We have arrived!

This morning started early for me, with an hour of blueberry picking at Sandage Acres. Yes, our 5 blueberry plants have grown to the point that my daily bowl of blueberries doesn’t keep up. Since blueberries freeze so well I figured I might as well strip the plants before we left. So now we have another couple quart bags of frozen blueberries in the freezer, ready for oatmeal and snacking. It’s a good feeling.

We pretty much packed all day on and off both yesterday and today, so it was a low-key kind of day. So low key, in fact, that we ended up sitting around for about half an hour between when we finished packing and when we had to leave, which may have been a first. The packing was made easier by our decision to go back to two cars, which allows us to completely fill the back seat space in my car – which is the biggest car of its size. I ended up driving it by myself, a very odd feeling. I got Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets from the library before I left, so it was a very pleasant drive. Tim drove Dave’s car, with Dave. I didn’t see any finger marks in the leather, so Tim must have driven well.

I stopped at Arch Cape Property Services to pick up the keys, and when I got here Tim and Dave had walked around to look inside and they had Big News – the gray chair, my nap chair, was GONE! This had me all shook up, as you can imagine, but when we got inside we discovered it has been replaced by an equally comfortable “suede” covered chair that swivels. The swivel allows you to looks at the fire, then the ocean, then the fire… you get the idea. We have made the determination that this change is Good.

The other major change is that they have taken the shelves out of Josh’s bedroom and our bedroom. This change is Bad, as it leaves us with nowhere to put out clothes. Minor changes include new cushions on the rocking chair (good), new comforter on the bed in our bedroom (the old comforter has moved to the bed in Josh’s room), and a new tablecloth on the kitchen table. The faucet in the kitchen has not been fixed, but the run-down look that had crept in last year has been taken care of, which is very good.

We unpacked and connected to the internet , which in the case of my phone meant re-typing the 2000 character WEP key. It only took me 10 minutes or so. Then it was time to go to Mo’s. The Mo’s dinner has to be early not only because otherwise there is a huge line, but also because the breakfast burritos that Dave made for lunch (to use up leftover potatoes and green chili sauce) had worn off. Approaching Mo’s I must confess I was nervous – traffic was bad and the parking lot seemed very full – but we got a spot and possibly the last empty table. It was a deep-fried night with popcorn scallops for Tim (since when does he eat scallops?), fried clams for me and the number 3 combo (fried clams, fried scallops,fried fish) for Dave. The food came very fast and was very hot, which was a little unusual. Then off to the Surfcrest Market for milk, and then home.

Wow, was the tide ever out when we got there! Tim walked up the road to see if there’s a path where there looks like there should be one (there’s not); I went down to the beach, and Dave stayed at the house to get the Jambox set up and be radio headquarters. Here’s the sand report: the sand is very high to the south, so that most of the boulders in front of the cave are hidden. On the other hand, the rocks between the monolith and the hill to the north are very exposed and surrounded by water, so you really can’t get through that way – we will be very cut off when the tide is in. Also good. I walked all the way to the carriage road, and was able to stand on the sand in front of it. As you might expect given how dry the last month has been, the waterfall is very low.

When I got back to the house Dave was starting the fire, and then it was time for relaxing. We did have an exciting moment when Tim went out for firewood and found a giant slug. I gave it a chunk of cherry tomato, which it ate. Watching slugs eat is weird and kind of creepy – do they have teeth? I am hoping not to have slug-induced nightmares.

That is all for today.