Saturday, January 4, 2014

King Tide!

I would like to present King Tide and his son, Prince Tide:
Pink towel? Well, Evie was the only one to bring a towel and she didn't even get in!
They have earned these titles by taking the plunge into one of the King Tides for 2014.  What is a King Tide?  A King Tide is when the sun, moon, and earth are all aligned at perigree (when the moon is closest to the earth) and at perihelion (when earth is closest to the sun).  In simple terms, a King Tide is a very high tide.
The picture above was extracted from the video I took of Mark and Shane going under.  You can hear Fiona and Daniel in the background saying, "Watch out for crabs!" and "Bring me a crab!"
The morning was gorgeous!  The fog was just starting to lift when we got to the first beach, Joemma State Park.
 Sunrise over Camp Coleman
Mark decided to take a second plunge (via the dock).  Here is what the beach normally looks like when we go (you can see the dock in the background):
Ian, April 2012
Ian didn't accompany us this morning.  He just isn't a morning person (I can sure identify with that!)  We let him stay home and sleep in if he would get up and keep an eye on still-sleeping Lula when she woke up.  She woke up ten minutes after we left...Ian put her in front of her favorite Baby Einsteins and even changed her diaper.  I think I'll hire him again!

After we pulled out of Joemma, we decided to drive to the other side of the KP and see what the tide looked like at Penrose State Park:
Our picnic spot is under water!
 This is what Penrose looks like when we usually go:
June 2011
And this is what Mark looks like under water this morning:

Self-Actualized!
I made Fiona go in her pajamas, since we had to be at the beach at 8:00 AM to catch the tide.  Yesterday it took her an hour to find her skinny jeans, so I knew if I let her get dressed, we would miss high tide...and probably catch the super low tides that accompany the King Tide.  At 1:00 AM!
Frozen Flower
Are those icicles forming on your beard, Mark?  Are you ready to go home and drink a hot cup of coffee in a warm bath?
"Where's your swimsuit, Anna?"
The best way to get excited about jumping in the Puget Sound on a January morning when it is 35 degrees outside is to stay up until midnight watching ACDC concert videos.  That is what we did, but we didn't do it on purpose *grin*
One last photo of the King Tide.  This is Filucy Bay at the Longbranch Marina.  Behind that bank of fog is an awesome view of Mount Rainer.  We have never seen the water level so close to the foot bridge!  I took this picture stopped in the middle of the road out the window of the van. 

I went out to see a King Tide, but I saw a whole lot more.  Mark says that is the Zen of King Tide.