Day1 - day on the beach

It must be 6:30, cos my cell phone alarm went off. loud and clear.
Shucks!
Who follows routines and alarms while camping?
No way was I going to get up and turn it off, too much bother, besides it was too cold out of the sleeping bag.
So, it just rang and rang.
Our neighboring campers were anyway up, so I wasn’t worried about disturbing anybody.
Rebz woke by 7:15, and I crawled out by 7:30, and went to check on the other tents. Mary aunty was busy heating water, and making coffee.
chatted for a while, and ppl were already taking showers and getting ready.

Good enthu.
All the kids rushed for b'fast of bagels, cereals, and such and then ran to the playground closely.

Normally, I would have turned my nose on the playground - hey, you are supposed enjoy things other than your routine, what’s' the point of
sticking to normalcy? But, this time I was gladly relieved - keep the kids busy and happy, you can relax better ;)

We chatted, lazed around, got ready, gathered lunch from those responsible for lunch, got our stuff, and hey, where are we going?
Consult the experts - Dharma, where are we going?
has annan.
But, you know the places here.
Hmm, not really, Dharma said weakly.
Aunty promptly put in a Tamil proverb something like among a group of blind ppl, the person with one eye is the king.
I put in 'just because everyone thinks you are the expert, don’t think that really are one’!
pssss, the air in the balloon went off. ha ha !!

Finally decided on the Gualala Point Park in Sonoma County.
I love that beach - it has the Gualala delta - the river flowing into the ocean. So, off we went.
The directions was simple, make a left here, and then a right.

The beach is a not so short walk from the parking lot. You can see it, but it looks as if it is way beyond. Thankfully, everyone was excited, and so pulled out their beach chairs, toys, lunch stuff etc and started the march.
I handled the first-aid kit to Rebecca to carry, she was excited and walked briskly first, and then went slowly lost her tempo, dragging her feet, allowing everyone else to walk fast. Nithila picked her and walked the rest. We walked on and claimed a spot close to the logs.

This is a long beach with great waves; the river flows in on the right, just below the road. The town of Gualala looks like a medditerean village across the road on a hilly terrain. The sand is almost black, and as you walk closer to the ocean, the pebbles are tiny multi-colored gems wet and sparkling. The left end is a bit rocky, and has a few rocks on the beach too. The sun was almost hiding behind in the skies, and breeze was a bit cold, just great.

Some settled down in their chairs, and others looked around. The kids ran to the water, and I followed suit. A clear distinction here - those wiser clutching their jackets tighter, sitting comfortably and watching, and the carefree, footloose running to the teasing waves. The Pacific is cold, the coldest ocean in fact. The sun was stilling not out, and so it was getting colder. Rebecca’s' terrified of the ocean waves, and was not willing to come close. So, Dharma took her for a walk and pebble collecting.


I wanted to go further, looked around; no one else seemed to think the same. Hmmm... Let’s give then some time.
So, I hung around, watching the kids frolic and shout with glee. This was fun. The ocean is always a wonderful place to be, albeit this particular beach is a lil wild, exploited and therefore presumably dangerous.

Gigi and Jean akka moved closer, the rest dipping and moving away. My flip-flops were old and loose, I was debating whether to leave them on the sand. I just wore them.

Mistake.
I lost them - to the ocean!
Boo! Boo! They weren't in the best of shape, but I’ve had them for more than 6 years, and what the heck!

We splash around and played with the waves. Rebecca wasn’t interested at all, I could see why. Nithila and I went in a little further and laughed, the waves were high, but lost their force and height as they reached us, so we had then by about our knees. The water was really cold. I could feel as if my feet were getting numb, my flip-flop almost coming out. I put them back on every time, as the water receded. Occasionally, we got a big wave and we laughed and turned our backs. Rebecca and Dharma were wandering by the logs and pebbles, the boys and Stephen and family hung closby, Eva and Santhosh were coming and going out. Uncle and David anna were by the kids. Only Nithaila and I were in the water. As I turned around to avoid a full splash, I lost balance and fell. Ohhh, that was cold, I was totally drenched, and still laughing another big wave came by.

Watching the waves at that height gives you a different perspective - as if the whole white foamy ocean is thundering and rushing to you. No wonder Rebecca didn’t want anything to do with the waves.

I was totally wet, but loved it. What’s the point of traveling, going to a beach and then not getting wet?
Hmm, cold or not, I hadn’t had enough. So, we went a few steps further in. Akkad and Gigi walked closby , but stayed out of the water. We called Santhosh and stood our ground. I was thinking abt getting out and taking off by flip-flops and walked a few steps away, and there came another wave, this time I lost it. The ocean took my one slipper!

I lost a slipper, but it was great fun. We hung around for a while, and then started back for lunch.

Let’s have lunch.
Oops! Some one had forgotten the plates in the car!!
Oh, no! What are going to have without plates, eh?
Hmm, no prob, I asked Dharma to get them, but then David and Juba anon went off. I was terribly hunger. We had a few fruits and water. Eventually, we finished lunch, and then the sun came out.

Wow! how it changed things.
The Ocean changed to the deep bluish-green hue, and sparkled. The beach looked incredibly beautiful.
With fun in the tummy, and the sun shining brightly, everyone got energized and also drowsy and lazy.
We walked to the rocks by the left, and the sandstone rocks were slopping and had holes as if to facilitate rock climbing. This was easy enough for me too! We hung on the rocks or a while, and then came back to join the others.