WALKING THE BOARDWALK~Self-Care 2025; Long Beach-WA

I've been wanting to do this walk for a while - last time I was on the Boardwalk was a July 4th celebration a while ago, with my 1st husband.

My current husband Holland, & I, have been spending summer months on the Long Beach Peninsula every 6 months since we started road gypsying 26 months ago. So today, needing to get out of the house for a while, I got dressed and went for the walk 😉

The Boardwalk is located to the left of the Bolstad Beach Approach; it's not a long boardwalk, but it was a nice stroll. Just before you begin the walk, there is a landscape sculpture with Historical notations about The Lewis & Clark Expedition from Coast to Coast:

Bolstad Beach Approach; Long Beach-WA.

Lewis & Clark observations of the PNW Ocean; Long Beach-WA

WA State Volcanos shown L to R = Mt. Baker (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Baker), Glacier Peak (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glacier_Peak), Mt. Rainier has the pointiest peak (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rainier), Mt. Adams (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Adams_(Washington)), & Mt. St. Helens lost her peak after the 1981 eruption (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_St._Helens). All of these volcanic mountains are beautiful in their own ways; I have visited all but 1 of them, and hiked 3 of them. I have never been to Glacier Peak.

Start of Boardwalk walk; Bolstad Beach, Long Beach-WA

As I started the walk, I stopped and watched the massive size kites for a few minutes.

And I stopped again to read a couple Information Plaques along the Boardwalk; there were several ships listed on this plaque, with interesting names … and again, the way the plaque (a very looong plaque) shows the oceanfront is littered with shipwrecks, attests to the fact that the Pacific Ocean - as the world's largest ocean, hosts some of the most dangerous waters. Typhoons, strong currents, and rocky shores pose real and present dangers to shipping vessels navigating it's expansive waters.

I didn't burn a lot of calories - but my legs got stretched, and it was a very enjoyable stroll that begs a repeat. Next time I think I'll make it a longer looping hike; that will include the paved Discovery Trail that runs alongside the Boardwalk 😊

It's a good day to do this walk - not too chill, not to sticky.

Private boat setting crab pots; Pacific Ocean, Long Beach Peninsula-WA

Shipwrecks of the Beach Plaque

Part of the 8 mile Discovery Trail that runs from Long Beach-WA to Ilwaco-WA

Peninsula History Plaque

The Discovery Trail runs under the Boardwalk; Long Beach-WA

Whale Sculptures - the artwork part of this walk is along the Discovery Trail that parallels the Boardwalk; Long Beach-WA

The end of the Boardwalk: it runs the length of grassy dunes behind Downtown Long Beach-WA, between Sid Snyder Drive & Bolstad Avenue.

Windy, but actually a very pleasant walk; Long Beach-WA

Boardwalk Route

Back home again, I'm sticking to another one of my [boundary keeping] agendas, too; this one concerning the weight loss goal - a chicken Cup Of Soup, & I blended a chocolate Meal Replacement drink with 2 bottled waters, as well as drink 2 plain waters to keep my body comfortably hydrated. I am determined to wear those clothes in my closet, again: I like them, that's why I bought them 👌 Holland is a big boy, and can fend for himself these 3 days of every week until October 🤝

I also continued working on my latest knitting project: hopefully, it will be finished by the end of this month.

Not liking the newsfeed that reads, 'Trump Calls for Iran to ‘Surrender’ as He Weighs Military Action'; we are not the world's babysitter 😡

BAMBI; Ocean Park-WA

Today started out slow - but picked up speed as the hours came and went.

Wind gusts blowing in off the ocean, and rocking Independence, is what woke me this morning: some of the gusts were hitting pretty solidly 😳

I checked my Tablet to see how long this rainy forecast would continue; and I could see that Holland was still up, so I joined him for a few minutes before heading back upstairs to catch a few more hours of shut-eye 🛌😴

Windy gusts of rain overhead, & Independence rocking when the gusts hit broadside.

Nothing about the weather forward, looks promising.

When Holland came to bed 2 hours later, the weather was still kicking up a fuss …

Four hours later, I got up for good.

I ate the rest of the last night's supper … and knitted a few more rows; listening to the wet gusts slap against the outside of our cozy little home on wheels 😉

Yesterday, Holland came home with Supper; from Corral's Drive-In, #2506 Pacific Ave, Long Beach, WA

Worked a few more rows on my latest project …

9 AM; Betsy is getting cleaner & the puddles are getting deeper.

Holland woke up sometime around noon - which is okay with me. We're retired, & my husband has trouble sleeping, so when he can sleep I don't disturb him: he needs all the 💤 he can get, when he can get it. Plus, he is taking an antibiotic 4x a day that makes him drowsy.

When he finished his cup of coffee, he suggested a drive to see the waves, and I agreed. We needed to spend some time outside of Independence 😊

We visited a couple beach approaches - and eventually ended up at the Ilwaco Marina, where we saw that Bambi has finally been repaired and repainted; the last 2 years, she has sat forlorn and a rusted white while she waited to be tended to. Every time we drove past her, I would laugh and tell Holland about the 'Bambi' Bembenek episode of the the early 1980's:

Contrary to the proclamation "The World's Longest Beach" emblazoned on the archway over Bolstad street in the town of Long Beach, the beach here is not the longest beach in the world. It should be called the "World's Longest Continuous Peninsula Beach" because it is the world's longest beach on a peninsula: it stretches 28 miles.~Bolstad Beach Approach; Long Beach-WA

Landmark Buoy, at Bolstad Beach Approach; Long Beach-WA

Boardwalk, at the Bolstad Beach Approach; Long Beach-WA

Bambi finally got painted 😁 Last year, Holland had spotted this wooden hulled boat … I laughed when I saw the name of it, & told him the story saga of {Bambi} Bembenek; Ilwaco Marina-WA

What To Know About Lawrencia "Bambi" Bembenek, Her Murder Conviction And Prison Escape: https://www.jsonline.com/story/life/2023/09/12/lawrencia-laurie-bembenek-run-bambi-run-facts-murder-escape-from-prison-cause-of-death/70794066007/

Laurie "Bambi" Bembenek - Calendar Girl, Cop, Killer: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIRR04TdDCU)

We also took a side trip along the backroad, where we saw a brightly painted trolley in Oysterville; before parking Betsy.

By now, Holland's leg was really hurting - he had gashed it a week ago, and it is healing slowly. This is his driving leg, and the muscle was burning with today's use.

So, we called it a Day, and came home.

Where the rain picked up again, practically as soon as we got back inside … I cleaned his leg wound, sprayed it with antiseptic, and suggested we bandage it with gauze & a wrap tonight: Band-Aids stay on better, but I noticed that he also peels away some of his leg skin with the Band-Aid adhesive when he pulls it off. His skin is thin due to his medication; I don't want to risk secondary infection on top of the one his body is in the process of currently fending off.

I don't know how to keep the wrap from sliding down while he sleeps, but it will have to do. We're just 🙏ing his leg heals quickly without anymore undue complications.

City of Long Beach-WA Trolley; sits on a gravel lot, in Oysterville-WA

Holland's serious 'owie' is healing - slowly. He tore his calf open, on a raised concrete block flowerbed running along the Dollar General Store parking lot, in Ocean Park-WA. It worries me that he didn't feel it happen - he said he wasn't aware of the  injury until he felt something (blood) running down his leg and filling his shoe. That is concerning.

Still raining. And gusting.