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Showing posts with the label beach

Crissy Field

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After our short hike to Inspiration Point from behind our inn at The Presidio, we hopped on a shuttle bus to take the winding, circuitous route overlooking the Pacific Ocean all the way down to Crissy Field.  Crissy Field is on the opposite side of The Presidio from Inspiration Point and it was getting late so there was no time to walk back down the trail and then walk to Crissy Field.  Besides, at this point in our cross-country journey, I'm not sure any of us had the energy to do so anyway.   I wanted to spend some time here at Crissy Field for two reasons.  First, this is an old Army airfield that is now a part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and I'm always interested in visiting airfields.  And second, this field is a beach on the shores of San Francisco Bay adjacent to the Golden Gate Bridge where the sun would be setting in the west over the Pacific Ocean.  I definitely wanted some photographs as the sun was setting behind the Golden Gate Bridge.  Before we

An Adventure to Long Island and Jones Beach

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Lukey and Kenzie's last day of school was Friday and we were on the road to Long Island with them in tow by early Saturday morning.  We all had a great time with family and at a few different events. The kids were really looking forward to some beach time though! Actually, I think we all were looking forward to some beach time. The beach was foggy and quite deserted when we arrived in the morning. We set up our stuff right where I figured the surf would be at high tide and it turns out I was right because the lifeguards placed an "Umbrella Line" sign just in front of us when they came on duty. The kids spent the entire previous day playing with their Long Island cousins. Little did they know, Aunt Margaret had planned to surprise them by joining us at the beach too. So, they spent the entire time on Long Island socializing with people and it was obvious they enjoyed themselves. Jones Beach was beautiful, as always. The sand at this particular beach is a fine whit

Kayak Training

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We've always had a little fleet of boats at the lake house but, this year, we expanded our little fleet by also bringing along two new kid kayaks for Lukey and Kenzie. They are getting too big (heavy) to squeeze into our adult-sized kayaks (total weight capacities are the main problem) so it was time for them to learn to kayak on their own.  Lukey loved the idea... Kenzie hated the idea! For about two weeks, Kenzie consistently insisted that she will only be using Gee's kayak with Gee!  Lukey is more independent when it comes to physical stuff. Kenzie prefers to be dependent when it comes to physical stuff but will slowly ease into it when she sees Lukey is having no problems and even having fun. Truth be told, even though we purposely bought a kayak in Kenzie's favorite (but a bit sickening) color, we expected Kenzie to balk at using her new bright pink kayak. We started them off at our little beach. Kenzie, however, wanted nothing to do with it. Lukey was paddling a

Sharing the Beach

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This is little Nemo... one of our resident fish. A couple of weekends ago, we brought the grandkids to Dick's Sporting Goods to try on and purchase some new life vests for them to wear at the lake. They've outgrown their old life vests so it was time for a larger size.  While we were trying on life vests, a nearby display caught Lukey's eye... it was an end cap display of large inflatables for the water. Some extremely large inflatable called a "Floating Island" caught his eye and our eyes... This "Floating Island" is a huge inflatable with two areas for hanging out... a covered area for four or six people to sit facing each other with their feet in the water... and a sunning area for two or three people to stretch out comfortably. There is about a two foot by three foot hole in the middle of the covered seating area where you let your feet dangle in the water while talking with each other and drinking a few cold refreshments.   Gee and I show

Little Miss Attitude

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Although these two photos look like things may have gotten a bit out of hand and some anger prevailed, that wasn't the case.  In the splashing photo, the kids were playing and laughing... I really have no idea what Kenzie was thinking when she had that scowl on her face in the other photo though. I don't remember anything of significance happening... regardless, in these two photos, Kenzie appears to have a bit of an attitude...

Chicks on the Beach

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As we do on many evenings, Sheila and I headed out on the kayaks for an evening paddle on one particularly beautiful evening. It was sunny and warm... the lake was calm... the sun was getting low in the sky illuminating everything in that soft evening golden glow. It was the perfect evening for paddling and I was hoping for some good photography. We headed down toward Boulder Beach at a very relaxed, slow pace. As we approached the beach, we were surprised to find that the beach was quiet. Not a single person was on this beautiful beach on this perfect evening. We paddled around the swimming area and approached a rougher beach area intended for boats which is adjacent to numerous picnic areas. As we were paddling by this beach, a tiny bit of movement caught my eye...  As I stopped paddling, I dipped my paddle in the water to turn my kayak so I could look more closely... I could just make out two young duck chicks on the beach. Although they blended in with the sand quite we

Family and Cousins Gone

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We had a very busy day on Wednesday with a visit from Sheila's family. Everyone had a really good time in some magnificent weather on the lake especially the kids.  I'll venture to say that the weather we had yesterday was the most beautiful weather we have experienced in a very long time... perhaps the best ever while at the lake!  It was sunny and clear... it was warm... the lake was calm... the water was clean and warm... it was a perfect day for all water activities and we all took advantage of that by starting our morning at 6am by paddling on the misty morning lake. Sheila had Kenzie in her kayak while I had Lukey in my kayak. Nan and Pop caught up with us on the lake within a few minutes.  When we arrived back at the house, we made some french toast with fresh strawberries. About the same time that we finished cleaning up breakfast, Sheila's brother arrived with his kids. By lunchtime, Liza had joined us as well.   The day was spent kayaking, sailing, swimmin

Fuji Waterproof Rugged Camera

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A small splash for the girls, but I was hit from behind by the wave that caused this splash!  I was down low in the rocks... We enjoy being out on the water, kayaking and sailing, whenever the weather is cooperative.  This environment, however, has always made me nervous whenever using any of my cameras.  Just a little bit of splashed water can ruin a camera.  If it is salt water, that is even worse!  The corrosive properties of salt water will completely destroy the electronics of today's digital cameras. We were at the beach a few years ago, visiting family on Long Island, and I managed to damage one of my cameras.  Sheila and I were out on a jetty shooting some photos of the kids.  We managed to get some nice shots but suddenly, out of nowhere, a large wave crashed down onto the jetty soaking all of us and my camera gear.  Not only did my camera get very wet, but it was covered in corrosive salt water.  Not a good thing.  Salt water is like a deadly virus...  not only doe