t was certainly a beautiful morning today. Woke up around 8:00, Bill and I lying in bed, the fans blowing over us, creating nice breezes. I got out of bed, turned on the telly and jumped in the shower. I was soon out the door to get bagels and the papers. Got bagels for Julio and Stine, then proceeded to make a nice breakfast for myself. Bill got up and puttered around while I phoned Julio for arrangements for our trip down the shore.

Stine was leaning towards 9-ish, which was more than fine with me. We hooked up in the street, loaded the trunk with umbrellas and beach chairs and soon we were headed towards Observer Highway out of Bokeyland. It was the third time this week I was going down the shore and the first time this week without Annemarie and Earl. It was sad and I missed them greatly. We all had such a good time. I waved as we drove past Newark Airport

Julio and Stine are more than excellent company and I don’t want to begrudge them in any way. We stopped in Foodtown in Red Bank instead of going down Route 36 like I had with Annemarie. Much more scenic driving through Rumson rather than all those stop lights. We were headed down to Monmouth Beach, which has more privacy and better waves than Sandy Hook, which has bathroom facilities and lifeguards, two things that Monmouth Beach lacks.

The heat was nearly solid as we walked across the hot sands carrying the umbrellas and chairs and a cooler stocked with food, ice, water and beer. It was incredibly hot as we sat on our chairs, eating our lunches. Soon after I walked into the warm ocean and surfed some waves. Julio and I started throwing the Frisbee back and forth, getting a good volley back and forth when Julio threw the Frisbee into the water as the waves were crashing. We expected to see it as the water receded but there was no Frisbee to be seen. The ocean had claimed it.

I waded into the water to see if it was floating or laying on the bottom while Julio scanned the area to see if it was washing up somewhere. It wasn’t. I didn’t mind swimming around but both Julio and I were disappointed that it wasn’t turning up.

Luckily we had enough to occupy our time, meaning mainly sitting under the umbrellas and reading. It would’ve been wonderful if Annemarie, Rex and Earl were with us. I texted them and Bill saying ‘Wish You Were Here’. I know they did too, especially Bill who was supposed to drive today but found his driving cancelled for the day. He would’ve rather been on the sand with us I’m sure.

There’s always next week. I’m merely thinking that I have to get through the next week in order to get to the beach on Sunday. The reward at the end of the week. It would be nice if Bill could join us, I told him that perhaps he should make plans to next week.

And now, here are some pics!