Soft Sand, Stinky Seaweed and a Butterfly

I finally made it passed the six mile mental block on my walk today despite Daddy-o's lame advice and kid duty.  I did manage 6.25 miles but I had to work at it.

I've had a couple friends tell me I should try walking out by the sand spit.  Daddy-o took Ben out there with his friends a few weekends ago, too.  Even he was singing the area's praises.  So last night I mapped out a nice 6.5 mile walk from the house to the sand spit, around in circles a few times for good measure and back home again.  Unfortunately, I had a 1.5 hour time limit because the boys had batting practice. 

So I headed out this morning about 9:30.  It was beautiful and sunny.  I ran into one of the school moms and stopped to chat (for a tad too long) and lost about 20 minutes.  Yikes!  I picked up the pace and hoofed it through the golf course to the trail head where I soft sand.
 
Ugh.  I specifically asked Daddy-o if the trail was sand or not.  He told me to walk out there and see for myself.  Humph!  I don't necessarily mind soft sand... if I'm on a leisurely stroll or actually, you know, on the beach.  I was not thrilled to wade in for my morning power walk.  I sucked it up, though, already planning on cutting my walk short at the nearest, pride-sparing opportunity.  Just to add insult to injury, the fog was rolling in thick.

What's the big deal about soft sand?  It's a better workout as Daddy-o was so happy to tell me.  I, however, am working for endurance and distance, not strength or whatever one gets from a "better workout".  Plus, the going is much, much slower in loose sand than hard pack and I had a deadline this morning.  Worst of all, though, is the fine, silty sand that works it's way through your shoes and socks and nestles in between your toes.  Yech.

Anyway, I sucked it up and turned back to civilization just as soon as possible.  Turns out there is some beauty out there after all.  The trail meandered into a grove of Eucalyptus trees that were peaceful and full of soft morning light. 

There were two rope swings in there that I took Danny back to in the afternoon.

And some beautiful giant Eucalyptus...  And since I've discovered PhotoShop Actions this week I'm going to show you the same picture with at few different actions... just to show how different it can make a picture appear...

The second one is my personal favorite.

After I hit the pavement again I made much better time but was dangerously late so I walked to the ball field to meet Daddy-o and the boys.  He cut me loose for the rest of the walk.  Yeah!  Now I just had to make up some mileage. 

I took a meandering route my the way back bay where I was bummed to be assaulted my the smell of low tide.  Stinky seaweed.  Yum.  I was also privileged to find a tiny Monarch Butterfly sitting on the trail.  It let me hold it on my finger and check it out for the briefest of minutes before it fluttered on it's way.  Simply beautiful.  There were lots of these poppies everywhere too. 

All in all, a great walk, stinky seaweed and soft sand aside.