Days Six and Seven at Oceanside: Just Hangin' Out

With three amusement park visits under our belts, the time had come to take it easy. We didn't have an itinerary for the next two days, except to just hang out.

The condo we rented wasn't exactly beachfront, but you could see the sand from the balcony, and the walk to the beach was about 30 yards. Not bad. Although easy access to the beach was great, the open windows at night allowed the waves to lull you asleep. They should publish that sound next to the word "relaxing" in the dictionary.

We did touristy things like cruise the beach on a rented bike. We discovered that these bikes are geared very low, and you have to do a lot of pedaling just to get the bike to move. After an hour I was more than ready to get out of that thing. Char rode up front and had a blast telling us where to go.

I watched an excited couple put their two small kids on the same bike, and when they cruised by us a half hour later the mom was already tired, and she looked really uncomfortable. I feel your pain, lady.

Oceanside's beach features a pier that's 1,954 feet long (about six and a half football fields). I assume the names craved in the wood railings represent people who have donated to the rebuilding of the pier (it's been destroyed by storms six times). We found more than one donor who shared a name with Char.

Ruby's Diner is located at end of the pier, and the shakes they sell are pretty good.

The only food goal I had was to hit an In-N-Out. We don't have that restaurant in Iowa, and Consumer Reports ranks their fast food burgers second best in the nation.

Maybe this is weird, but the burgers reminded me of the plastic fish in our "Let's Go Fishin'" game.

Anytime a Bible verse is listed on a consumer product, I'm interested.

If you're also curious, Revelation 3:20 is, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me."

The burgers were great, but I prefer our local B-Bop's. Char also gave their hats a positive review. 

On Sunday night we walked the beach in pursuit of a pizza dinner. We found it at ZigZag Pizza Pie.

I visited the bathroom while we waited for our pies, and Char had the idea to snap a couple of pictures to surprise Dad.

First they took a selfie.

And then Charlotte took a random picture of her bottle of apple juice. She though I would find that funny. She was right.

She's sooo my kid.

I stopped to take some pictures of the beach while we walked back home for the last time. Here are a few of those shots.

When we got back Char spent some time studying the shells she had collected from the beach, and then it was time for reading stories and going to bed.

We left the condo at 6:30 am the next morning, and our plane landed in Des Moines after the Iowan night had fallen. We were tired, but we were home.