Snow on the beach

Snow on the beach, it is something that is difficult to picture. When I first saw it as we were walking along the water towards the car, I could not figure out what it was. At first I thought it was ash? Then I looked closer and it was white. I never for a second thought it was snow. My dad informed me that it was in fact snow when he noticed that I had stopped following him. Snow on a beach? It is such a strange concept.

Our trip did not start at a beach or in the snow. That happened later. It started on a flooded dirt road somewhere in North Carolina. Our very pretty but equally impractical Dodge charger had no chance of going into the water, so we hiked. My dad didn’t want to carry his giant camera all the way down the road and so he suggested we just take mine, it was very sneaky. Guess who ended up carrying the camera the entire two miles to the tree where a red-cockaded woodpecker was? Me. I did this in my snake boots which are great at defending against snakes and going through water but….they are terrible to walk in.

We saw the bird but I regret getting out of the car to hike those two miles. My ankles hurt so badly afterwards and I had to strongly encourage myself to get out of the car when we reached a beach area. It was quite pretty and there were many new birds for me.

It was neat seeing all of these new birds and walking around in the sand, so much so that i ignored my foot pain and enjoyed being on the beach. It was almost erie walking through the dunes and looking out apon the ocean. We reached the point of the beach and continued back along the rocks. It was beautiful and when it started snowing the area became almost surreal. We came across a lone black scoter who seemed very at home in the snowy waters.

On the walk back to the car I picked up shells and fossils. I planned on giving them to my mom as a kind of apology for making her be alone on Valentines day. I felt bad that we left her and also bought her some presents from a tourist shop. Technically my dad paid for them with my guidance. 

We had originally come down here in order to go on a pelagic but it was cancelled and pushed back a day. We still went on Sunday but the weather was bad and I got seasick. It was a very miserable trip for me since I didn't feel good and had cold feet (literally). I did get to see a hammerhead shark, a couple of sea turtles, dolphins, and a great skua! Which helped to make up for the long day in the boat. That is all for now, have a great day!

L