taco bell beach

have you been to taco bell beach? we load up bags with cheese, apples, little metal canteens (now i'm hearing they may be as bad as all the poison sippy cups we threw away), extra clothes, buckets, football, diaper, suntan lotion, beach blankets, towel, little people maya likes to play with, peanut butter sandwiches, plums, and we are ready for our 2 hour trip to taco bell beach. it is a quick drive down 280 to 1, on a moderately cool day with a sun and a moon in the blue sky. we drive past the fog festival and consider stopping (more than one lot says $6 parking all day plus drink tickets which is intriguing) but we go right for the sand and surf. we pull up into the parking lot by taco bell in pacifica and see all the surfers, boys and girls and grownups and of course all their cool dogs getting in and out of wetsuits. miles notes that the surfboards have shark fins. maya gets a good laugh out of a dog licking her hand each time she thrusts it in his face.

and then we are on the sand, the kids thrilled to be on the coast, and i guess i still am too. we get covered with black sand and maya ends up naked as she just can't keep out of the freezing water. we tease the waves and rich and miles throw a football and then we build a sand castle and wait for the tide to rise and fill up the moat. which it does, and somehow for a while doesn't destroy the castle. surfers and dog people all smile at my kids. there is a kids' surfing competition going on with judges and telescopes and an announcer and all and we watch kids standing on boards whizzing down waves, feet firmly planted somehow. i can't imagine being able to let my son go out in those waves without some water wings or a life jacket or a personal trainer or something but supposedly this will happen in the future.

we used to come here years ago. it is hard to believe i would squeeze into a wetsuit and ride a boogie board but i did and it was awesome dude! there is a trail leading up a rocky bluff that overlooks everything. we used to bring hungover band friends here when they stayed at our house while touring. it was fun to show off our new home and its natural wonders. we used to eat big seven-layer burritos but have learned lessons about that. chicken would run around being goofy and then lie down next to us and be embarrassingly macho and territorial to everyone who walked by.

i like that we can get to the beach anytime. it is beautiful and feels freeing to sit at the edge of everything. i have never minded a little sand on my picnic lunch or stuck between my toes.

on the way back miles is generous enough to give maya his preferred toy just so she will be happy. and that is beautiful too.

the dishes piled all over the kitchen don't look so nice though. must go attend to them.

night night mommy. you're the best. hey mommy, if a cheetah and other meat-eating animals were in a race but not the falcon the cheetah would be the fastest, right? the falcon wouldn't win that race because he bees in the air. (pennying quote for today)