Hello, Ocean.

Last Sunday, on Ariel's first morning as a Californian, we made whole wheat cherry pancakes and talked about life. After sharing breakfast with Cam and Sam, we all milled around a bit trying to decide if the weather was going to allow us to take the trip to the beach we'd talked about or if we should opt for a tour of the city by car instead.

The weather broke and we made a bee line to Rodeo Beach. I enjoyed watching people I love enjoy the ocean.

Ariel joked about how it felt funny to be in bare feet while wearing a coat. But that's pretty standard around here.

And after driving 3,000 miles, it is essential to feel the sand on your feet at least for a little while, isn't it?















As Cam said in his blog, the waves were impressive.

Once the skies cleared, the sun was quite bright. It made for interesting shadows and brilliant colors.











But it was hard to get a photo of a person without making them squint into the sun or have shadows on their face.

Ariel said that was why she wears her hat. I learned about the benefit of wearing a hat to shade my eyes in Myrtle Beach.

Amy lent me a Rice Women's Rugby hat she had with her. I didn't want to give it back to her but eventually found one of my own.

I still have a Hello Dave hat Melissa gave me the night I met her at the Copper Dragon in Carbondale, Illinois. But I usually neglect to bring or wear them. I may try to remember one in the future.

It was fun to walk and talk and stroll along the beach.








Smiling.

Laughing.

"I can't believe I actually live here."











I asked Ariel if she wanted to climb the trail to the top of the bluff to get a different perspective. She did.

Cam decided not to join us since the only shoes he had with him were the flip flips he'd kicked off and left at the other end of the beach.






Sam was having fun climbing around near the base of the trail. He opted to stay and play around in this area.









The view from the top of the bluff is spectacular.

And thanks to the rain, it is much greener than it was the last time Cam, Sam and I climbed the trail.



The light made for interesting shadows.









Sam came to greet us when we returned to the beach.

We saw people riding horses and talked about how fun that would be.

Cam is soaking up the sun in the distance.











Here's a closer shot of him "communing with the ocean."

Sam follows suit.









Ariel joined the fun and tried to find a dry place to sit.

This piece of driftwood was intriguing. I thought it had been quite a ways away from the water when we passed it on our way up the beach. But on our way back, even though we thought the tide was going out, it seemed closer to the water.

I wondered if the tide was actually still moving in or if the water had moved the driftwood closer.

The water snuck up on Sam a couple of times. He managed to stay mostly dry but did get pretty wet when one wave crashed close to his perch.










Here, he is telling us about the experience.

I had been sharing a leftover cherry pancake with him and got a bit wet myself.













He is still fearless.