Beach day!

Randy just finished a few hard days organizing some of the junk at the Museum and fixing the office countertop. The countertop is a big, long slab of wood covered in some kind of polyurethane. When they installed it several years ago, it wasn't sealed properly and became home to a host of termites. They were bad enough that the whole office had to be tented to get rid of them. The 3-4 foot section of the countertop that guests lean against had enough internal damage that it broke down, making that section shallower than the rest. For years they have held it together with clear strapping tape while someone has been promising to fix it. Last week they asked Randy to fix it, so now it's done. He cleaned out most of the damage (it's not possible to clean it all out and retain the piece) and filled it with wood putty. He stained it, I added a bit of oil paint details, and it's done. It still needs to be covered with the same polyurethane as the rest of the wood, but it will not fall apart now. 

So today was a good day to go somewhere. We didn't go far, just to Carlsbad Premium Outlets, which is a big shopping center with mostly pricy shops. Randy was able to find some tennis shoes there, which was nice; he has a terrible time finding shoes that fit. We celebrated with pizza at Blaze Pizza. Haven't been here before but we will probably come back. A pizza is large enough for us to share but not too big, and they build it on the same lines as Subway Sandwiches. You order a pizza type (meat eaters for us!) then add whatever free toppings you like. This works really well for us because Randy and I like different things on our pizza. It's not hard to see which half is his.

Carlsbad, like Oceanside, is built along a beach. So to the beach! The trees on the walkway have been shaped by the never-ending wind coming off the sea. The city keeps them trimmed down, so they don't fall over.

The sand on this beach doesn't have black sand mixed in, like Oceanside beach, but it's still wonderful. The endless sound of the waves, the sun on the water - a beach is the most relaxing place in the world.