Beach

Absolutely, smashingly, wildly, beautiful. I have never seen ocean like this before, with waves so dwarfingly huge and powerful. I feel very small. Mesmerized by them, I could watch the clear water wash up onto the golden beaches for a really long time. Now layer in the quaint, white-washed houses with their red roofs marching up the cliffside on a gorgeously sunny, sixty degree day and I am in love. Today we walked along the cliff tops over the Atlantic ocean looking out towards home, starting on a horseshoe beach flanked by a village clinging to the cliffside. Excited, we ran down to the empty beach to take it all in. Given the size of the waves, Jason pulled the boys close and talked to them about never turning your back on the ocean, while I absent-mindedly shot photos. In the distance I saw Jason and Isaac headed for the rocks on the edge of the beach, so Aaron and I slowly grabbed our lunch and followed dreamily, snapping photos along the way. Believe it or not, I had my back turned to the ocean when a big wave came in. At first I thought it was like all of the other times I have been chased by a wave, no big deal, I'll run backwards a little bit. Ok, maybe I should move faster. Yikes, Aaron and I need to get up on these rocks. Needlessly to say, I ended up soaked, to midthigh. As I was climbing out of the water and checking on Aaron, who was actually paying attention to the ocean and remained bone dry, panic hit. PIKA! Pika was with us, and off-leash. I was sure, as I whirled around that she had been swept out to sea, never to be seen again. Thanks to the Guardians of Chihuahuas Everywhere, there she was shivering on a rock, looking, literally, like a drowned rat, coughing and sputtering, covered in sand. I am a bad, bad, bad chihuahuha owner. Always, never take your eyes off the chihuahua when you aren't paying attention to the immensely powerful ocean. We quickly made the decision that, perhaps this was not the safest of beaches when the waves are so big with the tide rising, and that we should make a hasty retreat. The rest of the day was much more peaceful and relaxed as we lazily walked along the cliff tops, soaked up the sun, allowed Pika to air dry, and enjoyed the spectacular view as we hiked from beach to beach.

Click aqui for photos.