California without a car Day 15

**ali-s** · 13 Sep 08, 09:02 PM

California without a car Day 15 Anaheim Aug 23rd

No parks today, yippee ! We are going on a beach bus tour. I booked this online at anaheim411.com, it’s a hop on/off type tour of the Orange county beaches, on board a ‘woodie’ beach bus ( not to be confused with the OC experience, which is a coach, beach and shopping mall ).

At 8.30am we are sat on the steps infront of the hotel, we are all wearing our swimsuits under our t shirts and shorts ( which,in my case, as women will know, means careful planning of toilet breaks for the rest of the day ! ) and I have the bag packed with beach towels and iced water, why, just because I had the foresight to pack it, means I have to carry it for the rest of the day, I don’t know, but it’s flippin heavy !

Our bright red bus arrives, complete with ‘surfer dude’ at the wheel, well, maybe not, his name’s Joe and I’m not sure when he last ‘caught a wave’ but he’s a local with a lot of knowledge about and love for the area, which makes for an interesting commentary ( he sometimes gets sidetracked and gives us little stories about his childhood and personal life, which though way off topic is rather endearing ! )

The bus is not full- maybe 11 other passengers so it’s a nice friendly atmosphere with the Beach Boys playing on the CD player as we head to our first stop, Huntington beach. We are given some history about the place- surf city, where surfing was born, we have a photo stop and take pictures of the rather grey sea and pier ( as it’s early, the cloud hasn’t burnt off) but we are advised not to make this one of our stops unless we are really into surfing, as that is really the towns’ only attraction. One stereotypical surfer type woman gets off here.

We drive on through Newport- College ‘party’ town, no stops here, then onto Balboa. This is where we choose for our first stop. We have almost 3 hours, We wander along by the harbor, then, ignoring the boys’ protests ( they just want the beach ! )we turn down a couple of side roads and walk along beside the beach front houses. I could have spent all day doing this- this is a very ‘well to do’ area and every house had a little courtyard/patio opening onto the living area. These little courtyards were full of interesting things for a nosy parker like me to look at- tubs of flowers, mosaic walls, lots of cats sunbathing , unusual ornaments, drift wood sculptures etc, etc, I would have loved to have taken some piccies, but the occupants were usually sitting a few feet away in the living area !

Eventually, I could ignore the boys no longer and we turned onto the beach, the sun had come out now and OW ! that sand was hot, I alternated a few steps in my flip flops and few steps bare feet ! The boys paddled here, but I wasn’t sure I would have time to dry off before getting back on the bus – wet swimsuit and shorts = not comfy ! so I sat and watched, the green flags were up for ‘safe condiotions’ but the beach sloped steeply and suddenly, I sat above the slope- about 10ft away from the boys who were paddling slightly below me, every so often, a big wave would crash in and I’d have to shuffle back a few feet to avoid getting my toes wet, 5 mins before we were due to leave, a huge wave came in, I did a quick bum shuffle- but not quick enough, I got drenched ! much to the boys amusement, so much for not wanting to get wet ! I’m amazed at what is considered a ‘safe ‘ beach over there !

Back on the bus and we drive on through Corona Del Mar , we are in the territory of the super rich now, we see the gated estate where Nicholas cage had a house , the house that Cher owns/did own, Michelle Pffier (sp ? ) lives here as well. Our driver must read the property sections each week as he knows what’s for sale and for how much – also what sold for what price- we are talking figures that I don’t know how to write ! We have another photo stop – we could get off here if we wanted to , and the little beach does look tempting, but there are no shops or restaurants that I can see. We spend 15 mins or so admiring the view and watching the yachts and I see a HUMMING BIRD at last ! unfortunately it was too quick for me to get a photo, but it made my day !

We get off at the next stop – Laguna Beach. We need some lunch, I had intended we eat at Rubys’ diner in Balboa, but due to my nosying, we ran out of time. The driver has suggested various places we might try, all sound lovely, but I doubt they serve the ‘essential ‘ chicken strips, so we end up at Johnny Rockets ( for the 3rd time this holiday ! )it was very busy and service was slow, made worse cos we could see the beach across the road and we wanted to be on it NOW !

With about 2 hrs of our time left, we find a spot on the beach and I am definitely swimming. DS12 goes running into the water and comes running out again when he’s almost knocked off his feet by a knee high wave ! Laughing at him , I grab his hand and pull him back in with me, I am in up to my hips, DS12 is in up to his waist, the next wave comes and we are both knocked over and under ! those waves hit with some force ! Luckily DS sees the funny side – probably because he’s looking at the state of me, all the same, he retreats back to ankle deep water and assumes a ‘surfing position’ which looks very good and ridiculous at the same time, but he said it felt like surfing, and I knew what he meant, that water pulled at your feet and you felt like you were moving . I later find about 3 tablespoonfuls of sand trapped in the lining of my swimsuit- it must have been forced through the fabric by the waves, it’s still there as apart from cutting a hole, there is no way to get it out !

I have taken my glasses off as they are obviously not going to stay on , but wish I had brought my swim goggles with me as the kids nearby are pointing out crabs, fish and sand sharks, frustratingly, I can’t see any of them.

Watching the kids around me body surfing, I realize I should move out slightly deeper- where I’m stood is where the waves are breaking, I stand about waist deep and manage to let the waves carry me in a few times, I’m having fun when I turn to see a humungous wave coming towards me and I Know I have no hope of staying afloat, I take a deep breath and close my eyes and am dragged under and dumped onto the beach – very scary for a few seconds, but when I’ve cleared my throat and eyes, I see the same thing has happened to everyone else and they are going back for more ! Oh well ! the green flag is still out, this is obviously normal !and I remember a snippet of info the bus driver told us – no one has drowned on an OC beach in 17yrs ( I think )so thinking it would be rather bad luck to spoil their record I spend another hour or so in the water, about one in every 10 waves is huge and I get used to holding my breath and picking myself up off the shore, when I’ve swallowed about 2 litres of water I decide enough is enough and lie in the sun to dry out, the flags are now orange- should think so to ! DS9 has taken the safer/drier option of digging to Australia while all this has been going on, he now has a hole about 3 ft deep and is building moats and dams to prevent it flooding. I wonder what will happen when the tide starts to come in – will some hapless person stumble into the hole ? maybe the ‘no drowning’ record will be trashed after all !

We have a few minutes to spare before getting on the bus, so we do a bit of shopping, we’ve been told the drugstore is a good place to pick up souvenirs, so in we go, they have a huge selection of seashells and nautical stuff, I’m making my choices when I notice it’s all ‘produce of Indonesia’, I ask the assistant if she has any local stuff, unfortunately not, so apart from a few postcards and a fridge magnet , we leave empty handed. This was the shop where the assistant confused us by asking ‘you done the tour ?’ wow, I thought, how does she know we are on the beach bus tour- how do we stand out ? she then confused matters further by saying ‘it’s creepy isn’t it?’ Laguna beach? Creepy? What is she on about ? She then adds ‘ did you go in the cells?’ understanding dawns ! DH is wearing his Alcatraz shirt again- she must have thought us a right pair of wallies , gawping at her with ours mouths open !
Back on the bus and we head back to be dropped off at the hotel, the Beach boys have been exchanged for the radio – the only improvement I would make on the tour would be no radio- Beach boys only ! Arriving back at the hotel, the driver does a bit of impromptu pruning when the surfboards on the roof catch on the tree infront of reception and bring a branch crashing down, he is clearly rather embarrassed as he gets out to move it to the side, but for some reason we all find it hilarious, the other passengers are cracking up and we are laughing our way back to our room as other hotel guests stand and tut at the carnage and comment on his driving, a brilliant end to a brilliant day !

Tomorrow, our last day, California Adventure and Home