Hanging out at the Beach

We went to Johnson Beach today.  It is located on the Gulf of Mexico in the Gulf Shores area. It was sunny, blue skies, no clouds and the temperature in the high 70's.  The sand at the beach is among the whitest in the world. This sand is comprised of small quartz particles.  At the end of the last Ice Age, when the ice caps began melting, large volumes of water were carried by the rivers.  This water carried the quartz particles, from the rock that formed the Appalachian Mountains, and deposited them in the Gulf of Mexico. These quartz sands eventually formed a new shoreline and eventually blew west to Pensacola.  It is this quartz, ground to perfect granular ovals, that makes the sand on the beach “squeak” between your toes when you walk on it!

There is a reef a few hundred yards off of the beach.  These scuba divers were going to explore the area.

We felt bad for this sea gull.  He is missing his left foot.  We feed him and he then he spent most of the day with us.

This fisherman had a close friend.  The heron was just waiting for him to catch a fish.

Some people having fun kayaking.