Heading to the coast

 On Wednesday Justin had the day off because it is was a national holiday. We decided that we mush see the ocean. We haven't seen it since arriving in Taipei on August 13th. We live on an island but never see any ocean. Sometimes we forget that we are on an island because of it. We needed to see it. Getting there was complicated. First we had to walk to the bus stop then catch a bus to Caotun then we needed to change buses to go to Taichung train station. From there we road a train to another town close to the beach and catch a cab to take us to the ocean. Thank goodness we had Emily to help translate. I don't know if we would have ever made it on our own. It was worth it though. We went to a preservation area that was very neat. The dark sand is covered in water when tide comes in. It must go out 2 miles when the tide is out.

 On the bus! 

Holding on to each other so we don't fall over.

 Flying like superman. The wind was so strong that when the birds tried to fly they just hovered. They never gained any ground.

 Windmills. I bet they do lots of good with all of this wind. Maybe they should have more.

 I found this big guy...Not Justin or Noah. They both walked by it without even seeing it.

 I don't know why they get to pose with it instead of me...trust me I am the one that found it, 

 This lady was digging for clams. I took her picture to show you how many of the women dress. It doesn't matter if they are digging in the mud or riding a scooter you don't ever see to much of them until they get indoors. They don't want the sun to touch there skin.

 Noah found this little guy. 

 So cute

 This is where we ate lunch. Looks kind of scary but it was good.

After we left the preservation area we headed to the port. The port was amazing and I wish that we hadn't eaten lunch at the other place. They had so much food and it looked so yummy.

 These little fried goodies are delicious. Justin got one that had crab and veggies in it. 

 These cute little boys were eager to speak English with us. They were helping their father run his stand.

 Squid on a sick and grilled. Not for me! Justin said he is going to try it next time.

 Everything here was fried. Crab on the back right corner and in the middle front. Shrimp on either side in the front and I am not sure what is in the dish on the back left but I bet it is yummy since it is fried!

 These are stuffed with yummy goodness and fried.  I am sure they would be delicious if I wasn't to full to try them.

 Fried everything. Shrimp, octopus, crab, squid and much more

 Justin and Noah saw this raft made out of PVC pipes. Now they want to build one! I should never let them out of the house.

 Justin is so happy to finally be at the ocean. It is in his blood to love the fishing boats and the water. 

 We had a wonderful day!

 Drinking Coconut milk fresh from the coconut.

 Yes these are snails. Justin tried some he liked it.

 More snails. I am not much of a snail eater so I passed on this experience.

Eels, They are still alive!

 Dried fish

 Piles and Piles of dried fish.

 Lots of crabs to chose from. All sizes.

 These are sharks of some kind. They were still alive.

 Just a little ice cream to cool him off.

 Someone gave Justin a flag.

 This is a really good pizza place. They cook the pizzas in a brick oven that is heated with wood.

And here is our meal at the end of the day. I think I said before that every outing ends in a good meal! We had three pizzas. One was mashed potato and bacon, one was sausage and tomato and the third was cheese and smoked cheese. So Yummy.