At the Beach with the Dogs

Yes I admit......I'm a coasty! There's something about living next to the ocean. You can feel the presence of this vast ocean even miles inland from the beach. The temperature doesn't change much throughout the year.

I've been going out to the beach a lot lately and it's been beautiful out there this spring! The dogs (Dozer, Lacey and my friend's dog Holly) are enjoying themselves especially. Running a muck like a bunch of hounds in and out of the water. This past Saturday I went out with a few friends and enjoyed all the positive ions from the ocean mist.

Life is Good!

Getting ready for the ball toss.

In the water.

The ball getter.

Alicia finding a spot to leave a message

Holly and Dozer

Bouy at the entrance of the jetties.

South Jetty of Coos Bay

Dozer's sandy face in the end.

Fourth of July in California

Keith and I go to California every Fourth of July to soak up the hot sun we miss so dearly and visit friends and family.

Not to our surprise we started smelling smoke from the wild land fires in California. I got a smoky shot of a smoky orange sunset in Southern Oregon in Ophir on our trip down. We pulled a red eye drive down. We didn't get to Gram's house until 4:30 in the morning. I was tired.

My good friend Colleen and I have a tradition of going on a canoe trip every year. We both get to take the day off and slowly stroll down the Russian River just NW of Santa Rosa. We rent a canoe and enjoy the scenery and warm water. We used to go all the time when I lived on the river in Forestville 8 years ago. We've known each other since high school.

Unfortunatly, We weren't able to make to the river this year. Colleen's husband hurt himself skate boarding and We couldn't leave him at home watching all three children by himself with a broken knee. Poor guy he was pain. Watching children is a lot of work even with a healthy knee. So instead we had lunch at the Russian River Brewery for a few hours. If we can't go to the river itself, we might as well go the the brewery:)

I had a few pictures from our canoe trip from last year I wanted to share. I recommend taking time out of your life for a day canoe trip. Very relaxing and invigorating. Here's some pictures.

My sister Jessy joined us for a drift down river from Washington DC. She found this dog that was randomly strolling the beach. She was a sweet puppy.

My sister paddling in the front.

Colleen paddling in the back. So guess who has the middle, basking in the sun?

At the end of our trip, there were some kayaks left from previous day renters. I took one out for a spin while we were waiting for the bus to pick us up in Guernville.

This trip is also in celebration of our nations independence. We were invited over to Colleen and Christian's house for a BBQ and fireworks at the fair grounds, this year the City of Santa Rosa had their fireworks on July 3rd. It was hard not to say "Happy 4th of July"! during the gathering. I had to keep correcting myself, dooooh! Colleen's eldest daughter Adria has her birthday party(her actual birthday is on July 5th) on our nations independent holiday. I brought my camera and snapped a few shots this year with the new camera.

Adria opening her birthday gifts.

One of Colleen's twins, I believe this is Sophia or is it Anna? Isn't she cute!

Here's a shot of my first attempt with fireworks. I hope you had a

Happy Fourth of July Everyone!!