After sending the rest of the crew off to the airport we caught a bus to Huntington Beach, the same one we had visited on Sunday. The difference between a weekend and a week day was considerable. The beach was sparsely populated and most of the people there were in one kind of class or summer program or another. You could easily distinguish them as all of the kids had the same swim suits and specific colored caps that would tie around their waist when they were not swimming. Some were doing team building exercises where they would link arms, making a long human chain, then they would proceed into the water, five steps at a time. It seemed like they tried to use the strength of the line to keep everyone standing when the increasingly larger waves came. Other groups were learning to surf. It was fun to see the bobbing heads go up and down in the water. The mother in me thought about how scary it would be to trust that your kids would be safe and fine. It was fun to see the ones who were hydroplaning on their boards in the few inches of water that was near the shore - I could imagine trying that one. The other big difference was the lack of sea shells to collect. Since the tide was coming in, none were to be found. After a good bit of time in the water we changed clothes and took a stroll. The U.S. Open for Surfing was going on. There were tents and vendors, along with lots of competitions. It was interesting to watch. We walked to the end of the pier, took some time to watch the fishermen and had lunch at Ruby's Diner. It was a great day.
Saturday found us on our way, in a newly rented car, to Hemet. It is the home to Larr's cousin, Curt and his wife, Barb. They live in a really cute house that was built in 1923, making it one of the oldest houses in the town. The walkway to the house is made of chunks of slate and they have a nice smattering of fruit trees. (to be continued)
No comments:
Post a Comment