Clammin' in Western Washington

We had so much fun on Jan 20. Chris' friend from his single's ward (who also got married over the summer to a girl living in Utah) called a few days before and said he was going to look at a colt and a horse trailer in western Washington and did we want to go? The colt ended up being sold before Saturday but he bought the trailer!
Then he had looked for fun things to do while we were out that way and saw that Clam Digging was that weekend. He had been the year before and said it was a lot of fun. I have to tell you, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
First off, we had none of the proper equipment and the proper equipment was $20+. No way were we spending the money on "Clam Guns" when ordinary shovels that we would use again were $4. So we got in line to buy them at the local Walmart in Aberdeen. For those of you who know nothing about Aberdeen, it's a little like West Virginia. So of course the people around us start chatting and find out we're going clammin' that night. I'm not sure I've ever seen anyone laugh that hard. We had everyone around us trying to convince us that the shovels would not do the job and that the clams would get away from us. Jason and Marie had brought smaller shovels that weren't so hefty so we told them we were getting these anyway. It was a riot.
Then we get down to the beach about 4:00pm. The clammin' isn't supposed to start until 7:30pm. We watched the surfers for awhile. I thought "They're INSANE to be out in that water, even with wetsuits! and mostly old dudes too!. Little did I know what was around the corner for me.
Then we go over to check out the beach we'll dig up later and catch all of the 60 clams we're allotted. We were so happy to see that there were already people there! We decided we might as well start now.
We go out there with all our equipment (people chuckling at us along the way) and we start pounding the ground. From what I was told in the beginning, you hit the sand and watch for bubbles to start coming up about 6 inches from your shovel and then you start digging like mad. I tried it for awhile without seeing any bubbles. And then I saw a yellow lab with two older gentlemen so I just went over and asked if I could play with their dog while they dug for clams. The dog was awesome. And if that's all that had happened for the night, I would have been happy.
Our friends and Chris came over pretty soon after and we asked the dog's owner, Tom, for advice on how to find the little buggers. He let the four of us follow him around and showed us what to look for. It was pretty funny scene with all of us following him like puppy dogs.
We got the spirit of things pretty quick and started pounding away again. The main problem with our method came from us not wanting to get wet though. Everytime a wave came up to where we were, we all ran away, had to wait for it to recede, and venture back out again. Pretty soon it became apparent that this was not helping our search. I had tied garbage bags around my legs earlier but they shredded within an hour. So we consigned ourselves to getting wet up to our knees in the Pacific Ocean. Oh it was cold.
FINALLY, Marie yells out that she saw the dimple in the sand that actually indicates a clam (no bubbles, no hole). Jason starts digging furiously and after a few tense moments, rises up with our very first clam of the night!!! We all got pumped up after that and about 10 minutes later I found a dimple too! Both girls, how about that?
Jason comes running over with his smaller shovel and as soon as he gets a little hole, dives down in with his hand. At this point in the game, he's the only one willing to do this so we all just wait. But then...a wave came crashing to where we were and buried Jason up to his shoulder in cold, cold ocean water. I told him I wasn't sure the clam was worth it but he wouldn't let go. This picture to the right is Jason with his hand in the sand and the water coming up over it.
Then he says, "Uh Oh, I think I cracked it's shell". Whoops. Now we have to get it cause it's dead anyway. But now Jason's hand is stuck and he can't get out without letting the clam go. After a few tense moments I throw my shovel at Chris and dove down in to dig Jason out. I found the clam in his hand, a wave washes up, and we pull up at the same time with the crushed clam in tow. It was hilarious. And I was done for the night. Jason and Marie wanted to keep going though so we told them we'd meet them back at the car and we'd change clothes.
Back at the car we were all ready to go. In the ten minutes they stayed behind us, Jason and Marie did not get the 58 more clams that we could have taken home that night, they actually didn't get one more. Oh well.
Tom and his son got their limit though and finished the same time we did with our two. We were pretty proud of ourselves and had to take a picture with our mentor for the night. And Willow (the dog) was fun to play with.
Did I mention Marie is 5 months pregnant?