Week Five, Sat 9/29

We were out the door at 8 AM, early sun shining in our eyes. The temp was almost 50, so we were bundled. Again, we were amazed at how far we had to walk to reach water's edge. The students (so young) were already out there, collecting specimens in marked grids. We were privy to their knowledge and willingness to share what they were finding: Sea stars, blood red stars, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, dog winkles, mussels, limpets, sponges, a skulpin (ugly), worms with fancy names, sponges that looked like slime, a fish that looked like an eel, chitons, etc, etc. I don't have a dictionary at hand, so my spelling might not be correct. We spent nearly two hrs out there. Dr. Aiken, their instructor, graciously answered our questions. Wonderful experience. We returned to town by 11 to check out an auction we'd learned about yesterday and it seemed half the town was there. We walked to Kingsbrae Garden, an 11-hectare horticultural gardens featuring 50,000 flowers, shrubs and trees - lovely and serene - and we spent several hrs strolling the paths. Walked slowly home, ate dinner, and watched the tide recede once again.