I LOVE THE BEACH! And it had been too many years since I saw the ocean, so Rob and the kids were kind enough to travel well off the interstate on our way from L.A. to Seattle to spend an afternoon in the sun and sand. We stayed overnight in the regional garlic capitol of Gilroy (pee-yoo!), and headed out early the next morning to the coast. We started out by driving to Carmel, which was beautiful, ritzy, crowded, and very foggy - and therefore not very family-friendly. Before we could even spy the town's famous mayor we decided to head back north a bit to Monterey. There we found a perfect public beach and settled in to watch the crowds of 4th of July weekend beach-goers. It was so perfect: smooth, fine sand, gorgeous water, and sunny but not too hot. The kids collected seashells and tried out swimming with wetsuits from the nearby sea kayaking company with Rob. Alex got sand in every crevice while I lounged on a beach towel nearby, daydreaming of the beach cottage we will own someday. As the sun got low in the sky we packed up and grabbed some peaches and strawberries from a fruit stand on the nearby highway before heading north again.
