Pacific Coast Highway or Highway 1 winds and curls and twists its way downt he coast of California. In Carmel Highlands, CalTrans even goes so far as to warn you that the winding and curling and twisting is going to be for the "next 74 miles". It is and considering that I'm sitting on the open cliff side of those 74 miles, long about mile 70 I am definitely ready to head inland to anything that'll just take us south without the twisting, curling and winding along cliff edges that drop into the Pacific Ocean!
After nearly four hours, the highway straightens out at about San Simeon which turned out to be convenient so that we could slow down a little bit (but not stop) to see the elephant seals that had beached themselves just north of San Simeon. People were stopped along the road as well as the closest State Park to watch the seals in the water and on the beach. Having seen the seals at the piers in San Francisco, however, I wasn't particularly interested in seeing any more of them-- its not like they do tricks!
Brian and I continued down the coast and, about five miles north of Cayucos, the phone rang-- Dan and Shelley had just arrived at their condo and, thinking that our car was parked next to them, called us to let us know they were there, thinking that we were on the beach or wandering around town. It was not, however, our truck but a similar truck as I told him that we were still up the coast by about 5 miles. As we pulled into town, we were surprised at the number of people-- when we had stopped through Cayucos on our Morro Bay trip, it was raining and there weren't any people on the streets. This time, with pedestrians having the right-of-way in California, it took an extra five minutes to get down the block because of all of the people.
We pulled into the garage and were greeted by Dan Bowman himself; Daniel, their 8 year old, wandered out slowly to the car and so did Bradley, the 6 year old. We were introduced as "Mr. and Mrs. Bilbrey" so I looked around-- I had no idea my in-laws had come down with us! We soon corrected them but that is just an example of the manners instilled in these kids-- they are really nice kids and the fact that their parents care about how they are raised shows a great deal.
After we unloaded both vehicles and Shelley put things away in the kitchen, we piled into their van and we were off to the grocery store. The grocery store was absolutely nutty-- people were everywhere!! I was surprised that even though they were a chain store, the same chain up here carries none of the variety that this store had-- there were many different types of things that weren't available up here and I thought that it was odd. Its regionalization, I guess, and with the beach crowd that goes down there, they just get "cooler" stuff in their grocery store than our same store up here.
After the grocery store, the adults all gathered around the table and the kitchen area chatting and the boys are happily playing Nintendo. Around 5:30, Shelley starts dinner and I try to help-- she has most all of this down to a science even though it really isn't "her kitchen" and very little help is needed. Brian and I brought a few tomatoes so I put the salad together using those, a green peppe and some greens that we bought at the store while Shelley browns the meat for spaghetti sauce.
As a side note: Shelley and I had only emailed up to this point and, as was easily "read" in her emails, she is a friendly, warm and outgoing person who easily causes laughter in others. I am really glad we got to know each other before the trip but am looking forward to a lasting friendshop, as well. She is a patient and loving mother, as well-- with two boys, she has her patience put on trial a lot but, manages consistency (which is important with kids) as well as love in dealing with them. I have a feeling her humor gets her through a lot of the parenting-thing.
After a delicious dinner of spaghetti, we all helped to clean up and then Brian and I kidnapped the kids for a walk along the beach. It was a little chilly but they were having fun looking for shells; Brian and I have a tradition of picking up a stone or shell from each individual beach that we go to but, we couldn't find one on Saturday night! The boys were enthralled with people setting off fireworks a bit prematurely but, we kept them moving and were very well behaved for kids dealing with non-parent people.
We saw a lot of neat things while we were out walking with the boys: some jelly fish had gotten left behind by the receding tide and there was a star fish that we found, too. Not being sure if it was dead or not, Brian picked it up and threw it into the water-- maybe it could still survive.
When we got back inside, Dan and Shelley were just finishing making up all of the beds. The boys got ready to go to sleep and the adults had our desserts-- M&M IceCream. We tried to sit for awhile around the dining room table but the boys, who were supposed to be going to sleep, were showing off for Brian and I and not settling down. Since we were tired anyway, we went down to the bedroom where we would stay the night so that the boys would settled down. According to Dan, they did-- about 30 minutes later, long after Brian and I were asleep.
When we awoke Sunday morning, Shelley had gone back to the grocery store to get a few things that she'd forgotten on Saturday-- apparently it was a much easier time to go to the store though with many fewer people in attendance at 8am! Dan and the boys were watching television (cartoons) when I got upstairs; Brian followed me up about 15 minutes later, still groggy. I had set the coffee the night before so I only had to flip the button when I woke up-- Shelley (who only drinks decaf) and I had planned it that way.
When Shelley got back from the grocery store, she made breakfast for all of us-- no, she doesn't rest much but I think she likes it that way! After breakfast, I showered and the boys got ready to go to the beach. We dug out the shovels (no bulldozing equipment is alowed) and the chairs and the beach towels and we all headed down to the beach.
Dan
and Daniel immediately started digging the fort while Brad went on his
own way by starting a fort of his own . . . then, wandering about the beach
chopping up seaweed . . . playing with stones . . . sea creatures.
This is where Dan shines as a parent-- he bonds with the boys on the "guy
things" that he's supposed to but also tempers his reactions to their activities
and questions. He is very patient and wise . . . he's learned that
if the boys ask him anything about candy or treats, he shouldn't say "Yes"
until he's checked with Shelley as sometimes the boys use the fact that
he wasn't in the room at the time that Shelley said "No" to them on the
same question 5 minutes earlier. Very wise indeed!!
Other
than helping to decide where the computer room was going to go, Brian didn't
help with the digging of the fort. He did help Brad with his boogie
board though and had fun doing it, too. 
Before
Brian encouraged Brad to go further into the water, Brad had a misunderstood
idea about how to ride a boogie board.
When
Shelley and Dan went up to make sandwiches for lunch, Brian and I were
entrusted with the care of the kids which, turned out to be a mistake--
you don't let a sea monster guard kids. Its just not right!
Especially, when I'm looking around at the pier and all of the other
people!
Daniel
was glorying in "his fort" while dad was gone . . .
Eventually, even
Shelley can relax for a few minutes . . . 
When
we were in Morro Bay in February, we had no idea how close we were to Cayucos
until we were on our way home-- even from a distance, its an imposing visual
image.