Sun, Sand, Surf, and Spew

I've always loved convertibles, but they've played only a minor role in my automotive life.  My 914, which I had for a scant 3 years, was a targa, so at least I could take off the roof.  Not that it was ever really on.  It actually snowed on me in that car.  For me, and pardon the cliche, there's nothing better than an open road in a car with the top down.  And I want to make sure Mimi develops a similar mentality ASAP.  So, when my Mom offered that we take her convertible Volkswagen Eos on a sunny drive up into the Marin headlands, I jumped at the chance.
Heading north across the Golden Gate Bridge we soon found ourselves headed for Mount Tamalpais and Stinson beach.  This meant time on Highway 1, which is, I have to say, God's greatest gift to the automotive enthusiast.  Mimi had fallen asleep, so we kept the top up all the way to the beach.  Upon arriving, on an atypically bright and sunny day, we realized something.  Today wasn't just Mimi's first trip in a convertible, it was her first time at the ocean!

We found a nice spot well removed from the surf and set out our trusty picnic mat.  Mimi, somewhat perplexed by the unstable brown stuff underfoot, stuck to the mat at first.

That brown stuff looked familiar, though, and before too long she'd made the connection.  It was the same stuff she'd dumped all over herself in that cement box in the park in NYC.  "This is sand!" she realized, "I'd better start throwing it at people."  And so she did.  Within two minutes half the picnic mat had been buried. 

A water lover like her father, Mimi was soon drawn to the waves.  With Mama's help she made her way through the unstable and tricky drifts to the cool, damp, and infinitely more stable sand at water's edge.

 The excellent footing gave Mimi newly found confidence and it was all we could do to keep her from racing into the waves.

Her first real wave, though, which came up to her knees, was a bit of a shock.  "Why is this so cold?" she seemed to shriek.  "And what's happening under my feet?  The ground seems to be going away!"  Before long, though, she'd gotten her beach legs and was making the most of it.  She eventually tired Sumie out and we had to send in a substitute.  Grandma was happy to oblige.

We eventually returned to the car, crusty but happy, and put the top down for the drive home.  Mimi loved it.  She can be a bit of a screamer in the car sometimes, but the full view of the amazing scenery was providing a welcome distraction to both baby and parents.  I began to think that maybe I should get a convertible someday, too.  I tend to enjoy driving more when there's no screaming.

But, even with the excellent views out of a convertible, there's no getting around the fact that Highway 1 is a very enjoyable but very twisty road.  The kind of road that brings things up that are better left down.  Five miles in I glanced over at Sumie, who was looking a little green, but hanging in there.  She'd stopped talking, which meant she was feeling a bit nauseous, but could handle it.  Mimi was quiet.  I thought that maybe we'd make it to the main road without incident.  And then, just as I was getting comfortable, came the unmistakable sound of vast quantities of semi-digested milk, juice, and Japanese pretzel sticks being hwarfed violently back into the light of day.

5 minutes later, after changing Mimi's clothes once again and wiping down her unfortunately still rather stinky carseat, Mimi seemed to be in good spirits.  We bundled back into the car and I gingerly made my way down the mountain to the main road without further incident.

Despite the vomit, I'm still quite intrigued about a convertible as a family car.  When the top's down it's far easier to get the kids in and out of car seats.  And we live so close to the beach, amidst such wonderful scenery, that it's virtually criminal to deprive them of an unobstructed view.  It's going to take a lot of research, but I have time.  I have no idea what car we'll eventually get, but I do know that we'll be going back to the beach.  Though Mimi won't be able to say so in words, I'm sure that she'll insist on it.