Reservations for Hunting Island were cancelled again due to another hurricane this year, so we headed back to Huntington Beach. This time we stayed on site 66, and I liked it better than site 98. There is more space between sites and some pretty trees around.
The weather was cool in the mornings, 30’s, and reached about 50 in the afternoon. Some highlights were seeing a school of active dolphins and a bald eagle.
We discovered a new nature trail, Kerrigan Trail, near the checkin that leads to a nice overlook.
Hard to keep Logan from coming after mamma's treats
We revisited The Claw restaurant for lunch and shared the lobster bisque soup, which was excellent. We split the crab cakes, which we give an OK rating. Better than most, but not nearly the best we’ve had.
view of deck at The Claw
View of boats parked along the marsh boardwalk
View of inlet from the marsh boardwalk
Lunch at The Claw on the enclosed patio
We bought grouper, red snapper, crab cakes,and shrimp from Harrelson’s seafood market to fix later in the week. The grouper was outstanding.
We walked the campground wooded trail part way, as we learned last time that it doesn't make a complete loop but ends up at the far end of the state park.
Frye and Braddock point the way back to the RV
I was surprised how empty the beach was in December. We remarked what a beautiful beach it is. There is hardly any development in sight, only Pawney island in the distance, and the beach is relatively flat and extremely pristine. We rate the beach much higher than Sandbridge, Hatteras, and Carova/Corrolla/Duck on asthetics and serenity. The dogs enjoyed plenty of playtime. Here are the video highlights...
What amazed me is how much the dogs retain a memory of a place we have visited. Even though we had only been to Huntington Beach one time this past March, they remembered that they got treats at the guard shack. Braddock practically killed us on the bike dragging us up there and Frye wasn't much better. In this video, we had walked the whole gang up there, Logan in the stroller of course.
The Winchester area has always been one we've struggled to enjoy as a destination. It's a great venue for agility, but the lodging has been lackluster. Normally we stay at Candy Hill with the RV, but we don't enjoy it. The campground is an easy-in, easy-out, right off the interstate. That is the only positive. Forget about late check-out - they nickel and dime you for every minute. Once we left 15 minutes late, but didn't worry about it until a young kid started chasing our RV on foot to retrieve the $2.00 owed for being late. As far as the campground amenities and aesthetics, there isn't much to speak of. This trip, we decided to try somewhere different - Skyline Ranch Resort. It was a significant improvement in primarily location. The views of the skyline are breathtaking. We stayed in site 132 (the row 130-132 is easy to get set up and rather level, but there isn't any shade). There is another row on the other si...
The feelings around the loss of a dog unites many of us together. Grief is a very raw emotion and is so powerful that there are even stages associated with it - denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Add to this that our beloved dogs generally live a decade, if not longer with us. How does one lose a 12 to 15 year old child? The answer is - not well, not well at all. Those who don't know this kind of love and connection may not understand. But for those of us who live this life, we all relate. What complicates and differentiates this process even more is that the owners have the responsibility to make the right decision - all the way up to the bitter end. This responsibility creates its own wave of emotion ranging from anxiety in wondering when to make the decision, stoicism to not let the dog perceive any hint of sadness, fear of what is to come, depression that more can't be done, concern if they are in any pain, regrets of not s...
We finally decided to improve the kitchen. We had golden oak hardwood cabinets and a green/blue laminate countertop. The cabinets did not have any decorative moulding and they were all uniform - no dimensionality. The island had a raised bar portion that was raised 10 inches high. I don't have a picture of that, but below is the picture with the bar raise cut down to only4 inches. Step 1 was to have some dimensionality in the cabinet above the microwave and over the fridge. In addition, we added a light rail moulding at the bottom of the cabinets and decorative crown moulding on the top. Cabinet over fridge has been pushed out Cabinet over microwave has been pushed out Some other things needing to change were the fluorescent light above the island, the chandelier above the table (the light shades were relocated to the den fan), the old white appliances, and the stainless steel sink faucet. The cabinets were in great con...
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