He was so funny jumping around and sniffing everything in the sand. He didn't show any interest in the water so I don't know if he's gonna be a swimmer or not but he really did like wandering around in the sand. We walked from the bridge out to the jetties and back and he spent every second trying to go the other direction. He still needs a little practice on the leash to get with the program I guess LOL 
Just after we got to the beach we saw several dolphins feeding on some mullet under the bridge. It was incredible! They were jumping up out of the water and flipping mullet back and forth. 
The Island Girl got some good shots of them but said she never did manage to catch one completely out of the water. We need a faster lense I guess. Just as the sun was beginning to set we drove down the beach a little to get some sunset shots. It really was pretty today. There were just enough clouds to add some contrast and our pictures turned out great. 
After the sun set we walked back up to the van and were getting everyone brushed off when a cop drove by really fast with his lights and sirens on. About 2 minutes later we saw the same cop plus another one coming back our direction in a big hurry. They turned about 150 yards in front of us and one of the cops practically drove right up into the sand dunes. Immediately a fire truck came roaring up and of course we were wondering what on earth was going on. Now, before I go on, I should tell you that the Island King was a paramedic for 15 years. He flew on a medical helicopter for five years and we met while I was working in an ER that he brought a patient into. Now, he's a photographer, but he's never lost his passion for all things EMS related. So here he is with his camera in hand and obviously something going on right in front of us and off he went. We had the kids with us and while I was curious about what was going on, I definitely didn't want them down there in the middle of anything, so I loaded them up in the van and we inched down the side of the road but didn't get too close. As I got a little closer I could see a car way up in the sand dunes and the cops and firefighters all around the car. Wow. How on earth did that car get all the way up there - especially since we were standing not 200 yards from it without us hearing anything? It must have happened while we were still down on the beach. And there wasn't a skid mark in sight so the driver must not have braked at all. Of course the Island King was right up in there, snapping pictures as fast as he could. It was a woman who was partially ejected from the car and while he has a morbid fascination with car wrecks, he would never take pictures of a victim. We're weird and we're morbid but we don't believe in taking pictures of people who are hurt. He did get some good shots of the emergency guys working and of the car after they loaded the woman into the ambulance. 
One of the cops walked up and assumed he was with the newspaper and without him asking told him that the woman rolled the car four times before it landed in the dunes and she was thrown halfway out the passenger side window. She must have been flying and I guess because she landed in the sand there wasn't much sound from the impact. I still can't believe that happened SO close to us and that we never heard anything! And I don't even want to think about what could have happened if we had left the beach a few minutes earlier and I was trying to pull onto the highway when this woman flew by. So the Island King comes back to the car and tells me that the cop told him they were going to send her by helicopter to the hospital and that the ambulance was going to meet the helicopter at the Coast Guard Station, which is about a mile down the road. If there is anything in the world that the Island King loves as much as me and the kids it's medical helicopters so he jumps in the van and tells me to haul butt down to the Coast Guard Station so he can take pictures of the helicopter landing and taking off. I've been married to this man for twenty years and I know him well so I had already told the kids that if they transported this person by helicopter we would be waiting while dad took pictures of it landing and taking off LOL The Coast Guard Station is completely fenced in but we happened to know that there is a path leading down beside the fence next to their helicopter landing zone and the Island King is on a mission so I pull up to the fence and he takes off. I know that if I sit there one of the Coast Guard people will come out and tell me to leave so I drive across the highway and wait. It wasn't long before the ambulance pulls in and then a couple of minutes later the helicopter landed. 
We waited a while and then the helicopter took off but the Island King didn't come back. Island Girl says "Mom, do ya think they've arrested Dad?" I told her no that I didn't think they would arrest him but that he might be getting yelled at LOL A few minutes later he appears out by the road and we go pick him up. Sure enough one of the Coast Guard guys saw him outside of the fence and went over to see what he was up to. He told the Island King that he was in a restricted area (he was outside of the fence but was still pretty close) and the Island King told him that he was an old EMS guy and that he just wanted pics of the helicopter. The Coast Guard guy was nice to him and let him come right up to the fence but of course didn't invite him in LOL A littl while after we got home I looked at our online newspaper and there was an article about the wreck. The woman was flown to a hospital that is quite a ways from us and since she wasn't flown to the nearest trauma center she must not have been hurt really bad. I hope she's ok and when I was tucking the boys in to bed tonight we said a prayer for her. I still don't understand why people don't wear their seatbelts. It takes one second to click a seatbelt in place and it only takes a second to lose your life if you don't. Labels: Done