So Beachy!

Last weekend Troy and I went camping on the beach in San Clemente with his sisters and their families. Let me start by saying I love the beach, so I was very exciting to go. Troy was a little less enthused, but is always up for getting out of the house. I won't go into zillions of details, but on the way we saw a giant dinosaur and Troy was kind of nervous.

After setting up camp, we went to the beach to catch some late afternoon fun. I wish I had taken pictures of the path we had to follow to get there. It was so steep. Your knees hurt going down and your calves and thighs burned coming up. I found this pic on the web. Basically we park on top of the bluff and walk down to the beach. It was no picnic, but I think I'm spoiled because at my usual beach I park, walk 100 yards and there I am.

Anyway, we had a lot of fun. There were many highlights to the trip, but I thought it was funny that our nephew Kyler, who’s 7, would gather up the seaweed that washed on shore and collect it in a big pile. When a big wave would come up and take some back down the beach, he would rush to save it. Then he took over a big hole some other kids had dug and kept his treasure safe there. Not that I didn’t mind having less of the crap floating around to wrap around my legs.

Troy tried boogie boarding and body surfing, but didn’t get so attached that he wanted to spend all day in the water. I pretty much played with the kids in the shallow stuff because the salt water stung my eyes (I know, for a beach lover I don’t participate in many beach activities).

While we were hanging out at the campground some activists (I mean that in the nicest way, but I don’t know anything else to call them) offered us free t-shirts if they could take our picture and have us write a letter protesting a toll road that would go right through the campground and a nearby beach (both of which are currently state parks), so of course we did it. Then we went out to dinner and we were celebrities. Fourteen people in matching shirts are hard to miss. Apparently this is a hot topic in San Clemente and most agree the parks should be left alone. I guess if you wear the right t-shirt in the right crowd, you can become instantly famous. All in all, it was a great weekend.

There was one major downside, however. (Warning for the squeamish and those with feet issues--pictures are coming) We were careful to cover ourselves in clothing and sunscreen because we didn’t want to be miserable, but we forgot to lather one important part of Troy. Now don’t get nasty. Troy is a golfer and his calves are dark, but he always wears shoes, so even when he’s barefoot, it looks like he’s wearing socks. Yeah, totally forgot to put sunscreen on his feet. Halfway through the first day, my brother-in-law (who was in bed for three days after his beach trip last year because of his sunburns and all the seawater he swallowed) noticed Troy’s feet were getting burned. We lathered them then, but it was too late. By that night his feet were crimson and swelling. He literally hobbled around camp. But he was a trooper. Other than lots of aloe and no more sun, there wasn’t much we could do. When we stopped for gas on the way home, a lady in the gas station was doing massages and told him he should get one because it was clear his feet were hurting (she couldn’t see the cause). He told her she was not going to touch his feet. Anyway, at the peak of the swelling, I couldn’t see his ankles. Sunday night the blisters started and have gotten bigger. It’s really sad. At least now he can walk without wincing (barefoot of course). He says they’re getting better, but I don’t know if I should take him to a doctor. Is there anything they can do? Any tips are appreciated!!

So that’s our trip to the beach: cool, wet, and painful. What more could you ask for?