To the beach! #SOL18

It’s the last day of Slice of Life, and I’m going to have to make this fast because it’s 11:41 p.m., and I just got home, but I want to make the deadline.

Today was a beach-going adventure. It was nice outside, so instead of going to walk in the shopping district in my town, I decided instead to go to the beach. Because it’s the beach. I don’t think I need to explain.

So I packed up my bag with essentials (towel, pillow, book, Kindle, sunscreen) and prepared to spend a few hours at the beach. The drive took about an hour (because of TRAFFIC, which, again, I’m not going to complain about because I only have to deal with it once or twice a month unlike people who have to commute every day, but do please note the use of all caps and imagine the sneer I have when I say it), which was fine. I listened to some music and got a chance to talk to my mom on the phone for a little bit.

Parking wasn’t a problem even though it seemed like a lot of people had the same idea.

Right, but then I got to the beach. So, first off, I picked the beach because it had a public restroom. Got there and the restrooms were (are) closed for renovations so I had to use a port-a-potty because, of course, it’s not like I could get in the freezing cold Pacific Ocean and do my business. (Also, I hate port-a-potties, but really, who doesn’t?) So that was a bummer, ESPECIALLY SINCE the actual beach was foggy and cold so I really couldn’t get in the water (even though I wasn’t planning to) because I was FREEZING. Everybody else at the beach knew this because they were wearing jeans and jackets. I, however, was woefully underdressed (FOR THE BEACH) in a dress. The good news is that I had my sweater with me and that I was at the beach. The bad news is that I stayed for less than an hour because I was so cold.

So, today I learned to check the forecast at the beach and to not just assume that because it’s warm and sunny inland, it will be the same on the coast. To that end, I give you my current ranking: Florida beaches > California beaches. The caveat, of course, is that any beach > no beach. I just have to keep learning how differently things work out here.

And with that, I have completed the challenge @ 11:53 p.m. Huzzah!