in the swallows: Western Pilgrimage

Since the first summer I was alive (and probably before that), my family has flocked to beaches for a week or two in the summer to bathe in the cool waters of the west and just get down with spending time with the family. The majority of the years have been spent somewhere along the beaches of Southern California. I hardly consider a summer well spent unless I've put in some serious beach time, and I've been very fortunate to have parents who have provided these rich experiences for their children.

We took our annual pilgrimage to California to worship the sun and water a bit early this year (usually end up packing the car and driving down sometime in August). This year followed a very similar routine, but was dotted with one particular very fun event. We were going to be the whole WRIGHT clan minus one--we were losing Jim to the Harvard Forest back in Massachusetts, and for the first few days of the trip we really missed his presence. However, unbeknownst to everyone except Dad and Les, and much to our delight and surprise, "...And on the 4th day, Jim arrived..." He just ended up strolling up to our set up cabana and said "hi" as if nothing were odd at all. Jim (and Leslie's) efforts to travel across the contintent gave us four whole days for our family to be all together again, enjoying the regulars such as: eating way too much, swimming till we were water logged, sleeping-in, boogey boarding for the best dip, body surfing retro-style (hand out, palm up), Mexican Train, catching up on family gossip and whatnot, watching the Pacific Ocean swallow the sun, getting maytagged in the waves of Newport and just being total beach bums. This year we also had fun on the night of the full moon by heading out to the waves at mid-night to watch the summer grunyon runs. Nat also made an announcement...one more Connolly on the way due in Feb. Congrats Nat!

I also got some good reading time in. Upon reading an announcement from J.K. Rowling a while back regarding certain details about her 7th Harry Potter installment, I decided that I finally needed to hop on the Harry train (sorry Heidi!) and get on with getting to know Hogwarts. I really hate missing the boat on really major pop culture information, so I decided to become and informed reader when the news leaks about who could possibly be the ones to die in her 7th book. I read the first three books on the beach and can say that I am completely and would be certifiably addicted (if there were a way to prove that). Very much looking forward to getting the six books read. I figure it's nice easy reading before grad school.

Here are some pics taken at Victoria Beach, and at Newport. When I'm down there I always dream of one day being able to spend a whole summer down at the beach and wholly embracing the Pacific Coast vibe. Maybe one day.