I’m still mourning my beach vacation.
For some reason mini golf seems very decadent to me, maybe because it’s such a useless activity. You know we had excess leisure time available because we played mini golf not once, but twice. The second time was on this cool (although completely mosquito infested) real grass course. I beat Dave both times. I felt proud of this achievement and started to think I should take up golf in my retirement. But when I mentioned my victories in an email to my father-in-law, he didn’t allow me to savor my triumph very long (“anyone can beat Dave at golf!!!”).
I managed to run a couple of times. I ran right on the beach, which I’ve never done before. It felt noticeably more difficult, but the view made up for it. I was very amused by what my Garmin running watch portrayed as my running route when I uploaded my information. Having added running on water to my resume, maybe my dream job can be founder of an independent religious movement.
I got a glorious amount of sleep during the vacation. Sadly, the solid eight or more hours a night didn’t seem to make much of a dent in my sleep deprivation.
Our house was on the ocean side of the Outer Banks, so each night I thought about getting up to take sunrise pictures. Each morning I rolled over to find the sun shining right in my eyes. Oops. So the sunrise photo shoot was the morning we left. The results were just OK. I’d hoped the sunrise would be as pretty as sunsets are. I mean, aren’t they the same thing in reverse?
I wasn’t super impressed. I don’t think the lack of clouds in the sky helped, as it was just a sea of orange with nothing breaking it up. But since I hauled my ass out of bed before the crack of dawn and burned my retinas (and probably my camera lens too) for this, I’m sharing one of the pictures. I like it because it looks kind of creepy.
What I enjoyed most about our week away was walking on the beach together. Chuck had never been to the ocean before, and I don’t know how many more chances we’ll get to take him. It kept reminding me of that Little House on the Prairie episode (“The Odyssey“) where Laura and Albert take off on a cross-country journey to California with some dying kid who you’ve never seen before this episode even though there are only 15 people in Walnut Grove (red shirt!) so he can see the ocean before he dies. Don’t think I didn’t cry when I watched the video of the last scene linked above.
Lastly, Chuck is not a water dog and it is very cute.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuJ19-jJeZo
I love Chuck! I also love mini golf, mostly because I have no patience for “real” golf and can whack a bright ball through a windmill. It levels the playing field 😉
I also haven’t been on vacation for a dozen years, so I’m impressed with your little adventure. It sounds relaxing and well-deserved.
Your vacation sounds awesome – no wonder you are missing it. Chuck is so cute, I want to snuggle him after seeing that video! Is there any way to recreate the peaceful vacation feeling where you live? Like listening to an “ocean sounds” cd when you run or in the evenings?
This is so different from your trip to Belgium – congrats!!!
Your beach vacation sounds really lovely. 🙂 I love the video of Chuck! My dogs hate the water but they will at least let their paws get wet.
Do you have any more beautiful photos to share?