Back to the Beach

I had a bad night's sleep. I wasn't feeling well when we went to bed and it took me a long time to get to sleep, then I didn't sleep all that well. I knew we were getting up early to get to Target to finish up some Christmas shopping; maybe that played into the bad sleep. Since retirement, I really dislike having to get up at a certain time. Well, actually, I didn't like it before I retired but I put up with it then out of necessity.


As a result of the restless night, I was a little slow and sluggish, not to mention cranky, when we got started this morning. I picked up a latte at Starbucks in the Target store, which helped my mood. Jim and I split up while we shopped. I can't tell you what I bought, because he will read the blog so you'll just have wait, like he will. We don't buy a bunch of presents for each other, but we still like to do stockings, so what I picked up was some surprises for that. I also picked up some items for our son, Josh's, stocking, since he will be here for the holiday.



After shopping, we headed to Jim's cousin, Bev's house. The 5 of us headed out in Uncle Wayne and Aunt Ruth's van for some beach time. We decided to go to Avila Beach, which is almost always sunny and warm. The temperature here was in the 20's last night, sunny and warm sounded great to us.


We drove around just enjoying the sun, listening to the waves, smelling the sea air, and enjoying the view.



Here's an elephant seal, enjoying the day as well.

I never get tired of taking pictures of little boats on the water

This pelican put on a little show for my camera

We ate lunch outside at Mr. Ricks in Avila Beach. Here are Aunt Ruth and Uncle Wayne taking it easy.

Here's a different view of the shore from under the pier

Ane one more view from the top of the pier.

After lunch and a walk out to the end of the pier, we got ice cream cones. While enjoying those, Josh called to let us know he'd made it past Barstow and would be in Paso Robles this evening. It will be my best present, to have him here to spend Christmas with us.