June 20th Post!!!

We had a wonderful beach trip, soon after the girls let out of school for the summer. We camped at Pismo Beach North Beach Campground. We'd made reservations in January (they fill up fast!), but the individual camping sites are first come, first served. On our first drive through, there weren't any spots available right next to the beach. We would have had no shade, and a longer walk to the beach. When we drove back to the attendant at the gate to tell him which site we'd selected, he said that one had just opened up right after we'd entered. We got that spot instead and it was primo! Lot's of shade, more privacy, and the short walk to the beach. We felt very blessed by that.

We all set up the tent, and then Heidi and the girls hit the beach while I (Kevin) organized the camp a little. What I missed was all the excitement when a long piece of kelp magically reached out and grabbed Halle's ankle in water that was less than knee-deep. She screamed like, well, a little girl. Here's JenAi holding up the evil kelp.

Our campsite. We took our new car too! It's a 2010 Honda Odyssey EX. We love it. We've needed a new car for quite some time, and with some luck and a lot of blessings, we were able to get one. Heidi's always wanted this particular make and model, so we're quite happy with it.

The careful climb on a limb. Halle scooted inch by inch. The next picture is the cute family pose, but I think it's fun to show the picture of the events leading up to the feature picture.

See my (Kevin) two jackets? It was cool/cold at the beach. This is from our first night there. The next day I got in the water up to my knees. I couldn't get out fast enough. It was cold enough to be downright painful. That was the last of my swimsuit wearing on this beach trip.

This is one of my favorite pictures from our beach trip. I had to tell Lora to look off into the distance like she was being thoughtful or something, so it wasn't spontaneous, but it still worked well. It does kind of look like she's in water above her knees, but that's just her rolled up pants.

Our first night at the beach. You can see the joy on the girls faces. That's what it's all about.

This picture is here just so you can see what the car looks like from the front.

All the morning's preparations for the short walk to the beach (sunblock, fill the water bottles, swimsuits, beach shoes, Grandma quilt, chairs, boogie boards). All that, so people could plunk down on the sand and snooze!

JenAi and Halle boogie boarding. You try to catch the front of the wave and ride it in. JenAi caught a couple of good ones. It's harder than it looks. Halle didn't quite get the hang of it.

Halle, at the pier at Pismo Beach. Her favorite pier activity was chasing the birds. If she had been a little faster, well, we'd be explaining why we couldn't keep a bird that she'd caught. And probably explaining why the bird was then pooping on her. Which foreshadows what really happened to Kevin, later in the day.

See how close the birds let Halle get to them. (Oh please you stupid birds, don't let Halle catch you!)

The Evans women, covering the four compass points.

Halle, chasing another bird, with Lora and Heidi enjoying the view.

Those are big waves! The wind was constant, and cold. Our little jackets were not quite warm enough.

The whole family with the coastal hills North of Pismo Beach behind us. At the pier. A total stranger was kind enough to take our picture. After he did so, we chatted a little bit. Heidi and I had thought he and his wife were typical Southern Californians. Turns out they were from Europe (I can't remember where exactly now). Their English wasn't very good either, but the plea for help taking a family photo must be pretty universally understood.

JenAi, Halle and Lora, left to right.

Halle + sand + shovel = endless hours of fun.

This guy used a kite to pull him along on his special surfboard. It connected to a harness he wore on his chest. It looked like a lot of fun once he got going, but quite difficult. We watched him struggle for the better part of an hour to get the kite in just the right spot and pulling the right way, and then maintain it there while he got his surfboard in the right place, and then tried to jump on. Halle and JenAi are in this picture too, watching him.

Halle staying warm in her favorite quilt. You have to understand the history of this quilt. Kevin's Grandmother Gongaware made it for him, when he was just 12 or so years old. It's made out of remnants of tough polyester cloth, which she also made her own clothes out of. It has worn wonderfully through the years, giving Kevin and his family almost 30 years of service now!

One of the highlights of the trip, especially for Halle. Halle + close proximity to birds = fun.

The beautiful area of Morro Bay.

Heidi and the girls, with the Morro Bay tide pool area in the background.

The tide pools of Morro Bay. We saw hermit crabs, clams, anenomes, snails and a starfish.

Heidi and the girls, pointing at Patrick. If you don't know, then watch SpongeBob SquarePants. This starfish was alive, and ended up getting gently tossed back in the ocean. He crawled away as quickly as starfish move, which is very very slowly.

A seal, at the Morro Bay Aquarium. What a small and quirky aquarium. The rehabilitated seals were quite entertaining however, and the aquarium was worth every cent of its $2 adult / $1 child admission price.

Lora needed to go on an overnight backpacking trip to meet a requirement for church girl's camp. So Lora and I went on the Pacific Crest Trail (which goes all the way from the Mexican border to the Canadian border) from the Kennedy Meadows Campground to the footbridge, by the Kern River.

Lora above, at the beginning of the hike. Her backpack was substantially lighter than Kevin's. I had the bear canister of food (too much food), the tent, and sleeping pad. Can't complain about the sleeping pad though, I used it, and made Lora sleep without a pad. Well how do you expect the kids to get tough?

Kevin, looking cheerful at the beginning of the hike. This was to be a relatively easy and flat 2 mile hike out, and 2 miles back the next morning. So I wasn't too careful about packing light. My pack weighed 70 pounds, and I was hurting after 5 minutes. See the white slender thing out the top of my pack? My new H&R Pump Pardner Protector 12 gauge shotgun, (I never even unwrapped it on our little trip - didn't think I'd have to - just wanted it in case... well there are mountain lions and rattlesnakes in these mountains, after all). That's 8 -10 pounds right there. Oh well, if we'd been attacked by a mountain lion, he would've had himself a nice shotgun after he'd gotten through eating a Kevin and Lora dinner.

Lora on the footbridge. This marked 2 miles from the beginning of our hike. We camped just beyond the jumble of rocks behind Lora. We only saw one other backpacker later that night. A man and his 4 year old son. Fun for adults and children! The first person that other backpacker saw was Lora, up high in a tree. He asked her if we would mind his camping there that night (that was very courteous of him to ask). Lora, not hearing him very well, smiled and said, "Yes!" He looked at her confused, and then she asked "what did you say?" When she understood his question, she told him it was quite alright for them to camp there.

Lora and our camp. There were lots of large rocks all around that were very convenient to climb or eat or sit on.