Its the night before we leave, and my sister and I have been up packing all night. We try to stay up as late as we can so that we can sleep for some of the car ride. Every year since we were born we have been going to Stone Harbor, New Jersey. Driving for seven hours in the car is about the worst part of the trip. But when we drive across the bridge and smell the warm salty air it brings back so many memories. As were driving through the town we pass all of our favorite store, Lilly Pulitzer, Free People, Global Pursuit, Life Is Good and many more. As we pass each block finally we make a left hand turn onto 102 and drive to the end of the block and were finally there. After driving four hundred miles and sitting in the car for seven hours we have arrived at the beach house. We jump out of the car and are ready to start our summer vacation, it starts with one of my favorite memories.

“Guys, we should buy rafts! I really want one of those explorer boats” says george.

“Ya! That would be really fun!” Says Ally and Heather.

Lindsay and I were told to go into town and buy some rafts. We bike six blocks down into the town. When we arrive in town their are people everywhere. Weaving through the packed streets we finally come upon called “Sea Shore Hardware.” As we pass by a couple isles of packed merchandise, we enter the water toys section. Every water toy imaginable is in this isles. Balls, buckets, shovels, sand molds, and so much more. There are three shelfs of rafts and floating toys. Dolphins, whales, inner tubes, and the one that seems the most fun is the alligator. It was bright green and it fit two people. Now we just needed to get the explorer boat that George wanted. We found it the next shelf down. It was bright orange and red, with a big “EXPLORER” on the side. We checked out and began the bike ride back home. Lindsay and I raced inside, threw on our bathing suits, blew up the alligator and boat, and then raced to the ocean. We found Ally, Heather and George, and then sprinted for the ocean. The water was ice cold and greenish blue in color. The waves were big towering over our heads. We swam as fast as we could out past the breaking point and jumped in the rafts. It was so relaxing just laying out in the ocean. I could feel the raves rolling under me. They would crack right after I went over and I could feel the wave spay back the freezing water one me. Ally and George were in the explorer boat, Lindsay was on the raft, and Heather and I were on the alligator. We would go right up over the big waves and back down, it was like ridding a roller coaster. The wind was blowing on us giving me the goosebumps. It was about twenty minutes later and the waves were calming down. We thought that maybe the ocean was just getting calmer since it was the end of the day. I turned around to look back at the beach when I realized that we were so far out that our parents were waving us in. The sun was shinning brightly and the wind was blowing. We realized that the wind had blown us way out, so far out that we were past the drop off zone. My mom started to swim out but she stopped because the water was up to our neck. We paddled as fast as we could but it felt like we were going no where. I thought that we were going to get stuck out there so we began to paddle as fast and hard as we could. Finally we reached my mom and were able to stand. After that out parents banded the rafts and said there was no more rafts for the day. The sun was still shinning and the wind was blowing. We were all very happy to be back back on shore.