3 Cats Get Teeth Cleaning/Extractions in Glorious Day on Coast

I went to the north coast today.  Very early.  Too early.

I tried to go to bed super early to get the appropriate sleep.   But I don't do early to bed well.   Finally I read myself to sleep.   I counted backwards to numb my mind.

But the alarm rang at 3:15 a.m., disturbing some dream that it somehow fit into appropriately.

I took Fantasia, her sister, Echo and Molly, from the Clay street apartments.  Same place Slinko is from.  I was going to take Meesa, the girls mom, but she was onto me and avoided containment easily.

Guilt overwhelmed me the first five minutes of the drive, for scaring them by putting them in the car like that and driving off.  But I got over it.

By the time I crested the coast range, it was light and the huge blue moon was fading into the lightening sky.

But then came heavy fog, suddenly, so heavy I had to use windshield wipers.  Wow, that's something.  When, I think to myself, was the last time I turned those on?

I dropped the cats at the clinic and pondered the day and how to fill it til pick up time.  I went out through Warrenton, then Hammond.  I looked at the boats in the Warrenton harbor.  I badly wanted to go out on the Columbia, maybe even out in to the ocean.

Yes, I was dancing all day in the tsunami inundation zone without a prayer of escape, should the big one hit.  I made up stupid songs to sing to myself about "the big one" then laughed.  I had my tsunami escape route maps printed for the area and in the glove compartment.  That seemed good enough.

After that I went to the Hammond boat basin.  It was busy.  Hundreds of people were launching to go fishing for salmon at the confluence of the Pacific and Columbia, as the salmon start their spawning runs up the river.

You can camp there for a flat fee of $30.  That's steep.

Then I went to Fort Stevens state park, but this time, to the west end where the old gun batteries are.  The fort was built before the Civil War and was active through that conflict, through the Spanish American war, and both world wars.  I can't recall when it closed.  There were six batteries I think, with two guns each.  I could be wrong on that.  Most of the guns were sent over to the French, to help in their defense against Germany.  But a couple remain.

Most guard the mouth of the Columbia, but one battery guards the Pacific.

Or did.

One big gun

The Lookout

With the distant Columbia River

I took this from the command post up on the hill.  I walked all over that compound.

You could go inside a couple of the old underground concrete battery buildings.   This one was lit, the other one I went in wasn't.  A little creepy!

Gun range

Pay per view up in the command center overlooking everything and seemed plenty high enough to me, to be tsunami proof.  I would have bet on it!   I only paid out a quarter to have a good look at the far shore of the Columbia.  I could also clearly see what fishermen were wearing in their boats through this contraption.  Suddenly, when my time ran out, the things' eyelids noisily snapped closed.

Well, tomorrow I'll post again with other things I saw today.  Echo and Molly each had 6 teeth pulled.  Fantasia had 3 pulled.  All three girls got their vaccines updated, flea treatment, droncit for tapeworms, nails trimmed and ears cleaned.

Thank you so much to all who donated so the girls could get this done!