The forces of nature

Since Hurricane Matthew went through we have been seeing many changes to MY beaches - especially this week as there have been SUPER king tides occurring with the full moon (in fact for this whole past week and even this morning and the next few mornings too). A lot of the sea grass is either being pushed up the beach or just washed back out into the ocean. (I must point out in the high 80's temps we have been getting it is starting to smell REALLY pawsome - although Mom doesn't seem to find it so appealing)

Because so much sand has washed away what use to be the high tide mark has now changed and it is about 20 foot higher up the beach.  After our walkies on MY beach Mom decided to go and check out Little Talbot State Park (Yes that evil place that doesn't allow doggies on the beach - why she would consider going there is beyond me!)

Anyway - when pulling up to the gate to the park the Park Ranger told her only boardwalks 1 and 3 were open. The other 6 boardwalks were all so badly damaged in the storm that they can't be used and as you can see from the photo below - even boardwalk 1 took a pretty good beating (which is sad as they had only just finished this a few weeks ago). What shocked Mom the most at Little Talbot was how much sand had washed away - 8-10 feet of it going back 200-250 feet. All the palm trees and shrubs that use to line the edge of the sand dunes are now gone - as too is the beautiful white sand - which is now grey and even dark black in places. So much sand washed away that is even uncovered an old pier that use to be there some 30 years ago! Sadly too - Mom could see that many many shells had washed up but they have just been smashed to pieces in the relentless waves.

This was the brand new boardwalk 1

Plenty of stinky sea grass

Changes in the beach at Little Talbot

The top of that pile is where the beach use to be!

Uncovered - part of an old pier

Another view of the old pier

Little Talbot a few weeks ago before the storm

Sunday morning beach walkies

Sea Urchin Shells

We went for an early morning walk on the beach  and it was the highest tide we had ever seen (we think the full moon probably helped). There was still a lot of sea grass on the shoreline but that is pawsome because look at the treasure "I" found for Mom today - lots of sea urchin shells.

Do you know - we found out something about all that sea grass - they push it up high on the beach so that it acts like a trap for sand and over the years (providing we don't get any more bad storms for a while) - the sand dunes will eventually build up higher thanks to that base of sea grass - pretty cool huh!

In one of the pictures below you can see me stood in the gap where one of the sand dunes use to be - it gives you an idea of how much sand was moved. We also got to watch the strangest looking Navy ship coming into to dock. We couldn't see any identifying number or name but we did find out it is a USNS - (T-EPF-4) Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport ship. We also got to sea lots of Albatrosses - they didn't seem to like the windy conditions this morning and we also found some washed up beach treasures. 

A little windy today

MY sand dune has washed away

Debris on the beach

Spearhead-class expeditionary fast transport ship

Mr Albratross

Washed up treasures

Checking on MY beach

We headed down to MY beach this morning to see what had happened and were pleasantly surprised - instead of lots of sand being washed away - LOTS of sand got washed up (or maybe it was the sand dune that got washed down and covered the beach). There was LOTS and LOTS of sea grass stalks that got washed up too (wonderful stinky rotting sea grass I might mention)  but all things considered not a lot of debris. We did find a big piece of wood from someone's dock and sadly we even found a dead deer (a four point stag) amongst the sea grass. We are not sure how he got there but are guessing he got caught in the storm surge somewhere and was washed out to sea.

Mom was disappointed not to find even a single shell -  but we did meet a lovely lady on the beach who Mom stopped to talk too. She worked as a meteorologist for the Navy for 22 years and she came over to say hi because she had a sheltie a few years ago and recognized us. She told Mom that they only opened the beach to the public again yesterday because of the strong rip currents and storm surges this past week. She also told Mom she went down on Sunday and saw LOTS of shells washed up but the military police wouldn't let anyone on the beach and of coarse they have all washed back out to sea or been buried under the sand now.

We took LOTS of photo's today and remember you can click on them to see them bigger. We also got to see a submarine leaving the base today - it was flying a flag Mom didn't recognize and an American flag so we are not sure where it is from. Mom was also happy to see the "Mayport Feral Kitties" all survived - we saw a couple sitting on the breakwater and found they rest of them over near the RV park.

Oh we forgot to mention - around our neighborhood most of the damage is just tree and fence related. Mom says the fence builders must be rubbing their hands with glee at all the work they are going to be having for the next month of so. A lot of houses lost roof tiles but only small amounts like 10 or 20 tile each although we did see a couple of places that had half to three quarters of all their tiles gone. The neighborhood across the street from us still doesn't have power but they will hopefully by the end of the day. The big problem with the power was the amount of tree limbs and trees that fell breaking the lines. Not having had any real major storms for the last 10 years - trees have been busily growing bigger in all that time and they hadn't really done a good job of keeping them trimmed and away from power lines - lesson learned as the CEO of the power company said on the news last night.

Lots of sea grass washed up

Looks like a piece of someone's dock

So many good smells in this stuff

Comeon Mom - this stuff is great to roll on!

Still windy here - the birds are grounded

Poor dead deer - mmmmmm salted venison jerky!

What happened to my sandy beach near the breakwater?

Getting to the rocks isn't easy

This use to be a sand dune !

Mayport Kitty - just chill-laxin

Submarine leaving the Mayport Base

Another view of the submarine

A Bloody Battle

Looking down the battlefield

While out and about the other day we came across the Horseshoe Bend National Military Park and discovered this was the site where on 27 March 1814, Major General Andrew   Jackson's army of 3,300 men attacked Chief Menawa’s 1,000 Red Stick Creek warriors - killing 800 of them. You can read more about it here - although Mom is of the opinion that Jackson (yes the same one our hometown of Jacksonville is named after) pretty much slaughtered the Indians for their land. This "great" victory helped him on his path to the White House where he became the 7th President. Thankfully the only battle we saw when we were there - were turtles battling for poll position on the rock :)

The battle plan

Along the battle trail

Horseshoe Bend River

Battling for poll sunning position on the rock

Mountain dogs!

Today we hiked all the way to the top of Smith Mountain to see the fire tower and the awesome view over Lake Martin - we didn't climb the stairs up the tower as Mom said it would be safe for us BUT I know I could of made it! I am Reilly the MOUNTAIN goat dog!

The fire tower was originally built in 1939 and restored in  June 2012.  Visitors hike up the half-mile trail from the parking area to the tower where they can climb up to the top of the tower. They can also sign the guest book to show they made it - which we did.  The view from the tower, which is 80 feet above the top of Smith Mountain, is spectacular and offers panoramic views of Lake Martin.  The tower is surrounded by a native longleaf pine forest, large granite deposits and is open to the public sunrise to sunset, seven days a week.  The best thing of all though - dogs are welcome!

The great possum hunter

First we want to apologize that we can't visit
everyone - we have limited internet access thanks to one of Miss Dawns neighbors so we don't like to stay on too long.

As for Hurricane Mathew - we don't know if it caused any damage to our house as sadly we have no-one who can go and check on it for us so it will just be a "wait and see" when we get home Wednesday. We have been able to check with our power company and  as of this today - they are saying it will be Tuesday at 3.00 pm when our power will be restored - needles to say we will have lost everything in our fridge and freezer - goodbye all our frosty paws!!!!

Today though..... I became a GREAT possum hunter. We were all sitting out on the deck this morning watching the lake and I kept sniffing around to storage box Miss Dawn keeps her deck chairs in. I was back and forth sniffing at each side, pacing and trying to find a way in. Finally Dad got up to check inside and look what had made itself a nice comfy nest in there. Yeah - I made short work of chasing him off - well actually Dad did - can you believe he wouldn't let me stay outside and get that critter!

We are safe

We just wanted to let everyone know that we are safe and well away from that nasty hurricane Mathew. My wonderful girlfriend Katie's Mom (Miss Dawn) was amazingly kind to let us stay at her lake house in  Alabama for a few days - far away from the danger. I must say we are LOVING it - it is a lot cooler here and Mom says I am like some hyperactive energizer bunny - I just want to run and sniff and be outside ALL the time. She is having a hard time even getting photos of us as our heads are constantly turning at all the new sounds and sights drifting on the breeze. We can not thank Miss Dawn enough as the hurricane was heading right for where we live and being so near the beach to storm surge and winds are just such a huge threat. Of coarse we have no idea what we will be going home too but Mom says that doesn't matter because we are all safe.

Keep your paws crossed

Please keep your paws crossed for all us furbabies that live in Florida. Hurricane Mathew is heading our way and the Governor has released a State wide Hurricane warning. We checked the beach this afternoon and the storm clouds are already gathering. We hope all our Florida buddies will heed any warnings and head to safety if they can. Thankfully due my wonderful girlfriend Katie's Momma we have a safe place to go in Georgia if we need to. Stay safe and if you don't hear from a us for a few days it may be because the power has been knocked out - we will try to let Katies Momma know what is happening though.

Resting up

Being on beach patrol is hard work - some times we just need to find a spot out of the wind and have a little rest

Time out

Sometimes it is good to just have a little time out - sit back, relax, breathe and enjoy MY beach :)

Click here if you can't see the video

Watching the sunrise

We all got up super early and headed off to the beach to watch the sunrise. Dad even took some chairs and while Mom went for a long walk we stayed with Dad and sniffed around our favorite area for 2 whole hours ! Mom found 2 nice big shells and 2 sand dollars. The dark one must have been still alive when it washed up last night and had dried out and died before Mom found it. She found two others that we still alive and put them back in the water. We also had fun watching this large sand piper scurrying along the wave line. We see lots of tiny sand pipers that about 4" big but this is the first time we have seen a big guy - he was nearly a foot tall!

Cloudy evening walk

Dude - your tongue is hanging out !

Those waves are getting awfully close !