Amazing day at Daewangam Songnim (Pine Forest and Ilsan Beach!)

Even though we had a late Friday night, Lindie and I met at 9am this morning to go to try to find the Pine Forest and Ilsan Beach.  Like last time, we got on the bus knowing that we would find something awesome but hoping to find this third Scenic Area of Ulsan :-)

About 45 minutes later we were among the very last remaining on the bus and we finally saw a sign for the Pine Forest (thanks to Lindie's incredibly handy ability to read Korean!)  So, off we went. 

Finally off the bus and probably on the right track to our destination.  This is our victory picture :-)

Well, this is the picture of the place we were looking for, so looks like we're going in the right direction...also, it was an amazingly foggy day so I had to take this picture for irony :-)

And here's the story of the forest :-)  This was a really fun thing to think about while we were walking around today. :-)   Interestingly, this place had the most dragonflies I've ever seen.  Awesome.

Right inside the park :-)  Really beautiful.  But there was this strange buzzing/blaring sound far in the distance. . . 

I know what you're thinking. "Why is it always foggy when you and Lindie go off to find scenic sights??" I have to tell you that I don't know.  But, in this case, I think it really added something special :-)  But there was still that strange noise. . .

I think the shape of the trees is just amazing.  :-)  But what the heck is that sound???

If you guessed fog horn, then extra credit for you :-)  I had a feeling, however it was such a haunting sound our imaginations definitely got the best of us... :-)  That's one of the seven or eight light houses on the peninsula, and that horn thing on the top of the little building was the loudest foghorn I could possibly have imagined. 

Even though the horn went off at perfectly regular intervals, it still scared us to death every time.  So, we covered our ears, which was perhaps better than the photographer who stood directly in front of it and started screaming at it :)  I hate to tell you, we spent several hours in the area and his screaming didn't persuade the foghorn one little bit.  I guess it was worth a try, right?  Look at those beautiful trees!

One of the beautiful trails we walked today :-)  My camera had an attitude problem  (and a bit of a lying problem as well, as far as the battery was concerned) so it only took one picture every couple of minutes.  But, this was a beautiful trail to walk!  And the ocean was very close by. . . . . . . . .

This was a little cove we found that we were both completely fascinated by.  The whole scene was like one of our wildest childhood imagination fantasy land wonders.  Fantastic!

Still in the cove, but look!  That bridge over there is the one from the website!  And the one we both saw from the plane!  How beautiful is this place?!?

Here it is again!!  :-) 

I fell head over heels for this tree :-)  This was just such a beautiful spot!  It just felt so ancient and calm.  I think the fog added a lot to that feeling :-)

I love the walkway winding through the craggy rocks! 

Lots of climbing!  But it was all totally worth it!  The sea was all around us here, and these lovely rocks!  Random thing, though, those rocks go down a really long way to the water, and Lindie and I saw a cat just appear down by the water and start walking around looking for stuff.  Random rock cat :-)  My camera didn't feel like taking a picture at the time, but I just wanted to tell you :-)

"We made it!  We made it!  I can't believe we made it!"  :-)

My camera wouldn't let me take a picture for a long time, so this was after quite a bit of hiking.  I had to stop and touch everything, like I do, and I'm pretty sure Lindie was mocking me for touching the trees, so for that she gets blogged :-) 

At the top of another part of the park...or at least on the way to the top.  It's just too beautiful!

The rock formations literally fascinated me.  I couldn't stop staring at them.

So, now I'll make you stare at them!  Aren't they wonderful??

So, at this point my batteries were totally dead so we started making our way to Ilsan Beach which was on the other end of the penisula.  We needed batteries.  And Coke.  And to eat the lovely sandwiches that Lindie made.  So, you can see we still had a lot to do.  :-)  While we ate the amazing sandwiches that my camera refused to take pictures of :-( Lindie and I called Elien.  Elien is a fantastic teacher at my school and was actually brave enough to come to Sally's birthday party last night, and braver still, said she would come along with Lindie and I to Ilsan Beach :-)  So, while we waited to meet her, Lindie and I searched for our treasures. . .

Sweet, sweet success.  :-)  Well, partial.  It's Pepsi, but obviously still passable.  :-)

Mountain Dew in a bottle?????  Can this be???  Yes!  (and completely fizz free!  oh well :-)  It's still lovely Mountain Dew!)

It's a little foggy...but that's part of where we were exploring.  That and then all behind it.  Beautiful!  :-)

I think fog kept the beach population down a bit.  So, we thought we would try the water!  It was cold in Busan, if you remember, very, very cold, but this far surpassed the last time!  We made an ENORMOUS spectacle of ourselves screaming and carrying on at the freezing water.  But eventually we were victorious. . .

Victorious, at least, until we were numb top to bottom and decided to regroup on dry land to come up with a new strategy. . .

 Then, Elien came!  Yay!!  And we decided the best plan of attack was by tube.  So, off we went to rent them.  They were fantastic, and made everything better :-)

Yay Elien!!  :-)  Absolutely fantastic person!  But she's leaving in October for new amazing opportunities in Australia!  I guess that's pretty much what Lindie and I did so I shouldn't be mad at her, but I can still give her a hard time about it, right? :-)

What's all over Lindie?  Um. . .armor.  Against the evil cold ocean.  :)  Okay, so it's sea weed.  We were both pretty fascinated by it.  It feels like plastic and so completely not slimy and gross like we thought it would.  Is Elien trying to shoot her?  :-)

Aren't we glamorous??!  :-)  Those tubes, affectionately called "dodo tubes" were the best idea ever.  Made the water so much more enjoyable.  We spend most of the afternoon this way :-)

Yay!!  :-)

Lindie's amazing (frankly, spot on) impression of a frozen, pink, beach, day-dwelling vampire.  Amazing!  :-)  It was cold though. . .but so much fun :-)

Elien handled hypothermia with a lot more dignity than we did :-)

The beach had showers (yay!) and a bathroom (yay!) so after we got washed off a bit and changed, we walked along the boardwalk and found all kinds of wonderful things, including atoy stand with those robotic dancing and barking dogs where Lindie found this little treasure:

I'm going to have to go back and edit this because I can't remember his name...even though I said it a million times today. . .It's an amazing name and perfect for him, but I can't remember....Sorry Lindie and Mini Panda!!  He has a bit of an off-center face...and his eyes glow. . .and he sings a little song and walks. . .he's basically amazing :-)

Among the many interesting things to look at on the board walk we saw this little hedgehog.  He was adorable and only 60,000 won :-)  But the best thing was that he was dreaming and kicking in his sleep.  He was absolutely ridiculous and was very nearly adopted.  Poor little, cute little thing! :-)

So, at this point we were pretty much starving and lucky for us Elien's little sister just happened to work for a restaurant near where we were, so off we went. It was a place called January and was fabulous!  All of the tables were in their own little rooms, had couches and pillows, and everything!  :-)  Awesome :-)  

Our own, personal doorway to our own personal little room :-) 

Christmas lights AND graffiti???  Best place ever!

And a view.  :-)  So, there we were, just chilling on lovely couches, looking out the window, and deciding what we wanted to try.  :-)

Dry AND warm!  Ahhhhhh   :-)

Poor Elien had to read the whole menu to us :-) and everything sounded amazing, so we finally chose and just enjoyed the amazing restaurant until our fabulous food arrived. 

Spaghetti!  :-) 

Baked seafood rice COVERED in CHEESE!!   (not a hard decision for Jean!)  :-)

Cheesy, yummy, lovely :-)

Nothing is ever going to beat cheesy seafood :-)

Lindie got a fantastic steak.  Not sure why I didn't get a picture of her eating it...Sorry Lindie!  That sauce was fabulous!

Just wanted to leave a little bit out our lovely day here in this lovely restaurant :-) 

Does magic panda approve?  (I think he felt a bit left out.  It's just that he has no thumbs, you see?  Which makes it difficult for him to sign things like walls.  It sure would have helped me remember his name though!!)

There, there, panda.  You have plenty of other nice qualities!  Like those brilliant glowing eyes!  Huh?  How about those eyes!  No one else has those!

They gave us candy at January.  Yummy suckers with incredibly long sticks :-)  Awesome.  But, this is where we said goodbye.  Hopefully more adventures to come!!  Soon!  :-)