Fall Break in Carpinteria, Day 1

For many years, off and on, Mom would talk about going to Carpinteria, California as a family to play on the beach. The Carpinteria Beach website says the beach “is popular with families and swimmers because the gentle slope of the ocean floor makes it one of the safest beaches on the California coast.” There is no undertow either. During her youth, Mom went to Carpinteria several times and has fond memories of her time spent there. Months ago, as Mom talked about going on a mission, I thought we should have time together at the beach as a family, and I thought fall break would be the perfect time. It would be getting cold in Utah but would be lovely in California. I talked to Mom, asked if she wanted to go, and without any resistance at all, she said, “Yes! Let’s!” So I looked at hotels, made a reservation, and let my siblings know we were going. Experiencing FOMO (fear of missing out), they all made reservations too and our trip was on. Mom submitted her mission papers and put an availability date of November 1 so we could be on the beach in mid-October.

This week was it. Our time to head to warmer climes. The kids had Thursday, Friday, Monday, and Tuesday off of school, so we planned to leave right after work on Wednesday, drive to Mesquite, then arrive in California on Thursday, play at the beach for three days, then drive all the way home on Monday. When making arrangements, I didn’t realize the kids didn’t have school on Tuesday, so I didn’t ask for time off. But the plan seemed reasonable, giving us lots of time to be together on the beach.
 
When I broached the subject of going to California with Kent, he was not thrilled. He said we didn’t really have the money and it involved leaving the county which is always a drawback in his mind. He wouldn’t commit to going. Then Blythe said she wasn’t going either, so it was just going to be me and Brandt. I wasn’t going to force anyone to come because then that person has a bad attitude and I didn’t want any of that on this trip.

After some thinking, Kent said he would come, but Blythe was sticking to a firm No. She said, “I’ll stay home with Grandma Dawn,” but Papa Scott was in the hospital with Covid, and I knew Dawn didn’t need another responsibility. On Monday, I called Elizabeth Cutler to asked if she would have Blythe while we were away (she was away), but on Tuesday, Kent convinced Blythe to come, making some deal with her. I told everyone to pack and have everything ready so that as soon as I got home from work on Wednesday, we could leap in the car and head out.

I worked in Heber on Wednesday, the farthest away spot I work, but it was slow and Mark (manager) said I could leave at 3:00. What a boon! We would get on the road two hours earlier than planned. I called home and gave everyone the half-hour warning and tried not to speed home. We were driving with Mom, so she came over, and as soon as I got home, we loaded the car with all the beach, entertainment, foodstuff things and were on the road by 5:00pm.
 
We had a long drive to Mesquite, about four and a half hours, and arrived tired and ready to be out of the car. I had made a reservation to stay at the Virgin River Casino, but I had only reserved one room. Two days before we left, there were still vacancies, and as I didn’t know if Kent and Blythe would be joining us, I didn’t want to reserve a second room unnecessarily. This was bad planning on my part because there wasn’t enough room for five of us. Mom and I left Kent and the kids and went to the next-door casino and got a room there. It was a much nicer place. I felt sort of bad leaving everyone else at the Virgin River. But everyone slept well and we made good time! And we’re getting closer to the beach!!