Touch a Truck, Part 2

 In March of 2019, we went to a "Touch a Truck" event.

In 2022, I took Cass again. One of his friend's parents had dropped a note in his folder at school asking us for a playdate. After trying to arrange a time, they mentioned that they were going to this thing, and this boy's mom sent me a link in the text: it was the Touch a Truck event.

It's a free event, but I would've paid. It was interesting to see Cass and one of school friends who we don't usually hang out with as families (not in the inner circle of parent friends), and I got the sense that I'm more of the "stern dad" than this dude was, but I'm sure I could learn from him. He came with his two kids, a daughter and a son, ages 10 and 6, with the little boy a few months older than Cass. They're about the same distance that Cass and Camille are, but switched gender-wise. 

It was as much fun as the last time:

The heavy machinery, like earth movers and bull dozers, chill nicely next to fire engines and garbage trucks. Buses are able to be run through, as are street cleaners and tractors used for roadside maintenance.

Some of the lines are extremely long for the cooler stuff (fire engines), and basically nonexistent for plenty of other things (a truck with a power-line cherry picker attached).

There were even a series of off-roading trucks that were showing off the types of gear they could be outfitted with, like attached tents:

The only real issue from the mid-morning excursion is the fact that I didn't wear any sunscreen, and now my forehead and the backs of my calves sound like crinkly wrapping paper when I walk and are mostly screaming silently back into my body. Small price to pay for Cass to get to have some fun with a buddy.

This was Saturday before's Mother's Day, and with the Tide Pool trip on Sunday, I can say that I feel like I actually got out and did some stuff, which I don't always feel like I can say. Living near the ocean in a bustling beach city has a way of lulling you into a false sense of accomplishment, and when one kid fights leaving (the Boy) and one fights staying at home (babygirl), whatever energy I have leftover from the week focuses a little too much on the fact that one of the kids still needs a nap everyday. Too many easy excuses to chill out...

Anyway, the weekend was great and I know I need to be more activated in doing stuff.

Tide Pools for Mother's Day

On Mother's Day we did one of the things that Corrie had mentioned wanting to do. Early in the day, after we'd all had breakfast (and I mention it because we have a houseguest visiting), when prompted Corrie had said she'd like to go either on a hike, or to the beach. I suggested one of the RPV peninsula nature hikes, as they're not too rigorous (our youngest hiker is a few months past 2 years old), and they're in that so-close-yet-so-exotic range of travel for our non-Californian guest.

So we combined the two: we went to the tide pools at the end of Western Ave in San Pedro. It was a hike, and it was the beach, and it was a flashback to when we lived in SLO and the first time I got to meet Joey, our houseguest.

Driving down Western (this street runs from north of I-10 all the way south, for nearly 30 miles, to San Pedro and the ocean) is pretty cool, and almost transports a driver to SLO County. One big bend in the road, then another as the street starts to tilt downwards, and all of a sudden the ocean appears and it feels like you could slide down into it.

Last time we came here we weno to what seems like the main attraction, but this time we headed the other direction, as a walking path appeared and the crowds thinned out:

Eventually we headed to the water itself, and the tide pools, and while the wind was relentless, we had a good time peeping hermit crabs and regular crabs alike, along with anemones and mussels. Alas, we didn't see any sea stars.

The tide pools were created by the fracturing and uplifting of the rock here, with essentially no sand at this beach section. It looks remarkably similar to the pools at Montana de Oro, south of the Morro Beach strand:

After returning to the path and having a water and snack break, Cass pointed over to a path that wound up away from us into the brush on the hillside. "Where does that go?" he asked.

"Let's go find out," I answered, and up we wound for a few minutes, until it got smaller and less kept. I got the sense that it went up to a park, or someone's cliffside house, and the decision to turn back was made easier by Camille, having seen us walk off up the hillside started to chase after, making to our little expedition. I turned and took a picture of the path, a small sandy beach, one of the more "main" attraction parts, and even the driveway down from the topside end of Western Ave:

We park on the street and walk down the hill. Driving down costs only eight bucks, and we would do that in certain circumstances. 

Mother's Day, spent out at the ocean, and then at the playground up top at the parking area, was a wonderful way to spend the morning. 

Check the Box

Look at the back of my kids' Cheerios box:

Ice-T! Ice-T is on the back of the cereal box. This has got to be some kind of metaphor for VICTORY that I'm struggling to put into words properly.

This is the same dude who wrote LGBNAF! He started a metal band named Body Count and released the controversial song Cop Killer.

Side note: I remember asking my dad about all the anger and negativity to the Cop Killer song...I mean, it looks like the cops are always beating on Black people, and didn't Clapton release the song "I Shot the Sheriff"?

My dad smiled, corrected me on the fact that "I Shot the Sheriff" was originally a Bob Marley song, and that the whole episode was what racism looks like when it's not just about violence.

Ice-T! I mean...didn't he win an Emmy yet for that cop show he's on?