A day at the beach and then home

We spent our last day in California relaxing at Refugio State Beach, about 10 miles north of Santa Barbara.

We're from Western Washington, where this is how we're used to relaxing on the beach...

Instead, the beach looked like this....

those trees along the shore line?  Palm trees!

It was another scorcher in Southern California but a nice breeze was blowing down the beach, making it very pleasant.  The water was chilly but because it was so hot out, the kids never got too cold.  Elizabeth was having a blast swimming in the ocean until a pod of dolphins swam by (about 100' offshore).  I know that in her head she believed me when I told her they were dolphins, not sharks.  But, in her heart she still had doubt.  Once those fins went by, she never got over her waist again.  I really enjoyed watching the dolphins out in the water.  There was an inlet just down the beach from us and they seemed to be fishing.  The kids spent hours running from the waves and screaming when they didn't quite make it.  They also enjoyed burying each other in the sand and creating fanciful creatures.  Jacob was the master designer and builder.  The kids being buried loved all the attention from their biggest brother.

mermaid Elizabeth

Mermaid Miriam

octopus Isaac

Genie Anastaya

We love to go to the beaches around home and are familiar with beach forts made out of driftwood.  Here's a beach fort we found, Southern California style.

made out of palm fronds

Here we are in high Dickson style with our bins collapsing under the pressure of the straps in an attempt to keep them secure to our little cargo carrier.  Notice how it's even crooked?  Now that's classy!  At 4 pm we left the beach behind, and began the long drive home.  We drove by lots of places I wish we'd had the time to stop at: Pismo Beach, several missions, Salinas and the Monterey Penninsula (I'm a John Steinbeck fan), farm stands that sold avocados 10/$1, and San Francisco.  Maybe next time we come we'll have more time for sightseeing on the way home.  If not, I'll put Dode on an airplane and wander home with just the kids.  We traveled through the night and made it back home at 1 pm, greeted by rain and temperatures in the 60's. 

 I have a terrible time sleeping in the car.  It felt like I'd just doze off when: we'd go over pavement that was being resurfaced and was very bumpy (rough enough to lift me clear off the seat in at least two places), the kids would begin hollering for something (we need another Redbox, I'm thirsty/too hot/cold/uncomfortable) or Dode was demanding $5 for a toll bridge.  Dode could sleep through most anything, like usual.  He'd downloaded an MP3 of white noise for me to try to block out the car noise.  It worked to a point but it was a very quiet recording.  To keep myself going while it was my turn to drive, I had loaded Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell onto my MP3 player (very interesting, understandable and I highly recommend it).  When it was my turn to drive, I had bad luck with my entertainment because once I was going, I couldn't put my headphones on or adjust my MP3 player.  If I forgot to get everything going before I started, I was out of luck.  I spent hours driving in silence because I didn't want to pull over and wake up the car just to listen to my book.  I finally got everything situated for my third turn driving, and my battery went dead after 10 minutes!  Dode, on the other hand, finished up his book on his MP3 just as we were pulling into Arlington!  It's a good thing I spent so many hours playing Night Driver as a young teenager because I put those skills to the test on windy I-5 though Northern California and Oregon.  It was almost like I was having flashbacks watching those reflectors lining up!  One thing I don't remember from the game were deer on the side of the road.  I only saw one this time but hitting a deer is my number one fear while night driving.

We're  lighting our first fire of the season to warm up the house tonight.  Apparently summer is officially over.  Summer started for us on June 3rd when we left for Nauvoo and here it is September 26th and we've finished our last trip of the year.  Yet, summer still doesn't feel long enough.  It's sad to look at the calendar and see months and months before we get to play in the sun again.  We've done a lot of playing this summer and made lots of memories.  Thanks for following along with us!

We're all just a little tired!