Woke up at our Dunes site this morning and took a hike down to the beach through the dunes. Maybe only 1.5 miles down there, but really challenging! Pure sand the last mile or so, surprisingly slow going. We hike was absolutely worth it. I'm writing this 14 days into the trip and I don't think either of us has had a singular experience better than the 60 minutes we spent down there. We arrived at the beach with mist rolling off the ocean and no one else in sight. You couldn't hear anything but the surf. Within minutes of gazing out onto the water, we noticed a few dark spots poking out of the water: Seals! For maybe 15 minutes, they popped in and out of the water, getting closer to us to get a better look. They seemed genuinely interested in us, getting as close as 20 meters away maybe. As we're watching this, an Osprey comes out of the sky and dives bombs into the water in chase of a fish (failed) and a couple minutes later, a Snowy Plover comes running up. We took a walk down the beach and took in the tiny sandpipers running back and forth with the surf. The diversity in such a short time was amazing.
We got on the road, bound for Eugene and without much of a plan beside running there, pulled right up to Hayward Field and oddly enough, got a free parking spot. There was some big convention going on inside the stadium and after chatting it up with a security dude, found on that IAAF Junior Worlds was going on....whoops! He keyed us in on a few good places to run (there are many in Eugene) including Pre's Trails, the River, and another park. I was able to find Pre's Trails (it was a few miles, so Kate didn't get there) and it is one of the coolest places I've run. A park/trail made specifically for runners. The surface was a woodchip, but a perfect balance between firm and soft. A must see for any runner on the west coast.
Vitals:
Miles Driven: ~95
Birds: Olive Sided Flycatcher, Wrentit, Snowy Plover, Sanderling, Least Sandpiper, Band-Tailed Pigeon (51 so far!)
Plates: Virginia (46 thus far!)
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