The first thing we noticed after a sea of volleyball courts on the beach with what looked like a high school level tournament was a dog running in the sand watching what appeared to be her owner high up on the pier walking toward us. She was obviously thoroughly enjoying being in the water and running through the sand. The guy asked her if she wanted to do it again and she excitedly jumped up onto the pier and ran past us. We watched as he threw her in about 100 yards from the beach and she swam to the shore. We found out later she is a rescue dog and this was a part of her training. She really loves her job! If only we all could find something like that!
We stood and watched the surfers for a few minutes catch this loooooong sets of waves. Ryan loved the idea of being up on a surfboard for 30 seconds or more instead of just 5 or 6.
We were walking toward the shops on the pier when we heard the unmistakable sound of seals. We took a left turn and headed toward the sound to find all these guys.
Two more had commandeered an upside boat next to the floating dock the rest were on.
And even more were basking in the sun on another floating dock. I love the look of contentment on their faces to just be facing the sun and growing warm. I think I make that face to the sun sometimes!
Next we made the drive to the car place. We were prepared for the long haul. We had snacks, drinks, lunch, a bag of charging cables, games, and my computer. And of course the waiting room had the tv showing the Mueller testimony. They all knew a little bit about the topic of the testimony but it led to more of a discussion about why it was happening and what it could really change. Let's just say they enjoyed Who Whats to be a Millionaire and Jeopardy that came on next much more. We don't watch tv at home so this was a special treat!
Once we were down to a few snacks the service guy came to talk to me with a good news/bad news introduction. I just knew we were going to be stranded for 3 days and have to figure out how to catch back up to our reservations. I just knew it was going to be the more expensive issue we had discussed when I'd first arrived. But it wasn't! It was just a sensor and I could keep driving without issue. I would need to get it fixed when we got home but I shouldn't have a problem for the next 35 days at least. I was so relieved I wanted to hug him!
We paid and happily piled back into my stinky car to continue our day. I'd mentioned to the kids the day before that I would probably be grumpy while we waited hours for them to check my car out. They were wonderful the whole time so we decided to grab some pizza before resupplying at Trader Joe's. Pizza is difficult to make when camping so it is definitely a coveted meal we all appreciated. I piled mine high with veggies I hadn't had in the last 3 weeks! Delicious!
We bought our staples to get us through the next few days and were on our way to our next spot. This drive included a drive right through San Francisco at 4:30pm but I didn't care today. I was just happy to be moving north up the coast toward our spot. We even got to unexpectedly drive across the Golden Gate Bridge!
We arrived to a beautiful campground nestled in the redwoods - something I'd been waiting for since we hit California. The trees were breathtakingly tall and smelled SO good! The kids jumped on setting up the tents while I cooked dinner and prepped things for the next day. We discussed our options for plans and the kids decided to get going early and head back into San Francisco for the day. My kids love exploring cities about as much as I love being in the woods!
We all showered - hooray for fiery hot and free showers! - and felt so much better at bedtime. My how a few unexpected sentences can change an entire day.
