Swimming in Winter

We finally made it to our campground at 8:30 or so – the longest drive ever with an accident on a bridge, shopping and holiday traffic, and general Bay Area woes. But we made it! It didn’t take the kids long at all to transition to sleep in their new bunk beds. Jordan woke a few times needing assistance with getting down from the bunk into the miniature trailer restroom (it flushes!), and Sawyer woke once wanting a snuggle, but all in all it was a smooth night, and warm as can be.

We woke to a gorgeous morning in a nearly empty campground, just a few clouds over the ocean, still tinged orange at 8 am from sunrise. We had a long campground walk, watched the lone bike campers packing up and heading out, a lot of trailer campers starting their days indoors. We set up our camp kitchen and in spite of my desire that our indoor kitchen work, having two river guides set up camp goes pretty darn quickly and Tom had hot cocoa, tea, and eggs boiling in no time. It's pretty special to cook your breakfast under a mile high cedar with a clear view of the Pacific just over the cliff fifty feet away. We got dressed and headed to Manresa State Beach to check out the surf. By 9:30 the skies were clouded over and it was looking likely that the rain forecast was true, but that didn’t stop us in the least: within five minutes, Tom was in the water with his surfboard, and Jordan was in her bikini in the shallow waves.

Manresa is a gorgeous beach, you can look down for seems like miles in either direction at a wide, beautiful expanse of shoreline open for exploration. Austin was thrilled, and (for a Santa Cruz Sunday) there were relatively few surfers on the moderate waves. Sawyer never took of his parka and the contrast between the two kiddos was stark. Watching Jordan’s utter delight in the workings of her body and the feel of the waves and the sand is infectious. Sawyer quickly became one with the sand, as evidenced by the mark he left on the truck on the way home.

One older surfer on his way out of the ocean in a full wetsuit with hoodie and booties stopped to ask “You have told her it’s winter haven’t you?” Both she and Tom were popsicles as we headed up to the car, but the five minute drive back to the campground with the heater on full blast had everyone warm in no time. We had lunch and enjoyed a long bike ride around the campground. We’re thrilled by Sawyer’s progress on the bike lately, he’s pedaling beautifully and steering as well. Tom walked with him while Jordan and I explored the closed part of the campground, and suddenly it was 2:40 - Jordan’s earlier question of how one spends a day at a campground fairly well answered.

We’re at Starbucks in Santa Cruz (bless those gift cards) which is a pretty cramped place. We can’t get the internet hookup going so we’ll post late, but we’re warm and caffeinated despite the rain outside. It’s nice to have the decisions of the day include what to have for dinner and what game to play next, whether to play Sorry or to watch Santa Claus is Coming to Town.
The beds work on the trailer, and so far the potty flushes (we apparently don’t have keys to get into the propane, electric or water hookups), so trailer living is working pretty well! We hope you all feel as blessed as we do.