Day 23

6/6/2024

No tacos today…

Denise and I decided early on that we would go to the Pacific Ocean as she has never seen it before in person.

Today is the day.  We set our alarms for 6:30, hoping to be up and out by 7:30.  But, sadly both of us just turned them off and rolled over for another 2 hours.  For some reason, we were both slow starters today.

We fed the dogs, got them settled in the truck and off we went.  Traffic through Sacramento, Davis and then San Francisco had some slowdowns, but we made good time.  I had decided that we should go through San Francisco so she could see Alcatraz from the Bay Bridge.  It was kinda foggy, but mission accomplished.

Although I should have listened to that app woman, I decided to follow the signs to the Golden Gate Bridge.  Bad move this time, apparently, she did know where she was taking us.

Once over the Golden Gate, we got onto Highway 1 and stopped in at Sausalito for a snack.  Then on down the coast.  Very curvy road but beautiful!  We stopped in at Stenson’ Beach.  Took all the dogs out to the water.  Abigail and Ginger have seen the ocean, but we didn’t go in last year.  This year, I kicked of my crocks and took both Milo and Abigail in.  Abigail kind of freaked out and tried to back out as the wave came in.  Plopped right down on her butt and got completely soaked.  Sand everywhere.  Denise had Ginger, she also got soaked, but in her case, the tiny wave knocked her over and she rolled in the water.  I’m not sure how she kept her head dry, but she did.

Then I told Denise to walk out about 15-20 feet and stand there as the water came in and then out again.  I remember doing that as a kid and loving the feeling.  She turned Ginger over to me and marched out there like she knew what she was doing, but when I told her to stop, she waved me into silence and kept right on going.  When the waive hit, it got her right up to her woha.  She turned as fast as she could and ran back to dry ground.  Too funny.

I pulled up a chair with the 3 dogs while Denise went exploring.  The first time she came back with an arm full of shoes, and cups and rocks.  The second time, she thought she was going to be limited to what she could get into her hands, but like every good dog mom, I had bags.  So off she went with a rather large blue bag.  Doggy bags, not just good for poop, wahoo!!!

I think she made at least 3 big trips out while I sat back and watched the ocean roll and roar.  It was amazing.  Milo decided to dig and almost buried Abigail. It was a great time.  I picked up a couple of rocks myself on the way back to the truck.

Moving south, we stopped at Tamales for the bakery.  Unfortunately, it was closed.  We talked to one of the employees who had just closed the place down for the day.  It is no longer owned by the young hippy woman that ran it when Paul and I used to visit, so I was ok.

Down to Dillan’s Beach where Paul and I and Mom and Bob used to camp out a lot.  We even had Charlie and Shiela come with use once.  The wind was so bad that Mom went out to their tent to get them, afraid they might blow away.  Sheila gladly accepted; I think there might have been hot chocolate in the offer as well.  Sadly, Charlie had to stay in the tent to make sure it didn’t blow away. So much has changed, but it was good to be there again.

Then on down to Bodega, but I chickened out at the stop sign and turned back to Petaluma. Good thing, cause both of us were hungry.  We stopped in at a Superburger.  Wow, it was a treat.  Denise had a Mushroom and Swiss with French fries and a chocolate malt.  I had a plain cheese burger and in the end got myself a peanut butter and chocolate shake.  It was amazing.

By the time we got home it was a 13 hour round trip.

Beautiful day!