Heading Inland

We said goodbye to the West Coast but not before I visited Glass Beach. Years ago when I was in the area and looking for things to do, I read that there was a beach in Fort Bragg, CA, that was famous for sea glass. How cool! I went and was amazed by all the pretty glass and I was not alone. There were people there gathering it up in buckets! Later I learned that the glass was actually from an offshore dump that was in use from 1949 to 1967. Wow! What a gimmick! Get the tourists to clean up the beach! Although I have to wonder what happened to the rest of the trash? All you see on the beach is glass. Where is all the metal and plastic from the dump? Is there a Metal Beach or a Plastic Beach?

Here's my sunset shot of the coast at Glass Beach.


And here's a closeup of the beach. Understandably, it doesn't have nearly as much glass as when I was there about 8 years ago, but if you come at low tide, you can still find it.


In fact, they have turned part of the beach into a state park and don't allow scavenging, but I went outside the park and got a handful.

So here's my other thought. Since it's obviously a tourist attraction, why doesn't the Fort Bragg Chamber of Commerce start throwing their city's glass recyclables out in the ocean? (I bet you're wondering if I'm kidding.)

We also spent a lovely evening with friends of Ron's who he knew from high school. The wonderful thing to me is that Mary and Bob met in the first grade and were high school sweethearts. They are a special couple and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting them.


We zipped across California (so unlike us) and landed at a casino in Sparks, Nevada, for a few days. Close by was a wonderful bike path along the Truckee River.


We took it from Sparks to Reno (not as far as it sounds) where we admired the pretty downtown.



We're back to the desert with its colorful sunsets.