Flat Stanely at Bubblegum Alley.

Flat Stanley in front of the SLO Mission.

Flat Stanley in front of an Earthquake Warning sign; fairly common around town.

One day I fed him sushi for lunch.

Raw fish! Yum!

And finally one Saturday, mom and I took him to an authentic California-type beach: Avila Beach, CA.

At Avila Beach with Avila Pier in the background.

Another one with a vollyball net in the background as well. Lots of beach vollyball is played here all through the year.

Standing on the railing of the pier.

Wiggling his toes in the sand. Well, okay, not really, because it was quite chilly that day. Plus, Flat Stanely has shoes on. And also, he’s a drawing. Not flesh and blood like we!

Flat Stanley learns about the dangers of our shark-infested waters.

After walking on the beach, going to the end of Avila Pier and back, I took Flat Stanley to the newly opened Avila Beach Marine Institute. It was really cool. Small and new, but the potential is there.

Here’s Flat Stanley in front of the Tidepool Touch Tank where kids (and grown-ups, too) can touch some of the sea critters and stuff that’s in the ocean.

A very cool octopus!

More shark info.

It really was a great day. Yes, the wind was cold, but the sun was warm, and mom and I had a lovley lunch at The Custom House, a lovely drive there and back, and generally a really awesome day. One of my NYRs was to get out of the house more often, and this quick trip was a pretty good start for the year.  (Now if I would just update my journal more often, I’d be doing really well!)

The day after our trip to Avila, I packed up Flat Stanley with some pictures, postcards and souveniers of his trip, and mailed him back home. I hope the kids enjoy his adventures!