Earl and his aftermath, my quiet time along the coast.

After a week's worth of warnings and preparations by the local authorities, I'm happy to say that Earl quietly slipped past us while we were sleeping last night. I will admit to waking at some point to the sound of rain pounding on the windows however I quickly fell back asleep. We awoke to nothing serious, puddles in the drive and some passing clouds that were quickly driven away by a bright sunny sky. A little breezy and some puffy clouds, but Earl clearly had met his match with the Low that was approaching from our West.

Earl's outer bands started to penetrate the skies overhead Friday afternoon

I have to admit, the skies were really interesting

Monkey went with his father around 10:00 this morning and knowing that I was in dire need of down time I decided I would do some surf chasing and work on using up some more of that State Park Pass.

I started my day with a road trip to Reny's, one of my favorite local shopping places. Located in Saco/Biddeford it's not necessarily a hop and a skip, but with a carefully planned afternoon it's worth the trip. I ended up with a very pretty scarf and some suet cakes for this winter, they didn't have much new that I was interested in. It was more of an excuse so I could check out a few other places.

I've driven Rt 112 headed to Saco from Buxton many times, however last night while poking through one of my "things to do in Maine" books I found that hidden away is a place called the Saco Heath Preserve. It's a Peat Bog that's been preserved with walking paths and such, and what do you suppose? I found the parking area right where I've passed all these years and never knew it was there. I scoped out the parking and figured that would be a hike to take with the Monkey when conditions were a little drier. Put that on the 'to do' list!

To be continued.......

After my shopping trip at Reny's, I slipped down Route 9 towards Camp Ellis and veered left onto Bayview Road to the entrance to Ferry Beach. I proudly displayed my pass and was thanked, then told that I shouldn't go into the water due to the rip tides. It was low tide, as the attendant explained, however there were no life guards on duty and the water could be very dangerous. I promised I wouldn't go swimming and drove into the parking lot which was - to my surprise - loaded with a total of five cars. It was virtually empty at 11:30 in the morning on Labor Day weekend. I suppose people were heeding the local news stories and taking their families elsewhere. I kicked off my flipflops and made my way down the boardwalk, through the tunnel that goes under the roadway and up through the Scotch pines to the beach entrance. It was definitely low tide and although well warned on their way in, many people were enjoying the rough surf - some even with their small children. I walked my way up towards Old Orchard Beach and back in about 45 minutes, the sun warm and the breeze cool. It was fantastic.

Ferry Beach at low tide. So much for stayin out of the water people!

Plovers and Pipers take advantage of the open beach, looking for niblets along side a Herring Gull

Overlooking Old Orchard Beach with a very rough surf in between

Fun sand art, compliments of the outgoing tide

Wood Island Lighthouse off Biddeford Pool. I bet it got a workout last night!

Once last glance at the beach

A beautiful bright red dragonfly at the pond on the park property

When I left there I worked my way up East Grand Avenue to see how OOB was fairing with the tourists in town. Again I was surprised, I slipped up through with minimal effort and although most of the people were in the square there were still alot of walkers strolling the sidewalks. I headed north up Route 9 into Scarborough then slid onto 77 to my favorite beach of 2010, Crescent. Again at the park booth I was greeted with the song and dance - stay out of the water because of the rough surf and rip tides. And again, as I slipped my toes into the warm sand I was amazed at the people blatantly ignoring the warnings. The surf here was much larger than at Ferry Beach and with more people on the beach there were far more in the water. Again, no life guards on duty. Well, not everyone is smart I guess. Here I was greeted with a waft of hot barbeque coals and sunscreen as I worked my way down the beach. The wind seems stronger, the tops of the waves blowing off and frothing as they crashed into the sand. There were literally hundreds of Swallows in the air, swooping and diving to catch bugs in an attempt to fill up before heading south I suppose. Here again I spent about an hour walking along the sand, snapping pictures as I went.

Boats on the Kettle Cove end of Crescent get a rockin' in the rough surf

The black dots in the sky are Tree Swallows, hundreds of them!

A lone sailboat braves the offshore

Crescent Beach and it's surf, including all the people warned not to go in.

My last stop was at Two Lights State Park. Here as I flashed my pass the attendent literally came out of the booth and approached the car.  "Hey there cutie - look, I have to tell you. I've been talking to people all day and my counterpart up there" he pointed up towards the direction of the park "is having a horrific time getting people to stay off the rocks." He pointed at me "You need to promise me you won't go out on those rocks, hear me?". I nodded in agreement and crossed my heart... "I promise!" I said. Here the parking lot was stuffed full, I barely found a parking spot. I skipped up the stone walkway to the highest point of the park and gasped in awe - no wonder they were concerned. The surf here was incredible as it crashed upon the rocky coastline. I made my way down to the walking path and had to jostle between some people for a good vantage point and look at that. Here there were people all over the rocks, sprawled out having picnics, small kids running around, standing in the salt spray. It was a wonder they didn't shut the place down. The ranger here was on a golf cart type apparatus, patroling the walkway and yelling down at the oblivious people below who either couldn't or didn't want to listen. I must admit, the view was spectacular and I wanted to stay there all day, but I couldn't handle watching the idiots below me. I snapped my shots and got out of dodge.
 

 Rose hips with the bursting surf directly behind them

 I love the reflection in the pooled water

 See the idiots in the lower right corner?

I almost tempted fate and swung down to the Portland Headlight and figured..... nah. If there were idiots every other place I had been, there were sure to be many more there. I decided it was time to mosey home. My last great view was the towering cruise ship docked in Portland Harbor. I snapped one last picture as I made my way across the South Portland bridge.

A cruise ship in Portland Harbor dwarfs the condos in front of it.

So here I sit, now at home - awaiting the return of the prince. I must admit, it doesn't seem like I should be as tired as I am after a few hours of running around. I am. It was a perfect way to simmah down and relax, even if it was just for a couple of hours. And to top it off, I added $13.50 to the Park Pass.