The day started out ominous. Â We left a sunny and warm San Jose and arrived in Marina to clouds and sprinkling. As we gathered in the parking lot, the drizzling increased, and we were seriously debating whether to just drive back to San Jose to bike, haha. Â Luckily, the sprinkling stopped, and we decided to just stick it out, figuring that the clouds should burn off after lunch. It was actually refreshingly cool to bike through the mist. Â
My brother RL joined us biking for the first time. He had borrowed TD's son's bike and was still figuring out how to shift gears. Unfortunately, he shifted too late when going up a hill and the chain ended up coming off. After getting the chain back on and giving him a few tips on shifting, he was fine the rest of the day.
After we got to California Ave where the trail U-turned to climb up a hill, I let Little J down to bike. He biked down the trail, onto the street, and made it up the hill on Tioga. Even the huge hill on the trail close to the beach didn't faze him. He stopped several times going up that hill, but with some encouragement from DK and JN, he made it all the way to the top. Going down the other steep side of the hill, he had his legs up going weee, but he was able to slow down using his hand brake. Yay! No more crashing for him, haha. Shortly after the hill, he finally got tired and asked to sit in the baby seat. He biked 2.5 miles over 2 big hills.. pretty impressive for his 3-year old little legs on a balance bike :P
The rest of the group was already waiting at The Wharf Marketplace for lunch by the time we got there. VL was still recovering from getting sick, so she and LJ drove down and met up with us for lunch. We brought sushi for the boys to eat in case they didn't like the food at The Wharf Marketplace, but the sandwiches, crab cakes, salads, and clam chowder were very fresh and tasty there. Â The boys also had a blast playing on the tractor out front, especially Little J. Â Hubby had just bought new biking shoes with cleats and was practicing clipping and unclipping, circling around the tables. He came to a stop, and we watched in disbelief as his bike slowly fell over on its right side with Hubby still clipped in. He ended up rolling onto his back with the bike on top of him. Luckily he only scraped up his knee a bit. He had evidently forgotten that his feet were clipped in when he stopped, hahaha.
The sun finally came out of hiding by the time we biked to the nearby beach to hang out. It was sunny yet not too hot, beautiful weather. The boys had a blast running in the waves, getting wet, and playing trucks in the sand. DK got out his drone and flew it up and down the shore, following crazy TD as she sneaked around people's tents on the beach. After all that frolicking, TD, VL, and LJ laid down on the mat next to our tent to relax, and pretty soon TD was fast asleep underneath a towel.
We enjoyed oceanfront dining of the fruit we brought, and then started packing stuff up to leave. VL and LJ got up to start packing as well, but TD obliviously slept through it all. We were joking around that we should just bike off and leave her there on the beach, haha. Finally we sent Middle J over to wake her up, which he did by yanking the towel off her face :)
Little J kept asking to bike again, but I figured he'd be too tired and wiped out to bike. I told him he could bike after we passed the street section, but after 5 minutes riding in the baby seat he was completely out, haha. For the first time, Middle J biked the entire route without being towed. He just needed a bit of pushing from Hubby going up the hills. Oldest J said the Monterey route is easy for him now, haha. Guess he's ready for more challenge.
After we got back to the parking lot in Marina, we started loading up all the gear and bikes. Middle J wanted to eat more sushi, but there was none left. Then he asked if we could eat at the Target in that plaza, but I explained that this Target is not part of a mall that has Sarku where we normally eat chicken teriyaki. He then started whining that he wanted Daddy, but I had no idea where Hubby had gone to with the other 2 boys. Middle J then proceeded to wail at the top of his lungs in a full-blown meltdown. Guess he was way too tired and hungry :/ I called Hubby and turns out he had gone to REI with the other 2 boys, had asked Middle J if he wanted to go with them, but Middle J hadn't wanted to go.Â
Once all the bikes were loaded, we decided to head across the street to eat at Smash Burger since everyone was hungry. YUM!! The burgers were sooo tasty and fresh. I had the truffle mushroom swiss burger, and it was very fragrant and tasty. Hubby and the boys loved their burgers as well and gobbled them up in no time. The smash fries were yummy too, crispy with garlic and rosemary. Â Only complaint is that the portions were rather small, haha.Â
All in all, a very nice outing :)