The BIG Little Lies California Road Trip - 2nd August 2019 - Shopping, Oceanside Beach & BBQ

[smithlane]

Day 16

No alarm today, I woke at about 9am. My ankle felt a bit better thank god, still not 100% but at least I could put a bit of weight on it. Was still a bit worried as we had lots of walking planned for Yosemite in a few day's time .

We met Helen and Jenny at 11 then drove to Target 15 mins away. They dropped me off as I was the only one who wanted to go here and they were going to Dicks Sporting Goods down the road. I would then meet them at Ross Dress for Less once done which was within walking distance for me.

I only needed a few things in Target, some Coppertone suntan spray for a friend who swears by it, some Glad bin liners (don’t judge, they’re brilliant!) and a Snickerdoodle mix.
Ah the return of the supermarket photo's, you're welcome

I now walked 2 doors up to Jo-Ann’s craft store. They had a brilliant sale of BOGOF on all their Fall goods and 70% off their Summer bits.

All of this came to only $40! The wreath alone was $45 at full price. I bought the pink sprigs of flowers separately to add a bit more colour then just threaded them through.

From here I walked 10 minutes down the road to Ross. Not been in one of these before, it’s just like a TK Max. Had a browse but to be honest these stores drive me crazy. I like to be able to see what I’m buying not have to rummage through!

Once I met back up with the others we then drove to the Walmart Super Store to get lunch and dinner. We had really enjoyed having dinner in last night so we decided to do it again. Bought some chicken tenders and sub rolls for lunch then some sirloin steak and BBQ chicken leg quarters with baked potatoes for dinner. We still had some salad left from last night. Altogether for the 4 of us came to $48. A complete bargain for lunch and dinner!

Hope and Jim had a great haul in Dicks. Hope got some Nike shorts, a Nike hoody and Nike tracksuit bottoms. They got me a pair of Nike shorts that I had requested and Jim got some Nike Golf shoes and trainers plus a load of other golfing bits like gloves and balls.

It was now 2pm so we went back to our own apartments to have lunch then at about 3.30 we met back up on the beach next to the harbour.
I put a couple of loads of washing on, on the way

I wasn’t risking going back in the sea so sat chilling under the parasol reading my book.
Well I tried to!

After a while I took a wander over to the harbour for a browse. In order to get there I had to paddle through the water then scramble up these rocks. Good job I don’t have a dodgy ankle . Honestly I’m my own worst enemy, I really should just sit down and chill but I get ants in my pants

I walked past a couple of gift shops and nice looking restaurants. If we had more time I would have liked to of eaten over here one evening.

I stopped in one shop and bought all 8 of us a mixture of different ice creams and lollies to take back with me.

These were much appreciated by everyone.

After a little while Jim wanted us all to have a game of volleyball. Well everyone bar me as we all know how that would end... They had to have a few practice sessions as not all of them were familiar. Quite frankly they were all rubbish .

More bodyboard fun in the sea was had.

Hope doing her best Baywatch run!

The kids came running back saying they saw what they thought was either a dolphin or baby shark swim right by them! Got talking to a few locals and apparently there was a sighting of a Great White in Oceanside only a few days earlier . Unsurprisingly they stayed out of the water after that

We stayed until the sun started to set and got some fabulous photos of us all. I think these are my favourite photos of the entire holiday.

The kids then had a game of tag, football and some gymnastics thrown in. It was so lovely to see them playing all together like children and not glued to their phones

Got a passing lady to take one with all 8 of us too as we didn’t have many with all of us in.

We stayed until about 8pm then packed up and went back to our apartments to get showered.

By 9.30 we met at the BBQ area by the pool with our food ready for Nick to grill it. They had put the baked potatoes in the oven earlier so they were already done.
We had a lovely dinner of steak cooked perfectly, chicken, baked potatoes and salad.
We went back to the Leans for a drink on their balcony as security were closing the area and we weren’t quite ready to go back. I finished off my very potent vodka cocktail which was helping with the ankle pain then tumbled into bed at about 1am

[Macca04]

Another great day, photos on the beach are lovely.

Glad your ankle is on the mend.

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by Macca04

Another great day, photos on the beach are lovely.

Glad your ankle is on the mend.

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Thank you, I was so pleased with how they came out.
Yes so was I, it had me worried for a while but I think it was just a strain

[Nesbits]

Now that was an excellent day

[Goldia]

A lovely day at the beach. Some great photos with the sun setting behind you all. A tasty BBQ dinner too, what a brilliant end to the day. Glad your ankle was feeling better.

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by Nesbits

Now that was an excellent day

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Thank you, it was the perfect end to a really great day

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by Goldia

A lovely day at the beach. Some great photos with the sun setting behind you all. A tasty BBQ dinner too, what a brilliant end to the day. Glad your ankle was feeling better.

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Thank you. It was lovely to have a day at a much slower pace plus the amazing sunset at the end just made it perfect

[WileyCoyote]

What a lovely relaxing day and the beach and the home bbq at the end sound just perfect. Sometimes it’s nice to do not very much.
So glad you didn’t join in the volleyball although rock climbing probably wasn’t the best idea !

Lol . I won’t go in the sea past my ankles. No chance of any big creatures sneaking up on me there 😉

Glad the ankle wasn’t too limiting today and nice to chill out . I agree about places like Ross. They are great if you are in the mood to rummage but a nightmare if not.

[smithlane]

Originally Posted by WileyCoyote

What a lovely relaxing day and the beach and the home bbq at the end sound just perfect. Sometimes it’s nice to do not very much.
So glad you didn’t join in the volleyball although rock climbing probably wasn’t the best idea !

Lol . I won’t go in the sea past my ankles. No chance of any big creatures sneaking up on me there 😉

Glad the ankle wasn’t too limiting today and nice to chill out . I agree about places like Ross. They are great if you are in the mood to rummage but a nightmare if not.

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It really was the perfect day!
Haha yes I definitely wasn’t going to get involved in the volleyball, it would have surely ended in disaster 😂
I don’t blame you for not going in further, if you stop and think about what creatures are lurking in the sea it could totally freak you out!
Even if I have all day I can’t abide these stores, my friend gets so many good deals in TK Max but I just can’t bring myself to rummage 😬

[Fuellady]

Nice leisurely day, with a nice browse round the shops in the morning. I'm not a fan of Ross either, nor TK Maxx actually - I like to see what I'm buying!

Great afternoon at the beach, and beautiful sunset photos of you all. A BBQ to finish off the day sounds lovely.