California Spoiled

We spent a beautiful weekend at the beach - we are so spoiled here in California!

From where we live in Southern California, literally, within a 2 to 3 hour drive we can be at the beach, in the mountains, or in the desert, like last weekend. This is also why we have the typical California collection in our garage - bikes, wetsuits and boogie boards, backpacks, motorcycles, ski's, etc.... we can pretty much pick a sport and go wherever we need to be - like I said, in just a matter of a few hours, if that.

The weather doesn't even factor in too much. Okay to - to snow ski, you do have to wait for winter, but that's about it.

THIS is why Californians put up with all the other California stuff. If you like the outdoors, this is the place to be. This weekend, the beach was the place to be.

The forecast even called for rain, but we only got a few showers the first night.... and the clouds made for beautiful skies and sunsets. The days were warm enough for the kids to play in the surf, and the nights were chilly enough to sit by a campfire and wear my Rogue. We drove a couple of miles from our campsite to Malibu for fish and chips for lunch.... all that's hard to beat.

What's this last picture? - Could it be? Me, holding my Starksy sleeves? In a wetsuit? I tell ya - even I didn't see this one coming. Never in a million years. But, in an effort to get that little ladybug up top moving again, my friend and I have been swimming laps three mornings a week, and it's getting a little chilly in the mornings now. When it's only 50 degrees in the morning, and the water is 68 - that's TOO cold for this California wimp.... so we figured if we were going to keep this up - we would need wetsuits.

Yes - they work.... the jury is still out on whether it's worth the chuckles and looks we get from our families..., but we should be able to swim through the winter now.

I do have to say.... I did have a slight panic moment in the Sports Chalet dressing room, trying on the wetsuit, having no idea what size to buy, and hoping I wouldn't get myself stuck in the stupid thing and have to ask the hunky guy for help. Wouldn't that have made his day!?- helping a overweight 40-something year old woman who's stuck in a wetsuit. I can just hear it - "ya know lady, -you're buying that..." Happy to say, I managed all by myself - thank you very much.

My friend's story is better - she almost ventured out of the dressing room to ask the guy if her suit was the right size.... but she decided against it. Later, she was REALLY glad she hadn't, when her husband informed her she had it on backwards!