Off to the Coast with Cats

 Off I went yesterday, to the coast clinic.  I headed out at 4:30 a.m.

Who did I take this time?  I took Olson Lane cats Gracie and Bluebell.  They are likely sisters.  They've been here 8 years and were adults when I caught them.  So I figure they are between 9 and 11 years old.   Youngsters by comparison to most of the cats here.

I figured they better be checked out, especially their teeth, before they get any older.  And updated on shots.  Gracie also needed mats shaved off. They are quite wild.  I wanted them to get Bravecto, so they'd be free of fleas for three months but the clinic had none this time.  They got Revolution Plus instead plus droncit injections.  Revolution kills roundworms and earmites too besides fleas and droncit kills tapeworms. Bluebell had to have three teeth pulled, besides the cleaning but Gracies were good.

Gracie's hair grew very long this winter and she began to mat.  The vet shaved those off, thank goodness.

Bluebell has shorter hair than Gracie

The check in at the clinic can be long or it can be not so long.   Luck of the draw.  You call one of two numbers until you get a human, once there.  I called maybe 20 or 30 times before getting a person, and had them checked in within 45 minutes of arrival, which is really a record since Covid I think.   

I went to the beach then.  The fog was lifting and I brought a blanket and was going to nap.  The sun broke out and the weather turned hot fast.   I knew I wouldn't be sleeping in the car, it was too hot.  So I got a cup of coffee so I could stay awake.

I knew area C is where the jetty was still under construction.  The south jetty where the Pacific meets the mighty Columbia River is being built up. I didn't want to deal with the noise of that parking lot so early.  I used to always use that parking lot for daytime naps on cat clinic trips.  

I went to Area B then, thinking I could take a nap there.  The parking lot has no restroom, but does have a couple of beach access trails.  You can't see the ocean from there.  It's usually deserted.  There was a white pickup at the far end of the parking lot.  I saw a man get out, open the passenger side of his pickup, and an older dog exited.  They disappeared into the scrub pines for a short time, then emerged, got back in the pickup and left.  But then here comes some little passenger car, one older guy.  He parked behind me, along the curb, facing the back of my car, lights on, was there awhile, left.  But not five minutes later he was back, did the same thing, then finally pulled out, and drove by me slowly, staring into my car.  Holy crap, I thought, what's with him.  The third time he repeated this I decided, after he drove off the third time, it was time to leave.  He wasn't dressed like a beach goer.   Was I in his favorite parking space, I thought, laughing since the lot was otherwise empty.  Nah, I thought, he's probably hooking up here.  Lonely old guy, maybe married maybe bitterly not married.  I mean the park I frequent is a hot spot for get togethers.  I find the condoms in the parking lot to prove it.  At least they use those.

So I went to the Iredale shipwreck beach again, even though I'm not that fond of that beach.  The reason is the car people, too lazy to walk on the beach, run their cars up and down the beach like its a race track.   With our highways and roads crammed in cars you'd think the beach would be one place people would leave them behind.  But no.    The funny thing is they think they're awesome and special and cool, driving on the beach, while I think they're turds.

I walked down to the Iredale shipwreck.  The sea is taking it.  Year after year I've watched its shape recede, taken ever so slowly by sea and sand.

That's the point, beyond Seaside.  Just the other side of the end of that point is the Ecola state park trail, up to its top.  I mentioned that trail in last post.

It was early I was at the Iredale wreck beach.  When people began arriving by the score, because the day was gorgeous, I left.  Also I left because there is mostly no cell service there, and I had to be available in case the clinic called.

I went to town west side of Youngs Bay--Warrenton.  Youngs Bay seperates the coast, from the town of Astoria.   There's a long bridge across Youngs Bay.  I went to Costco and got a Mocha Freeze.  I love those.  I wandered the store a bit.  Used the restroom at Walmart.   Then drove over to Hammond, the tiny town on the very edge of Oregon, sitting right on the coast.  I like to sit in the parking lot facing the Columbia, near the boat basin.  I like to watch the birds in the pilings just off the waters edge.  I used to spend a lot of time at the tiny library there, and buy bags of books for $5.  But they closed it, due to building safety issues.  I never found where they moved it to, if they did move it.

The gulls were out in force.  The cormorants too, despite Wildlife Services best efforts to destroy them a few years ago in an ugly affair, where they oiled their eggs and shot them from boats.  That's because they eat baby Salmon.  The fishing industry is very powerful in Oregon, both sport and commercial.

Escapees, from the weapons of Wildlife Services

The gulls tittered and tattered and screeched at one another, as they jockeyed for napping positions on warm encrusted rocks.  The lot of them would be displaced moments after a boat passed out in the river, as the swells broke over the rocks upon which they perched.  They'd soar off, screaming outrage, in their rending piercing calls that remind even a land lubber of salt water and ocean.

But I was watching a Kingfisher.  She was perched atop a piling that rose maybe five feet out of the water's edge.   Twice the fisher suddenly left her perch, made a dipping few foot flight, that sagged  then rose a foot higher than the start, and turned into a headlong full throttle dive into the water.  Up she'd come, struggling slightly for lift from the water, with a silver herring.  She'd go right back to her piling and there gulp it down.

I'd watched a bald eagle make a landing in a distant fir earlier.  I kept an eye on him or her.  But the big bird did nothing but preen and groom then tuck its head beneath a wing, presumably for a nap.  Which made me also want to nap.

I watched with binoculars.  The bird was beyond camera range.

I decideed to head to Area C, the south jetty parking lot.  I knew the big machines and construction were still going on.   That means I can't walk out to the beach on the north side of the south jetty.  I like that beach, which is technically on the Columbia river.

Even the walk up viewing tower was blocked in fencing this time.  The machines were going at it.  People watched them in fascination.  I took a walk up the  dune trail, which parallels the ocean and usually you can find a way down from the trail, through the rocks and pilings to the beach, especially if the tide is out.

There were many wild strawberries blooming along the dune trail.   In a month or so, there will be strawberries to be had there.  Wild peas also bloomed bright purple.

I love wild strawberries

I don't eat the wild peas however.  Some people do.

Trail along the ocean

That's Saddle Mountain in the distance. You can hike to the top of that, if you're inclined.

Happy happy Me!

I found a warm sandy spot above the beach, above the jetty rocks and took a short nap.  Then I headed back to the clinic to pick up the cats.   They were ready and doing just fine.

On Youngs Bridge, an ambulance was behind me, as I headed out of Astoria and south, to go home.  But suddenly its lights and sirens came on and I pulled over, as did everyone else ahead of me, to let it pass.

I came across the wreck just a few miles south on the coast highway.  A blue car had been obliterated in the road.  EMT's surrounded someone on the ground 30 feet from the car remains.  Someone else directed all southbound traffic onto a narrow road, that looped for miles, before rejoining the highway.  This took almost an hour to navigate.  One resident of the little road was out with his phone videoing the massive traffic jam, with all north and south traffic now bumper to bumper, like Portland, on his tiny rural road.

It was nearly 8:00 p.m. when I pulled into my driveway.   Yes, I'm tired today and so are Gracie and Bluebell.  We're all going to spend the day sleeping it off.

It was a grand day, I shall say.  Just wonderful.