The coast was lovely - cool and damp.  Not so damp that we got rained on, but....damper than Redding!  I only went down to the beach once while we were there - that was enough for me to take Alli.  Between her lack of fear of the ocean and her bum knee (she is still limping quite a bit, especially if she has been sitting for a while - like for the drive over to Ft. Bragg) I decided that one trip would be enough.  It was enough to get her drenched at least.  We went to Van Damne Beach - just south of Mendocino.

Alli needed a bit of help to get through the soft sand down to the water.  Once she made it to the packed sand, she was off and splashing in the waves.  Then, she was down on her butt in the waves.  It didn't take long for her to loose her balance with the bad knee and sit down in the water.

I spent some time out on my sister's back deck while I was there (while Alli was otherwise occupied - napping, I believe :)) It was so nice out there in the morning.  Just a bit cooler than I was used to, but the sun was out.

Here's a picture of her house from the front.

And a picture of her new toy - hers is on the left.

She had some nuthatches come in for a drink out of her goldfish pond while we were there.  They are so agile and jumpy!  They were fun to watch flit in and out - grab a quick drink and jump back up, and I even got a couple of good pictures of them.

Here is one 'bottoms up' getting a drink.