Sunshine was looking very promising this morning. There was predominately blue sky over my neighborhood at about 7 this morning.

I ran to Lantern Bay park above Doheny and there was sun over the entire run. However, looking around the point toward Strands and Salt Creek, things looked much more socked in. I’m hoping that will burn off and I can actually swim under the sun later.

I head to the beach at about 8:45. I have to say things look a tad more cloudy over my house than they did earlier. This does not seem to be heading in the right direction.

Once I turn the last corner on PCH just past Del Prado and head towards Selva, it’s completely overcast. Oh well. I’m not going to get upset or try to will these clouds away. It’s just gonna be what it’s gonna be and I’m grateful to receive what it has to offer.

It’s fairly warm (above 60) and a pleasant walk down the stairs. There is a lot of activity here. Kids running up and down the stairs and families posing with dogs for photos.

It’s medium tide at the shore. The water feels cold on my feet but I don’t think this is indicative of the overall water temp. I expect it will be about the same out there as it has recently been.

I stash my pack and head out to the water. The surf is about the same dismal size and quality as it was yesterday.

I head south and just relax into my rhythm of stroking, kicking and breathing. I think the water feels a touch warmer than yesterday though this could be because I am out a few hours later than I was yesterday.

I get to the end of the beach and turn around to head north. I’m planning to swim a little further today than usual. This weekend is the Cosmic Creek Surf Festival at Salt Creek. Yesterday I was looking at the Salt Creek web cams and noticed a couple large round buoys in the water. This jogged my memory from this time last year when there were these inflatable planets on the water off shore of Salt Creek. I looked it up in the news and discovered the event was this weekend. Last year I swam around the southern most planet which I think was Earth. Today I want to swim around all of the planets.

Eventually I can see a large round and red object in the distance so I keep myself pointed in that direction.

As I near the object, the water gets warm - really warm for a minute. Soon here it is. I figure it is either Mars or the sun. Well if it is the sun that would explain the warmer water. I’m north of the lifeguard tower now. I have only swam this far a few times. I really need to start swimming out this way more often and switch things up a bit.

There is a lot of activity on the beach. I see lots of trailers and people. There are some commentators speaking on a loud speaker. I have a completely different perspective on the Ritz and the entire Salt Creek point. It’s a nice change of scenery.

I can see the other three planets fairly close by. The closest is a pale blue and I don’t know what it is. The other two are obvious: Earth and Jupiter.

Eventually I reach Jupiter - the furthest one and it is time to head back.

It feels like it takes forever to get back to the bathrooms where I usually turn around. My arms are feeling tired. I try to just relax and figure I will reach the end when I get there whenever that is.

I’m swimming closer to shore than usual and can feel the waves rolling in as I glide over their crests.

Well I make it to shore at last. The swim ended up being an extra half hour then usual. So that might have been 2.5 miles total or at least close to it.

Alas, it is cloudier now than it was when I started. It is cloudy and breezy in my neighborhood when I get home. That’s ok. It was a great swim with some new and exciting scenery. It’s not often a swim becomes interplanetary.