Our back yard view last weekend.

It's a good thing I only have to type and not talk to tell you about our weekend at the shore last weekend because at the moment I can only whisper. With this darned head cold I have lost my voice (of course I always do when I have lots of back of the throat drainage). It's also painful to swallow so I might just lose those extra couple of pounds I've been trying to shed during this.

Anyway, like the caption under the photo says, this is Andy & Linda's back yard: the beach! The weather was probably the best on Friday afternoon when we arrived. The sun was out and it was pleasantly warm.. Bella got her swim in the ocean but she wants to go into more detail with you herself so I'll leave the particulars for her to tell.

The dogs adapted themselves to the house and to Andy & Linda right away. They were very good, even when we were outside and loose dogs on the beach would come up to the somewhat wispy fencing of board slats and wire. I was afraid Bella would try to jump it since it wasn't very tall, or worse yet put her front feet on the fence with her full weight and literally pull the fence to the ground. But she did none of those things. Alex was feeling so at home by the end of our stay that he barked when Andy came into the room as if to say "who are you, this is my house" and Andy would gently remind him that he pays the bills, not Alex.  Here are Alex and Bella happily resting on the deck

Although Andy & Linda's house is now almost fully restored, the same cannot be said about their neighbors. Here is looking one direction down the beach at the next door neighbors' house. See those flags in the distance? I'll show another photo of that house in a later photo, so keep it in mind. The house you see here boarded up will need a new foundation since the old one cracked during Sandy. They'll have to lift the whole house up, all three stories, in order for that to happen. 

Here is a photo looking the other direction, up the beach toward Point Pleasant.

Streets and yards are still filled with sand and debris. It's sobering. And here is a closer look at the house four or five houses down that split in half.

I have more very dramatic photos of the hurricane damage that still exits, and believe me, there is more than you can even imagine, but those photos are for another post. I'll leave you with Bella exploring the dune in the back yard.