You may wonder why a 'lady' such as myself would post a photo of the most detested, yet necessary, contrivance squatting in the blackberry-patch at the Shine Tidelands. How I loathe these filthy port-a-potties that are placed, and rarely cleaned, around any public boat-launching recreational site here in Washington state! Yet, when nature calls, I'm sure glad they are there.I just happened to take a photo of this one on Saturday, as it recalls a troubled time in our canoeing history when I was a constant complainer - mainly, the water was too rough, or the wind-chill factor was abysmal, or my feet were cold, or the drive or paddle was too long, or the view was just downright boring. Seems, in those early days, that I could easily find something that wasn't meeting my standards of recreation or comfort. So, one time, as I packed up our gear in a huff, mumbling something to George, shaking my head in exasperation, I dismissed his conciliatory comments with a disregarding wave of my hand. Told him I was going to go sit for awhile in the port-a-potty. Well, I no sooner finished, got my pants zipped up, my hands sanitized, and I tried to open the darn door....it wouldn't budge. I thought, "O God, trapped in a port-a-potty. What next!" I fiddled with the latch and pushed and pushed. Kicked the darn door and yelled for George to help me bust outta there.
Wouldn't you know it, he didn't say, "Babe, WHAT HAPPENED!! You poor thing, you must have been terrified!" He said, "Are you going to be good?"
I pushed the door barely a crack, and discovered that he'd run the van clear up to that bathroom door so I couldn't get out! Well, of course, that was just like George. And, when I started to complain about Head Island, he did the same thing .....again.
This is just the most boring island to paddle out to when there are overcast skys, but when the sky is blue and the tide is high, I've done some fantastic filming of schools of fish among the seaweed. The aquatic life here is very rich.The island requires at least an hour to paddle around, and also requires a portage over a sand-spit during low tide.
The beaches here are rugged with oyster shells and rocks with barnacles. Seaweed covers much of the beach at low tide.We did some exploring, getting out at a few places to look around - this is always fun.
This old fishing vessel is beached at high tide, empty and broken.
Sometimes, I get out to explore and film, and George is very patient while I check out the starfish, the oysters, cliff formations and drift-wood that has washed up onto the shore. 
Head Island is near the Hood Canal bridge, and during low tide people can walk over the sand-spit onto the island, rather than paddle over to it.
This was a shelter someone built out of driftwood...I crawled inside, noticing several little alters featuring favorite brews.
As we rounded the island, this old dragon snarls at passer-bys. It's been there for years, and has a red plastic flashlight globe sticking out of it's mouth. Curved driftwood builds the humps that stick out of the sand.
I thought this oyster shell was so pretty - and regretted not being able to collect a meal's worth along the beach. There are specific times for collecting, and also some of the beaches are privately owned, so we never pick anything up.
I helped George drag the canoe over this sandspit, and by the end of this paddle, I'd found enough little curiosities to make the afternoon paddle a delight. No more complaints...
