I even got to wear shorts this afternoon

I woke up to a nice sunny day this morning, and got ready for my five hour stint at the overlook.  I put on my usual three layers of clothing though, because it’s always chillier down by the water. 

Not too many folks out and about this morning as I checked the views and started hauling things down to my spot.  This is the view from another place where I have the choice of setting up the scope.

I’ve thought of going there, but it is really out in the open, and when the winds blow I’d probably need an anchor to keep from blowing over. 

Instead, I set up in the usual place that is a bit more protected; just a bit.  There was another extra low tide right when I arrived.  That meant it was a good morning for observing wildlife in the tide pools.  (Remember this people less view, as it was short lived.)

It wasn’t long before a big bunch of students from the Grants Pass Elementary School arrived for an all day field trip to the ocean.  One of the chaperones told me that each of these students had to earn their way for this trip.  It’s another week before school is out in Grants Pass.  It kind of looked like an ant hill moving as all the students wormed their way, following Ranger Angela, down the path to the beach for a tide pool hike.

I was all bundled up while many of these kids were in shorts, and hardly anyone even had a jacket.  They’re a tougher breed in Oregon than I am.  In the meantime, I had a great time talking to visitors as the winds picked up.

There were really three stories going on as I took this shot.  The first, as I’ve said, was Ranger Angela leading all the students and chaperones on the hike (right arrow).

The top left arrow points to the four half-way house gentlemen and their two attendants that I’ve mentioned before.  They come here in their little handicapped bus quite often.  The gentleman in the lead is out of his wheelchair practicing walking on the ramp, and the gentleman in the rear is just waiting to get down to look through the scope to see the harbor seals.  (hard to see, I know.)

The third arrow points to my FWS backpack, and my Yellowstone bag with my cameras, water jug, extra hat, and some snacks in it.  Can you guess where this is going?  Well, after all the kids were on their way, and the seal gentleman checked out the scope, I went up to the car for a minute to get something.

As I got out of the car, all four gentlemen were laughing and pointing at my bags.  The guy that likes to watch the fishing boats called to me, and said, “You’d better get back up there or you won’t have any lunch!”

Yep, the ground squirrel from the other day was deep inside my bag rooting around.  It had found my stash of a small bag of caramel corn Jelly Bellies and pulled it to the top!  That little bugger didn’t run away until I was close enough to almost grab it.  I hooted and hollered and waved my arms.  The gentlemen were in stitches as I chased that varmint away.

Glad I made somebody’s day. 

Oh yeah, it did get warm enough this afternoon, after I defrosted from the bitter winds, to put on a pair of shorts and bask in the sun with Emma outside the rig.  If the sun keeps shining, this place could grow on me…

Thanks for stopping by… talk to you later,  Judy