Friday's Mountain of Gold...

This beach is nestled in a crook at the base of the rocky bluffs at Montana de Oro State Park. It's a smaller beach and covered entirely in rocks. Big rocks, little rocks, minuscule rocks, nearly-microscopic rocks... you get the picture ; ) It's my favorite beach for finding velvety-smooth stones in a pastel rainbow of colors.


High upon the massive rock, stands my sister looking rather dwarfed. She informed us after the fact that she does NOT like heights. Or water. Or strong winds. Sorry, little sis!!!


Waiting for the raging waves to grasp our toes...


My little-son-turned-sand-crab. He scuttled all across the beach, collecting long flat rocks for digging in the not-quite-sand...


Here's a macro shot of the "sand" we were trudging on. It's not easy to walk over tiny rocks. They move under your feet, so with every step you slide an inch or two. Great for the leg muscles. Not so great for the softer parts of your feet after walking on such a rough surface for several hours!


The water at this beach pretty much just drops off about ten-feet off-shore (can that even be called off-shore?). The approaching waves crash with a vengeance, dredging up all manner of crazy things from the bottom of the ocean: kelp, rocks, shells, and even petroleum!!! Yep, that's right. Did you know you can find clumps of black tar washed up on the beach? I just learned this fact (after coming to this particular beach almost a dozen times!). The hard way. I spent the rest of the afternoon sitting on the bathroom counter soaking my feet in warm water and Goo-Gone to remove all that black tar!!!


Little Miss woke up from her nap and got a lovely shoulder-ride from Grandma...


Little Sis tried her hand at building her first sand castle...


Little Son was rather energetic about helping with the sand castle too!


Discussing the finer points of why NOT to toss beautiful rocks back into the raging waters!


Searching for shells before the waves carry them away...


Have I mentioned that the waves on this beach are a tad unpredictable? I got a little drenched... The beauty of wearing a skirt to the beach is that you can wring it out and it dries in half the time a pair of jeans would!


It is safe to say that Little Son is completely enthralled with the beach : )


He amuses himself for hours doing any number of strange and exciting boy-things : ) Like making up crazy poses for the camera...


At long last, our growling stomachs sent us scurrying back home, leaving only the crumbled remains of Little Sister's sand castle (note: this picture was taken BEFORE she listened to my vengeful hubby who advised her to jump on the sand castle and destroy it before a stranger had the coveted chance! Boys are weird...) Beautiful, yes?