Oceanside

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Sarah: Thursday we left work early and headed toward San Diego after running by the library to stock up on books for a beach weekend. We made a stop for "dinner" at a McDonalds in Gila Bend and sat munching our burgers while watching all of the people heading to and returning from Rocky Point. Lots of people talking about Mexican Insurance, Wave Runners and Beach Houses. We caught bits of the news on the nice wall mounted flatscreen while studying the cast of characters gathered at the fast food restaurant. Leaving Gila Bend, we laughed about the space themed hotel and wondered what the town was like years ago when the buildings were new. We finally arrived in Oceanside around 11pm and after seven hours on the road and many pitstops. Chelsea, Louis, Steph and Craig were all still awake to greet us. We chatted, caught a run through of videos and pictures from Chelsea and Louis' recent Ireland trip then hit the hay.

Friday - 4th of July - we woke up late to the sounds of laughter drifting up the stairway. We mosied down to a delicious breakfast of eggs and bacon and lots of good friends. We headed to the beach with our bags of suntan lotions, books, towels and other beach necessities. Thankfully, Chelsea woke up at 6:00am and roped off our property. When I say "roped off," I do mean it - with four blue chairs marking the corners and rope running along the sides, she had grabbed us a prime piece of real estate. Even though it was overcast and hazy, we enjoyed the day chatting, napping and reading. More people joined us as the day wore on. The guys headed out to surf and got quite a workout. The temperature was perfect even though it remained overcast! Lunch was picked up from a Mexican Restaurant within walking distance and brought back to the beach to enjoy. New friends were made while old friends caught up on life. We finally headed back to the House to begin showering and grilling. Chelsea and Louis had picked up a plethora of different salads and salsas to devour with our burgers and hot dogs. The group, which had now grown to 14 people, rallied on the roof top to watch fireworks and make smores. We also chowed down on the berry pie with ice cream Chels made. Through the haze, we were only able to see a few of the fireworks shot from the barge but we did enjoy quite the show from the house across the street. It was all fun and games until one apparently hit the house itself. There was also a show when a powerline nearby surged causing a flury of sparks. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed a dancing game where you had to mimic all of the dance moves from all of the people in the circle before you then add one of your own. I was laughing so hard that I had trouble remembering each person's move. After such a long day, Louie and I crashed!

Saturday, Louie and I woke a little earlier and headed to scope out the Carlsbad Outlet Mall. We got a great parking spot right in front of "Dog on a Stick." We had great luck roaming the shops and then headed for lunch at a random Chinese Restaurant. We headed back to the house and immediately changed so we could meet everyone down at the beach. We spent the remainder of the afternoon lounging at the beach and watching the kids build sand castles and collect beautiful stones. That evening, we had leftovers and the girls went to a wine tasting bar while the guys stayed in and watched the UFC fight. I wasn't sure what I would think of the wine bar as I am not a big wine drinker. I chose to sample the champagne list and it was a blast! It was fun not only learning more about the champagnes (and Chels' wines) but also learning more about Ashley, Chelsea and Stephanie. Eventually, we realized the bar was open an hour later than usual for us so we headed home. We ordered the movie "Strange Wilderness" and I, of course, fell asleep after much battling with my eyelids to stay awake.

Sunday was laid back also. Louie and I made a trip to the beach. Ashley and Aaron headed back to Tucson around noon. We came back to the house around 1pm to shower and pack up. Louis and Chels joined us for lunch at Rubys at the end of the pier. On the walk to Rubys, we spotted an open house that we had to peak in - the small, one bedroom condo was $400,000 and had a "sliver view of the ocean" as the realtor liked to put it. We got a fantastic seat at Ruby's on the top floor in the corner overlooking the ocean. The food was delicious and the service (by a server named Rambo) was good also. Afterwards, we all headed back to the house and we realized that now it was 5pm and definitely time to get on the road. Louie and I made a stop by a sunglass hut to pick up two pair of sunglasses. We filled up our tires with air and were officially on our way back to Tucson. We finally hit Tucson around midnight and were welcomed home by Monsoon rains. It was good to be home again and wipe out in our own bed.

Louis:
Thursday-
2:30-Forgetfull Louis strikes again...forgot the fish food for Sarah's work fish. Hopefully they wont die over the long weekend.
6:00-We arrive in beautiful Gila Bend, AZ for a delicious and nutritious meal from the local McDonalds. Little did we know the cast from the Star Wars bar scene would be there...
10:30-We made it to Oceanside, exhausted and head to bed after a quick chat with the locals (Chelsea, Louis and their friends)

Friday-
9:30ish- ?!?!?! how did we sleep this late, everyone else has been up for a while. After a quick breakfast we head out to the beach.
11:00-no sun yet, too much fog hanging around
12:00-food run at the local Mexican fast food joint (another delicious and nutritious meal)
1:00-still no sun?!?!
2:00-apparently the sun doesnt shine here, oh well, still beats 110.
3:00-attempted to surf, but apparently you need skills to do that...I couldnt make it out since the waves were too big.
4:00-The sun is finally out!!!!
4:15-The sun is gone!?!?!?
6:00-back to the house for a shower and BBQ
7:00-let the festivities begin! Drinking, eating, hanging out and enjoying the beautiful weather.
9:00-Fireworks! Oh wait, the fog came back...at least the electrical lines makes cool sparks and sounds
????-bedtime, exhausted, such a long day (very good day though)

Saturday-
9:00-rise and shine, its time for shopping!!!
12:00-you have to love the trips where you spend more money than your incredibly hot wife.
12:30-back to the beach to relax...looks like the night before beat everyone into submission, nice calm day
6:00-back to the house after a good beach day for more delicious BBQ
7ish-Girls head out to wine bar, guys stay in and watch Griffen v Jackson!
10:00-girls arrive back, a little happier than when they left. Man my wife is super hot.
11:00-Monkeys eat over 800 ants a year, scientists believe that if ants were as big or bigger than monkeys that this number would be much less
12:00-bedtime

Sunday-
9ish-wake up, hang out, clean up a little and head to the beach for on last visit after seeing the A's off.
2:00-after a nice shower, off to the pier to eat at Ruby's...mmmmm peanut butter shake!
4:30-ummm how is it 4:30 already? I dont want to leave, stupid work.
5:30-sunglass emporium?!?! 3 for 20.99 how can you pass up those deals
11:59-Made it back before midnight!!!

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