Aunt and Uncle had the day off work today, so they and one cousin piled into the van with us and we all headed out for a fun California day.
Our first stop was the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield.
We spent a few minutes cruising around the gift shop while we waited for the next free tour. The tour was very cool, but sadly, no photos were allowed on the tour. We did grab a couple of the Reagan display...
And some of the jelly bean art posters before we entered the factory. (The jelly bean art themselves were in a display inside the factory, so these are photos of the photos of the real thing, but still cool.)
We got to watch videos of the history of Jelly Belly and about jelly bean production which explained exactly what the machines and workers underneath us were doing. We got to try samples of the jelly beans at different stages of production. Everyone’s favorite sample flavor was cherry. I don’t like cherry, and I don’t like jellybeans, and these were delicious.
At the end of the tour, we went back to the gift shop for souvenirs. Sweetling bought a propeller cap which she wore the rest of the day. As we were driving with the van windows down, Sweetling’s propeller was happily spinning away.
We grabbed some food from the deli of a local grocery, and drove out to the coast to Dillon Beach. The drive took us along a lot of California country roads. Let me tell you what a strange juxtaposition it was to see a pasture field in front of a little white farmhouse with a large palm tree beside it.
As we were driving along, I was remarking on a field of cows that were all just laying down in the grass in the sun.
Uncle John said, “Of course, those are happy California cows.” This was then followed by his statement, “I don’t want any zumba cows.”
The town of Dillon was a quaint little seaside town with tiny winding streets, and small, close together houses.
We found our way down to the beach, changed into suits, and headed out on the sand. It was quickly discovered that the sun was warm and the sand was very warm.
But, the wind was a bit brisk, and the water was quite cold, as in, nearly freezing. (Ok, the Jedi says it was only in the mid-sixties, but it was cold.)
That didn’t keep the guys out.
I'm not even talking a little bit of wading here. They went out and played in that biting surf.
Sweetling got all suited up…
And decided she wasn’t having any of that frigid water.
She set to sand castle building instead.
Eventually her cousin came to join her...
...and they endeavored to build a trench to the ocean to fill up their moat.
Some methods were more effective than others. But, when one lacks a shovel, one can turn ones knees into a human earth mover.
Toa decided to build his own castle , topped with seaweed.
That was so successful, he started a second castle closer to the waves.
The Jedi warned him not to build there, the waves would wash it away.
Toa said, “I’ll build it fast. I’ll build it strong.”
Sure enough, the surf started to surge up the sand to his castle.
“Stop it, Daddy! Stop the water!”
The Jedi’s reply: “What do you want me to do about it? It’s the ocean.”
Toa tried throwing sand at the assaulting waves in defense of his fortress.
When that failed, he wrapped his body around the castle.
And yet, despite his valiant efforts, the castle fell in the ocean’s onslaught.
Not to be defeated, he started a third castle on the site of the recently demolished castle.
In the end though, no matter how many times he rebuilt it, the waves won.
Finally, he was forced to admit defeat.
We spent the afternoon on the beach. At 3:30, we headed back towards Sacramento, which was a two hour drive from the beach. We grabbed some pizza from Mountain Mikes for dinner. After a lazy afternoon in the California sun, an easy carry-out pizza dinner was just the right speed. No wonder those cows just lay around all day.
Read from Day 1
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On to Day 11
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