Carmel, CA

Not sure where the kites were to fly, we approached the beach from the "main entrance" and looked around. One of the first things we encountered was a sand sculptor and this creation of his.

Only a couple of kites were in view and they were a ways down the shore. Along the way we saw several interesting things, one of the first were these "ripples" in the sand caused by the water runoff after a wave ran up on the beach

In the rocks along part of the beach we found some interesting and attractive tidepools. Here we share some of them with you. Here we present a series of four photos of tidepools in the rocks along the beach. (NOTE: This is a series of four pictures which will load in sequence, then return you to this page. If the pictures do not have time to fully download, CLICK HERE to view them one scene at a time.)

Among the life along the rocks we observed this colorful algae.

The battering these rocks get from the sea causes erosion which produced some interesting ripples and uncovered some of the nice colors in the rock.

Watching the surf pound upon the shore and listening to the sounds it makes fulfills one of the main purposes of visiting such a location!

A variety of things may be found while walking along the shore. Here is a crab shell.

Another beautiful find was a live starfish. After taking the picture, it was placed into one of the tidepools.

Several blobs of some clear substance were in the sand. Not knowing what it was or where it came from, we just took a picture of one of the larger ones and left them alone.

Another specimen of shore life was this sand crab which stayed still long enough for Yvonne to pick it up and hold it for a picture.

We finally got close enough to get a picture of two kites up in the air.

Another kite in the area was this one shaped like an airplane.

While some folks fly kites, others relax with colorful banners planted in the sand and flapping in the breeze. Some folks set up banners and then fly kites.

This cute frog windsock played in the air along with the banners.

One of the two kites pictured earlier was this especially interesting and colorful facet kite. According to its owner, its structure is essentially that of an inside-out box kite. One of the advantages of this kite design is that it presents shape and colors from every angle.

Here the owner of the facet kite anchors the line in the sand while Yvonne observes.

The facet kite's owner was kind enough to let Yvonne try her hand at flying this lovely kite.

While observing the kite, some especially large waves came up. Here we caught one with the camera.

Looking to the south, we noticed some lovely and interesting clouds..

Not to be outdone, of course, the sky to the north was a pretty sight as well..