I'm often asked what, if any, strollers will work on the beach. The answer: Not many. The good news is, there are a few. And here are two of the newest contenders: the Joovy Zoom 360 and the Joovy ATS. The reason they can handle the soft sand is that they have the muscle of 16" wheels. Don't look for anything smaller. As an added bonus, the Joovy wheels have shocks, which really made the ride much softer on the bumpy pier. 
I
was thinking, because of the success of the Valco Latitude on my last
trip to court, I would take it's Doppleganger to court this next time.
And the
success of the new Baby Jogger City Mini has
been nothing short of amazing. http://babyjogger.com/cityminimain.htm People love the Mini's light
weight, huge
canopy, and amazingly easy fold. The wheels are by no means
all-terrain, but they do perform better outdoors than your average
umbrella stroller. I like it's versatility. Because of the deep
recline, you can put a very young baby in it. And since the seat is
quite large, it can hold a pre-schooler. I have tried it out with both
sizes. And you can still push it one-handed with a heavier child.
As
you can see, the under basket is pretty small. But there is another
large net pocket on the back. To recline it, you just squeeze that clip
that's holding the strap, and slide the seat down.Now a very cool
feature is that when it is in full recline, you can unroll the back
fabric, to reveal "voila"! the large net back vent. Great feature for
air circulation on a hot day. You can see from both the back and the front how deep the recline goes. 
Now
here
is why I am going to court again. I was taking the original
Stroller Prince to his first day of Chess. He was so excited! It was
early in the
morning and the street was deserted. I saw my neighbor walking from the
front of the school. He told me to drive around to the back, because it
would be closer to the class. Big mistake. I drove up to the stop sign.
On one side, there is an apartment building. On the other, the street
was closed due to construction, and there was a big sign that said
"Closed to through traffic." I glanced over at all the pavers and
bull-dozers. And the next thing I know, a motorcycle cop sprang from
behind the apartment building. I was happy I hadn't done anything wrong.
Or had I? He was red lighting me! 
I
pull over, and he asks for my license. "I'm sorry. " I tell him. "I was
rushing to get my daughter to school, and to take my son to his chess
class. I had their backpacks and I was carrying the baby and I had no
hands left for my purse. It has my license and insurance card in it.
I'll just run home and get it." "Step out of the car please", he says
sternly. "The law says every time you go out on the highway, you have to
have your license." "But", I say, "I'm not on the highway. I am just on
a little old neighborhood street. I'm two blocks away from home!" Now
he starts running a background check on me. "Mom, I'm gonna' be late!
I'm gonna' be embarrassed!" SP yells. "Could I please just bring him to
class?" I ask. "You could follow me." "You're not going anywhere, but he
can go", motorcycle cop says. "You mean let him walk four blocks by
himself? Do you think that's safe? " "I don't care" motorcycle cop says.
OK, now I am getting mad. My son is crying, my baby is crying, and I am
being held against my will. "Well, you SHOULD care!" I tell him. You
took an oath to 'protect and serve.' You are neither protecting me, nor
serving me. No wonder there are so many burglaries in my neighborhood.
You are too busy hiding behind buildings and trapping school parents,
because that is easy! Easy and lucrative. We don't shoot you, and we pay
our fines." Now he is getting mad, too. "You know I could arrest you",
he says. "What for, for telling the truth"? I say. "You have an illegal
sticker on your car. Take it off", he says. Now, the sticker he is
pointing to is mandatory for my area. It allows you to park on the
street. I try and explain that. "Nope, never seen it. Take it off", he
says. "You REALLY aren't from around these parts, are you son?" I said.
"AGH"! He waves his hand at me, jumps on his bike and takes off. But not
before issuing me a bunch of tickets, including failure to come to a
complete stop, no proof of license, no insurance, etc. As he leaves, he
drives down the street that says "No vehicles allowed." I drop my son
off at his class, go home and grab my purse, and come back. There he is,
hiding behind the apartment building, waiting to trap another suburban
mom." "Hi there", I said. He jumped. "Here's my license and registration
and proof of insurance", I say, handing it to him. "I don't want that.
It's too late" he says. "You know", I say. "This is all so uneccessary.
There is no through traffic here! If I really didn't stop long enough,
as you say, you could have issued me a warning. You could have shown a
little compassion fo a mom juggling three kids, trying to get them all
fed and dressed and off to school on time. We are all just human, doing
the best we can. I'm sure that you didn't mean to go down that street
that is closed to through vehicles." 'WHAT?!!!" He says. "Are you
accusing ME of breaking the law?" "I didn't say that", I said. "I'm just
saying we all make mistakes." "AHHH", he says, waving his hand at me
again, and driving off. So once again, I have to post another thousand
dollar bail.
The
Zapp's seat back and seat to canopy is about a half inch taller. Both
have very wide seats, but the Zapp's is an inch bigger at it's widest
part, then tapers down by the hips. It has an inch shorter drop to
footrest.
Both
of these are on the wide side, at 24". especially for a lightweight.
However, a 3-wheeler must have a wider rear stance than a 4-wheeler,
for stability. OK, neither are technically 3-wheelers, but that is kind
of their design. You can see how the Zapp can fold in smaller, with
it's tripod legs that tuck in underneath the seat. Both have superb
maneuverability.
It
was a terrific choice. The husband called in advance to find out where
our polling place was. Turns out, it was just down the block, and
around the corner. So we didn't need to walk far. A big A/T wasn't
necessary. But perhaps a one-handed push would be important. There is
no umbrella stroller that is easier to push one-handed than the Zapp,
period. And it's small footprint and great style makes it a really fun
stroller to use.
It
has no recline, so it is best suited to a child six months and older.
And it will suit a much older child. Look at all the growing room that
SP 2.0 has! The seat back is one of the tallest I have measured.
But
it folds really tiny. In fact, the Zapp bills itself as "The world's
smallest folding stroller." This, and the raincover and travel bag
that comes with it, makes it ideal for travel. Many have reported
stashing it in the airplane's overhead bin. They say the travel bag
looks like any other carry-on.
All
the children were excited to go to the polling place. I say all,
because in addition to my three, I generally have four or five others
hanging about. But of course, this election generated a huge amount of
interest. The whole brood even voted in their schools. After they
decorated their bikes and scooters, they started discussing who the
winner would be. And who they voted for. Discussing, then arguing. I
guess politics isn't even a safe topic among the 10 and under set! They
got another interesting lesson when we got to the voting booths.
Despite the fact that they told the husband my name was on the list, it
wasn't. Which meant I couldn't vote. The lady in charge said she would
let me vote provisionally, if I could show her a valid ID. I couldn't.
Yes, believe it or not, I don't always leave the house with the thought
in mind that I will have to prove I am who I am. This has gotten me in
trouble more than once, as you will see in the upcoming chapter in
"Adventures in Strollerland!" Anyway, it was good to have the Zapp to
zip home to get the proof I exist.
As I predicted, the Slider was a real attention-getter. People flocked around it, asking me questions. Particularly the pregnant types, and the husbands thereof. Having the bassintte at the party was a great idea. SP 2.0 was overwhelmed a few times, from getting passed around by strangers. When I placed him in it, he calmed down right away. I think he felt safe. And the bouncy suspension was amazing. I just pushed down the handle a bit, and it's like the thing was on springs! 
I also liked how high up it sat. Nearly as tall as the Stokke Xplory. Great for the sand. Or for the snow, slush, unpaved roads, tree roots, etc. How often do you find such shimmery beauty, and rugged functionality, in the same package? (Gee, that sounded like a new car ad.)
Now one thing I *didn't* think about, was how many steps there are to get up to a Malibu beach house. For this particular one, to have the breathtaking overhang view of the sea, there were a lot. And at 29 pounds, (that's with the bassinette. It's 25 with the seat.) hauling the Slider up them was no easy feat. Of course, it would have been easier if I did what the manufacturer recommends, which is to break it down into two pieces (very easy. The top half of the stroller just pops right off!) I was looking forward to using it again that next week-end. This time, it was at a party in a mansion in Beverly Hills. I had been there before, so I knew it was relatively flat. Now this particular mansion once belonged to a very famous TV star. Even though she has long since moved, it is still on the "Maps of the Stars Homes" tour bus route. We had to park on the street, because there were ponies in the driveway of the mansion. The minute we got out of the car, the tour buses appeared. And all the tourists were snapping pictures. Not of us, but, of the Slider! The Slider was a celebrity, haha!
Well, I was a bit wrong about the flat part. At least in the back yard. This is a historic BH home. And there were brick steps that went up, and brick steps that went down, and brick steps that went up, and brick steps that went down. And yes, I meant to repeat that, because they kept repeating. And narrow, all of those walkways were NARROW. Despite it's fabulous manueverability, the Slider's 26' width meant the wheels kept getting hung up on the bricks. I guess that is the way they built 'em back in the roaring '20's. Well it was almost perfect. The best laid plans of mice and men... 
Inside the party, the Slider continued to turn heads. My friend's mom said it reminded her of a pram she bought 57 years ago, which they had paid $10 for! Her husband asked, "How much does that one go for, about $50?" "Well no," I said. "It's a bit more. Actually", I tell him, "A lot of strollers are running up around a thousand dollars now". "A thousand dollas!" exclaims his wife, the one who bought the $10 stroller 57 years ago. "That's the price of a CAR!" "When mom, when?" shouts out one daughter. "And she has a bunch of strollers, hundreds", says my friend. "HUNDREDS???" says her sister-in-law. "Have you been on Ripley's Believe it or not?" And she's laughing her head off. "No", says my friend. "But she has been in the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, BBC, the CBS Early Show, the Today Show..." "But what about Good Morning America?" says her mom. "Have you been on Good Morning America? That's my favorite!" Now the sister in law, who has been sitting there thinking, says "Now WHY do you have so many strollers? I had one Maclaren for every kid, and that was good enough!" "Well", I say, "How many pairs of shoes do you have? How many bags?" (She is very well-dressed.) "But that's different", she says. "Not to her!" says my friend. She has a stroller to match every outfit, a stroller to match every bag, a stroller for every holiday." "And what do you DO with all these strollers?" demands the SIL. "I run them on the Strollerqueen Obstacle Course, up and down hills , one -handed, with a cup of coffe in the other" I say. At this point, the sister across the table spits out HER coffee, she is laughing so hard. "AHHH," says the SIL, waving her hand at me, "You're just nuts!" Now the mother chimes in again. "Stop talking and go to the gym!" she says. You all need to go to the gym and work out!" With that command,the daughters, granddaughters, and sisters-in-law dutifully stand up to go, pushing their chairs back under the table. "See", I said to the SIL, "If you had a jogging stroller, you could just take a good run instead".
