Surf City Scouting Mission On The Cheap

I have seen the enemy, and the enemy is under warm skies.

Since there was no school on Monday, I decided to take the girls down to Huntington Beach. The trip served two purposes - first, it was a family outing, a "cheap thrill" if you will (I'll explain); and secondly, it was a bit of a scouting trip.

Huntington Beach is site of the Surf City Marathon, which will be Marathon No. 3 (and was No. 1 as well). While the memories of Feb. 7, 2010 are still crisp and vivid in my head, taking another trip down there wasn't a bad idea. And considering it was in the mid- to upper-70s in HB (and about 10 degrees warmer than that out here) I figured the beach would be a great idea.

The girls thought so too.

Now, the sun was out, no clouds, beaming, warm... but the water was quite cold. I mean, it's winter after all. But that didn't stop the girls from getting in the water. I only got my feet in the water, and I got up to just above my knee at the deepest, but my feet were blocks of ice.

At one point, they felt accustomed to it but I think they might have been going numb at that point and I confused that with warmth.

The girls liked the outing. They played in the sand, splashed around in the water, chowed down some lunch and enjoyed some ice cream.

Now, about the Cheap Thrills. My blog buddy Willoughby came up with this idea on her blog a while ago. Here's the criteria:

• Be within a reasonable distance from home so that no overnight stay is required
• Charge little or no fee to enjoy
• Appeal to both kids and adults
• Have a place to picnic nearby

Lemme see... check (about a 50-minute drive), check (paid 6 bucks for parking, for 4 hours), check (come on, it's the beach!), check (on the sand... well, on the chairs and towels which are on the sand, and we cleaned up after ourselves of course).

Aside from the six dollars for parking, I paid six dollars for ice cream and 2.25 for a couple of souvenirs. So that's 14.25. That's what my outing cost (not counting gas). Score one for LB.

She was excited about me pulling off a Cheap Thrill apparently.

Speaking of blog buddies, did I mention how totally and ridiculously awesome Morgan of Caution: Redhead Running is? Well, she is. She drew my name in a blog buddy Christmas exchange I participated in and she got me this stupendous shirt. My facial expression does it no justice.

I'm not a fan of my face here but oh well. The shirt is way awesome and I can't thank her enough.

I sported that shirt throughout HB and I will need its inspiration to help me slay this demon.

Looks innocent enough. A stretch of Pacific Coast Highway.

Well, it's not. The building off in the distance is the HB Hilton. In front of the hotel is the Surf City Marathon start line, and a little past this light here is the finish line. When I trudge past this light, this very spot from where I took this picture, I will be close to completing my marathon. Hopefully I will have some steam left in my tank and hopefully I'll be in one piece mentally.

If Monday's trip to Surf City is any indication, though, I should be fine, for the enemy is the same enemy I conquered in 2010 and while it wants revenge on Feb. 6, I will be up for the challenge.