(The Final Installment of the California Trilogy)
In the middle of the week we changed
hotels. Rather than being right there in Downtown Disney we were now
across the street. It was still a nice hotel, and really, the fact
that we could walk to the parks was pretty sweet.
That same day we went to the Japanese
Gardens at the university. I can't remember which university,
unfortunately, but I can tell you it was beautiful. It was wonderful
to be in a place that was so calm and full of plant and animal life.
There was a koi pond, with GIANT koi in it! I'm serious, there were
baby ducks in that pond with them and there were times I thought the
koi were going to just swallow them up. There was also a bird (I
think it was a stork or a crane) standing by the pond so still I
almost thought it was a statue. Then it moved its head. :)
After the Gardens we had lunch and made
our way to the ocean. Now, I have to tell you, I have always been
fascinated by the ocean. I'd never seen it until this trip and it has
always been my dream to see it at least once. I never imagined how
magnificent it would be.
We drove and drove it seemed, and I
began to wonder if I was ever going to see it. And then, we were
driving down the road and I saw it, at the end of the street. A mass
of open space unlike any I had ever seen before. I saw the beach, the
people walking along it enjoying the sunshine, and I saw the water,
the endless water that stretched out until you couldn't see anything
anymore. No mountains, no buildings, just ocean and sky. It was like
if I went far enough I just might fall of the edge of the earth.
We parked the car, gathered our things
and walked along the sand. We set up a chair for Kayla's mom and then
Kayla and I went down to the water. Oh, it was incredible! Watching
the waves as they rolled in and out, taking bits of sand and sea
shells with them, each one different from the one before and the one
following. Feeling the cold, salty water first wash over my feet and
then crash against my legs as I moved further into it. Feeling the
sand beneath my feet move away as the water took it out to to sea.
Feeling the sea shells and few rocks digging into my bare feet as I
walked across them, looking for treasures.
The second or third time that the ocean
took the sand out from under my feet, I joked with Kayla about
getting shorter. After that she piped up about growing short with
each wave as well.
At one point I was out so far the water
was just past my knees and a giant wave came in and knocked me over.
“That wave was as big as you!”
Kayla exclaimed. “Of course, that's not hard to do.” (I'm 5'3
1/2” and yes, the 1/2” makes a difference) Later EriK, Kayla's
step dad, said he thought it was funny that I was the smallest one
and yet I was daring enough to keep going further and further into
the water. What can I say, I was enjoying myself. :)
When it came time to leave I must
confess, I didn't want to. It was the last thing I wanted to do. As
we drove back to the hotel I could smell the beach on my clothes. It
was a heavenly smell, like the smell of smoke from a campfire. I was
sad to have to wash the smell away.
Later I would find myself longing for
the ocean again. I was addicted and I wanted more. It's been weeks
since then and I still feel the desire, the longing for the ocean. To
see it, to smell it, to feel it. Some day I will go back, of that I
am sure. Now that I've tasted of it, I can't stay away.
