Once More To The Ocean

Dawn

Sand Piper

Early morning at the ocean is different from waking up at Chautauqua Lake, with a vast beach, an ocean that fills up the skyline.  I was up at 5:35 so that I could walk the beach and see the sunrise at 6:05.  I was one of two or three people on the 25-yard beach at low tide.  It was 55º with a light wind.  It looks like a cool beach day as the temperatures will stay in the low '70s. It's 8:00, Jill's finally up, and Drew and I have been sitting out on the deck with our coffee, talking for a good half hour.

Ready To Roll

Halle And Granny

Saturday's drive to Topsail seemed like it would never end.  We left about 10:30, arrived at 5:00 so it was about what we expected.  It just seemed long.  And traffic was heavy until we were 20 miles out of Richmond when it calmed down and was easy driving.  We stopped for gas twice, once outside of Richmond, and were lucky to find a gas station next to Mc Donalds.  

Peace And Love

We drove Halle and her friend Mc Kenna, so there were four of us, grooving to tunes much of the way.  Once we got off #95, we still had close to a two-hour drive to the beach and stopped once again to fill-er up.  I would say one out of four stations that we passed had gas and there was hardly any line at those stations.  

Sisters

When we arrived, Drew, Jill, and Hayden were already unpacking their car.  We parked and began the onerous task of unpacking and taking everything up a couple of flights of stairs although the girls were good and helped both of us while Jill and Evie organized the kitchen stuff.  The girls are sharing a bedroom and we have our own bedroom as well.  It's a great house, with a deck literally on the dunes, overlooking the ocean,  Jill had placed an Istacart order at Publix so Drew and I drove there, just outside of Surf City on surprisingly busy streets although it was the weekend.  We picked up our order while Evie and Jill made the beds and got dinner which Evie brought, chicken tetrazzini in the oven for dinner.  

Jill And The Doggies

Cocktail Time

We sat out on the porch for a good forty-five minutes, with our wine or beer, enjoying the view, the sound of the ocean waves crashing and Jill took both dogs, Dasiy and Coco, for a walk on the beach. We ate at 7:00 and everyone was hungry and loved the dinner. 

Dinner

A Happy Girl With Her Salad

Halle was in heaven because lots of salad was left for her to scarf down at the end of dinner.  Evie and the three girls played our favorite card game, Telefunky, a game the kids used to play with my parents at the lake. Jill, Drew and I took the dogs for a short walk at dusk.  Then, while the girls were playing cards, Drew and I sat outside under the stars sipping a first-rate bourbon he had brought for just such a night. We were all tired and in our bedrooms by 10:00.  A long day but ultimately a good one.

Dusk