10 Things To Do While You’re at the Beach

Lunch is packed, sunscreen, towel, sand pail, yet, hauntingly you think, there’s gotta be more to this.

And, you are right.

There’s more.

Reporting from Ventura, California, our 7th week into our “assist”, we have hosted two open houses, a dozen or so walk-throughs, and a pool of applications to verify employment, rent history and credit rating. Happily, the home will be going to a small family of three, with a 7 year old mix-breed dog. HOORAH!

At our hosts request, we’ve agreed to stay on one more week. We’ll help balance another busy week: out-of town business trip, follow up appointment for last weeks’ dog tooth extraction, get headlight fixed on the Suburu, finish paperwork and pass off keys to the rental. Then, I think, we will have finished our mission here, and we move EAST.

Before our West Coast farewell, I thought I’d offer up my ideas of what you might want to do if you get a chance to visit California beach areas:

1. Practice Photography. I enjoy capturing good photos, and trying new settings on my camera. While on the beach, the subject matter seems endless! Hit the beach at different times of the day, and the lighting can offer a different skew on things.

Ventura’s Colorful Golden Hour

Barfing up Rainbow

2. Watch for offshore animal life. This is Woody’s specialty. Anything from otters to whales. . . he can spot spots, way off shore.

Spot

Thar She Blows!!

3. Beach Combing. Unlike Woody, my eyes tend to gravitate toward the ground. I just get in a zone, focusing on treasures such as beach glass, or “perfect” shells. And, like always, I have to figure out WHY I collect all those treasures, and attempt to put them to some use.

4. Catch up on Phone Calls. When I was growing up, the first thing we’d say when grabbing the phone was, “Hello?,” today we say, “hey, where are you?” but, really, that’s not why I make calls while strolling the beach! It’s a nice way to get fresh air, take care of phone-business, make time to catch up with family, and maybe get the dogs out too.

5. Get the Dogs Out. Personally, one of my favorites, this is just about as good as it gets. Hoping these photos explain it well enough:

A Happy Pack

Oh yeah. . .NO leashes!

None of these dogs have pointy ears

6. Draw in the Sand. The size of the “paper” is limitless, and your graffiti is guilt free… it will be erased one way or another.

Time to Take Off!

7. Move off the Sand a Little Bit. More than memorial benches sit on periphery of the sandy shores. My favorite is always the salt water taffy joints, but locally we have this statue, a gift from Russia – I’m partial to it, I love the movement in it.

Sea Nymph

8. General Exercise. Even if you don’t swim, surf, or boogie board, walking in sand is great exercise, my calves can testify to it!

Cut it up, dude!

9. Watch the sun set. A bit corny, and I feel us photographer-types spend too much time with them, but you can’t deny that there’s just something about a colorful sun setting on the west coast. It might be this number 9, that leads to my tenth idea of what to do at the beach. . . 

10. Day Dream. Let your mind free. Let it go wherever it wants. We’ve spent a lot of time trying to figure out what our life will look like a handful of months from now. About the only thing we’ve agreed on, our next stop will be Vegas.

It’s a step.