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After a visit to Cinnamon’s for pancakes (SORRY BILL! We thought of you there!), we headed off to the beach with Mom and Pete for a swim out to Flat Island. I really wanted to try my first open ocean swim out to this little island 1/4 mi offshore. Unfortunately, when we arrived the beach was swarming with kite and wind surfers so it seemed prudent to not swim across all that heavy traffic. I was so bummed, though, having geared up mentally for the challenge. It was choppy out, and very windy, too, but I knew that I could manage it, especially because I planned to use a snorkel to make breathing easier. My plan was to have Dave be a kayak escort. Since he strongly advised against the swim today, I decided to run down the beach and check out my intended launch point anyway and maybe snorkel around a bit. I really wanted to swim in the ocean since that’s what I’d set out to do today. I’d been waiting several weeks to line up all the right support people (Mom to watch Sam, Dave to kayak). When I got down the beach there was only one kite surfer out, and I could tell he was experienced by the jumps he was pulling off (so I knew he could steer around me). I also planned to keep popping my head up to look around. I decided to swim out a bit and “test the waters.” After a couple out-and-back trips within the swimming area marked off by buoys, I decided to swim back down to where the family was hanging out. At least that way I’d get my ocean swim in and also stay away from the heavy traffic. Jenni will be laughing when she reads this. I had an AWFUL time steering with the heavy chop, the tide coming in, and the swells. I zig-zagged all the way back. All told, I did just under a mile but who knows how much I added with my inefficient steering. I came back to find Sam and Dave running in and out of the water, romping around and having a great time. It was wonderful to see Sam gaining confidence and playing more independently.

Later, Dave jumped on his Lemond and did a brief 13 mi ride. He’s checking out www.rooworld.com if you’re interested in what the Dave man is jazzed about right now. Speaking of jazzed – he is playing a CD of Lester Young with the Oscar Peterson Trio. We just got back from a nice night out in Waikiki playing tourist at the Hilton Hawaiian village. That place is totally insane. The rooms start at $300/night and they have like a dozen restaurants in there. I remember staying at similar places (maybe not that pricey) while traveling for Merck. One hotel room looks the same as all the others. But we enjoyed roaming around and having some delicious sushi after a sunset drink at the beach. Thanks to Mom and Pete for giving us such a carefree night out on the town! It is so great to have such trusted and loving care at home – having a great time with Sam Pants, too!

Oh – the reason I entitled this entry “surf spray” is this…I decided NOT to wash my hair tonight (although I was actually in the shower contemplating it) for the simple reason that hair stuff is bottled to emulate the surf. Since I had nice ocean water texture in my hair already, I decided to keep it there. It feels crunchy and good, and it was free!