Beachy Weekend

I love April. This weekend I went to the beach three times.

The first was on a bike ride through Golden Gate park on Saturday morning, and on the weekends most of the road is blocked off for cars so bikers and runners have the road all for themselves. The park leads right to the Ocean Beach, which in the morning is usually filled with surfers and older people walking. You can ride on the beach walk down the shore as far as Lake Merced. Though, the further South you ride, the longer you have to ride back against the wind, which is almost like riding uphill. My friend and I rode all the way down to Sloat before turning around and heading back through the park to embark on our separate Saturday afternoon plans. She was heading down to Chrissy Field to play sloshball (drunken kickball), and I had a friend's BBQ to attend.

Later that evening, I went back to the beach for a bonfire. I made it just in time for sunset, which was filled with shades of orange and pink and purple. We drank beers and told stories around the fire, and played a fantastic game of Chinese Fingers. The cops showed up at around midnight to make sure we didn't have glass bottles and that we were of legal drinking age. They were pretty lame about it, but I guess I would be pretty lame too if my job was to walk around a beach ruining people's fun. In any case, they left us alone and other than the fact that my hair smelled like BBQ for the next two days (even after showering), it was a rockin' good time.

On Sunday, it was hot. Not warm, but hot. In April. In Northern California. If you don't live here and you're reading this, I know you're jealous. My friends and I took the nauseating bus ride down to the beach to lay down for a bit and read. The sun was strong and the wind was blowing. I ended up sunburning the backs of my legs because I didn't think to put sunscreen on when I was so immersed in the second book of the Twilight series. The beach stared to get a little crowded by 3:30, and we got back on the bus to head home, where I spent the remainder of the afternoon drinking iced coffee and playing scrabble on my sunny deck.

The whole weekend almost felt like a vacation. And I guess it sort of was, considering that the forecast for the next four days is rain. At least my burn will turn into a nice tan.