September 14; Day Fourteen

The plan was to rise early each morning and walk the beach to witness the sunrise. Being that I didn’t go to bed until 2 a.m. this morning, that didn’t happen today. I did wake up around 6:30 and open the blinds in my bedroom which face east. There was a hint of color and the clouds were silhouetted against the light. Sunrise was at 7:08. I dozed back off and woke up again at 7:20. Oh well, this vacation is about rest. I’ll be in bed as soon as I type this tonight, so I might make it to the ocean for sunrise tomorrow.

Since I already missed the sunrise, I went back to sleep. Got up 8:30ish and had coffee, read my devotional, checked facebook. I also did a tiny bit of work that I didn’t get to do on Friday. By then, the sun was past the balcony so I took a book and sat out there. Jessica showed up soon after that. We talked and painted our toenails. A little later, Liz showed up with a cup of coffee. We all chatted for a bit, then went inside to fix breakfast and had it on the balcony.

By 2pm, we packed up and drove over to the beach. We had no idea how close the beach was. We could have walked. When we arrived at the beach, we took our chairs and towels; set them down then went to walk up the beach. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the sky, clouds, and sheer magnitude of the ocean. It affects me this way every time. Liz was ready to go into the water almost immediately, so in we went. I love being around water; not necessarily in the water, but around. After about 15-20 minutes, I left the girls and went to sit and read. 

I picked up my book and was about to read, but instead I spent the next several minutes looking out over the water, feeling the breeze through my hair, enjoying the sun on my skin. After a while, I read a little bit, then took a short nap. I woke up and read some more. Then went back in the water with the girls, then back out to read. Jessica and Liz stayed in the water the whole time we were out there which was about three hours.

We came back to the condo, showered, and ate dinner on the balcony. Then walked back over to the beach with the intention of a moonlight stroll. Except there was no moon. It was dark, but we could see a little. We also had flashlights to use when needed. There were so many stars. We just stood there looking up in amazement. We walked up and down the beach for about an hour; stopping and looking a shells, little crabs, and the remnants of sand castles that the tide had eroded. 

When we came back, we ended the evening with homemade chocolate chip cookies and a glass of chocolate almond milk.

It has been a really good day.