share that knowledge with you!
Stay tuned for lots more fun to come with LOTS of photos of course.
Happy Wordless Wednesday friends!! This blog hop is hosted by my good friends at BlogPaws. So many of my fellow pet bloggers are going to the 2014 BlogPaws Convention that starts tomorrow. I wish I could join them, but I will be following their adventures with great anticipation. Have a great rest of the day!!