A Day At The Beach...

 During the hottest heat wave in the entire western states this year (so far...), we found ourselves in California...on a beach...in 65˚ weather.

While the rest of the state and the west was boiling...we were almost cold.

It was wonderful.

For almost all of my fifty-five years, I've lived hundreds of miles from the ocean. I did live for two years in Denmark...an island country, but I wasn't really allowed to go to the beach. That was forbidden. As a kid, though, I think I would have loved living at the beach, learning to surf, living that California lifestyle. But I didn't. I grew up in Utah and spent the winters skiing and spent the summers at Lagoon's million-gallon pool. I did get a wicked tan every year. If there's one thing I can do, it's tan.

My kids have grown up in Utah, too, but their winters were not spent on the slopes and their summers were not spent at a pool. Different times... It was fun, however, watching my kids at the beach while we were on vacation. Like me, they've only spent a few days on a beach.

I wonder if my kids will end up living close to a beach. I think some would really like it...others, not so much. I do think, that if they do end up near the ocean, they'll enjoy going and watching the waves and skipping stones.

I mean...don't we all?

Give Thanks...Reliable Transportation

 I came across a tweet today...just a random message in my timeline. A father sent out a message for help. His family, returning home to California, had car troubles. They were stranded with a broken-down van. The father asked if anyone was near Baker, California, could they give his family a lift into town until he reached them.

That thought, as I read the message, struck fear in me.

Last week we traveled that same road, around the same of day. We didn't know this when we scheduled the trip but we would be traveling during an unprecedented heat wave. When we drove across the desert the temperature registered 119˚ driving through Baker and Barstow. I prayed for the father and his family. Thankfully, the California Highway Patrol picked up the family and took them into town.

I'm so grateful for reliable transportation.

Our van is (considering the 2022 models come out in a few months...) fifteen years old. Before we moved, we drove it so infrequently...we're making up for it now. The van was practically gifted to us by an amazing friend about ten years ago. I don't know what we'd have done without that van.

As we drove to and from California, we saw cars pulled over--hopefully, it wasn't because of car problems, but I suspect some were. I hope people came to their assistance the way the police did for that man's family...the way our friend did for us years ago. Because of that van--in part--we were able to visit family, watch my daughter perform at a national event, helped my son connect with internet friends he'd never met, and create memories for the entire family. And saved us from breaking down in the desert. 

Yes...I'm so grateful for reliable transportation.

Still Finding What's New...Driving Home

In a few days it will be nine months since the move and we're still finding things that are new. Each holiday has been a new adventure, each season change, each sunrise and sunset in different places. I did not expect to find changes in our family vacation.

I mean, we were leaving home to spend time out of state.

But, as we drove home, I realized it was another thing for us to "get used to."

We don't take a lot of family trips, but when we do, we drive. We've driven to Idaho the most, then California, and Washington State. This time we drove to the Golden State. We returned on Monday, driving straight through. Normally, we'll pass Fillmore and I think, "We're almost to Utah County. That means we're close." Then when we reach Salt Lake City, we're so close to home you can almost see the house.

Not this time.

This time, when we reached Fillmore, then Provo, then Salt Lake City, we still had another hour+ of traveling until we reached our new home...it would be a while until we could almost see the house. That's when I realized, that's another change we've got to get used to. I suppose we experience the same thing on the way out of town, but to be honest, we left just after 4am and we were all pretty out of it for the first couple of house.

I write a lot about these changes--I guess when you live on the same street for half a century (pretty much...), moving takes some adjusting. Looks like I'm still "adjusting." However, when we travel north, or northwest, the reverse will take place. We'll reach Burley then Snowville and we'll be almost there. We'll reach Pocatello then Malad and we'll be almost there. I can get used to those changes.

Sometimes...You Just Need To Go To A Zoo

 We had a few hours to kill while in LA last week. We decided to go to a zoo. It's not something we do with much regularity (of course, that would not be the case if I worked at a zoo...). There's times when going to a zoo can be tough...when you have small kids, for example. Thankfully, this was not the case for us. It was hot, not too crowded, and I snapped several pictures of what I saw.

Enjoy.

When Your Son Takes A Picture...Of You Taking Pictures

 I was excited for Day 2 at the beach. I brought along my Nikon so I should be able to get some amazing shots of waves, rocks, birds, and other wildlife. When I got home, I shoved the SD card into the card reader and downloaded them all.

Almost every picture I took with the Nikon did not work out. Unbeknownst to me, a setting has been bumped and all the pictures looked completely washed out, the waves, the fisherman, the swimmers, and even the seal playing just off shore--all gone...

Bummer.

But, I thought a bad day of picture taking at the beach is better than a good day almost anywhere else. Plus, I had shot some great pictures on Beach Day 1 with my phone. Then, my son showed me a picture he took of me taking pictures.

I think it's one of my favorite pictures. The fact he took it on Father's Day = Bonus!

And I Would Drive 500 Miles...And I Would Drive 500 More

 The odometer registered a few ticks past 2100 miles. That's how many miles we put on the van between last Wednesday morning when we pulled out of the driveway at 4:15am and when we pulled into our driveway at 8:55pm this evening...

2100 miles...

In six days.

And we put the bulk of those miles--807 miles each way--in two days. We drove straight through Wednesday, and we drove straight home today.

I am, in a word, wiped out.

The last time we drove to California was in October, 2013. We decided to take a family trip before our oldest son went on his LDS mission. I remember stopping in Baker, California on the way home and I thought to myself that my son could be called to an area like Baker. A few weeks after we returned home from the vacation, my son opened his call and his mission included Baker, California. We had a good laugh over that.

On our vacation we visited family. We also took our daughter to a ballroom dance competition in Burbank. I'll be blogging about our adventures in the days--possibly weeks--to come. You'll probably get sick of hearing about it. But, it was a special trip that means a lot to us.

We're home now. We're beat. We're ready to hopefully get a good night's sleep. Today I drove 500 miles, and I almost drove 500 more. I'd do it all again tomorrow, if it meant being with family. 

Walking The 15th...

Tonight, a few of us walked the 15th hole on a golf course. The golfers were gone for the day, hopefully celebrating Father's Day with loved ones. The sun was setting in the west. A cool breeze blew off the Pacific and through the mountains until it kissed the roughs and fairways, sand traps and greens.

What a great night.

We lacked golf carts, or equipment. We carried no clubs or balls or gloves or tees. Instead, family members enjoyed the walk together, chatting about this and that, asking questions about the area, the course, life in general. In short, getting to know each other better, spending time together after years apart.

It's the best part of a vacation.

The Number 15 Hold is a Par 4, 390 yards from the far tee. We've been told it's one of the hardest holes on the entire course. I wouldn't know anything about that. And really, the difficulty of the hole makes no difference to us. The walk is the reward, the prize.

We returned, the sky darker, the chill in the air a little cooler. Tomorrow, more golfers will test their skill on the course, or just waste time. They'll never know for a short time, for a few lucky family members, the 15th hole was hallowed ground.

Remembering...Our Last Family Vacation

I got a call a few weeks ago from a cousin. She needed to ask me a question. She did. I answered. We chatted. Inevitably, the topic of coronavirus and the quarantine came up. She asked if things had changed much for us due to the pandemic. She said families had to look at things differently, like if they wanted to go on vacation in the summer, would they go to the east coast, or the west coast, or out of the country? Many plans would be changing.

Then, I told her something I'm not sure she believed.

I told her that going on vacations is something our family doesn't consider, and that the last vacation our family took was in 2013. The one we took before that was in 2005.

I know that's not normal for others, but, for us, it is. So, at least a few weeks ago, our normal of staying home was becoming everyone else's normal, too. If places open up this summer, perhaps families will continue their traditions and enjoy a vacation away from home. Whether that happens or not, our tradition of staying home will most likely continue.

I was on my computer today and I ran across a YouTube video I posted that I made a few months after our trip in 2013 ended. It was fun to produce and it brought back a ton of memories. Also, the music I used is killer! It's hard to top Pat Leishman.

I've included the video and copied some shots from the trip. The kids have grown so much since then--for our youngest, he's almost doubled in age since our trip. Since we're on a "one vacation every eight years" timeline, looks like we'll be needing to go somewhere next year.

We'll see.