We were so fortunate that our RV Site in Newport was so close to Lost Creek Beach, so we spent early mornings and evenings playing by the water.

Once Ollie finds a stick, the fun begins. Henry runs and runs and Ollie scampers after him until they're both smiling happily, panting, with shiny eyes and noses. Ollie is still a little nervous of the water so Henry keeps a close, protective eye on her. He's also very aware of her picking things up off the beach. As a puppy, she loves to find things and have a good chew on them. Watching Henry and Ollie together is pure joy.

I wrote a little message to my darling niece Nancy in the sand, just to say hi. She had been writing messages in the sand that week, back in the UK, so I wrote back to her. She is so sweet.

I like to mooch along the shoreline beach combing and rock hounding. Eyes searching out little treasures. I was hoping to found an old glass buoy washed ashore from local boats, but alas, no luck this time.  I pocketed some agates in warm, earthy shades of gold, amber, and rich bourbon. I was delighted when I found a huge hag stone that looked like a Google marker. I found quite a few more but left them behind on the beach for others to enjoy. 

About a week after our arrival in Newport, a jolly good storm blew through one night, leaving debris; wood and weed on the beach. It also left the beach covered with small blue jelly fish. I had seen something similar on the Morro Strand beach in California. They are called 'velella velella' jelly fish or 'by-the-wind sailors,' seeing as they look like little boats with little blue sails. The entire tideline was deep blue with these jellyfish. And Ollie loved them with the passion of an undergrad slurping down blue jello shots. 

After the first day of sneakily eating a couple of the blue jellies, despite being kept on a tight leash, she was a little bit poorly so we thought she had learned her lesson. She had not. She continued to fervently chase the blue jellies down as if they were the last chip in the bag. All our beach time from that point on meant Ollie was on her leash to prevent her from devouring her favorite little blue snack. 

From a distance we saw the Queen Mary, another of our favorites. We have so many happy memories on board, particularly with my dear cousin Pippa and her family when they came out to visit, a good few years back now. She swears she met a ghost on board after getting lost on an upper deck. The ship has definitely got spooky vibes!

Happily, we found somewhere else for lunch in the nearby Marina.

Later we went on to Cabrillo Beach where we lazed around for the afternoon. It is one of my favorite beaches in the LA area as it is a hag stone beach. Hag stones are sedimentary stones found on beaches, rivers or lakes, that have naturally formed holes in them. They are believed to have magical, protective properties that ward off negative energies and are sometimes called Witches Stones or Fairy Stones. I had a relaxing afternoon mooching amongst the rocks happily finding the hag stones. 

Later we went to enjoy the sunset, fly our kites and enjoy the Korean Friendship Bell at Angel's Gate Park, up on the hill, overlooking the Pacific. Another easy breezy evening.