Hollywood!
Santa Cruz -> Soledad Canyon
Today we left Santa Cruz and headed to Soledad Canyon, near Acton, CA, outside of LA. I was sad to leave Santa Cruz. We had a blast there. WE enjoyed visits from my parents and our friends Ben & Sammy. We got to go surfing. The kids had some friends in the campground who they really connected with and we like the parents.
We got out a little late because we packed a little more relaxed than usual, mostly because we were wrapping up visiting with the Youngs. I was hoping to get out a little earlier so we could get set up before dark, but that didn’t happen.
The sun had set by the time we were on the windy road to our campground. Google maps had us turn off the main road onto a gravel/dirt road/ditch, but when we looked at the map it looked right. Well, after about a mile of bumps, twists, and sharp turns google asked us to turn onto a road that didn’t exist. We ended up driving a little farther and finding a nice spot to turn around on someone’s property. That was lucky because otherwise we may have just been spending the night there! As Mari said, at least we got a story out of it, and a memory. Some things on this trip are stressful.
Tomorrow, when the sun rises, we’ll get to see the campground.
The Youngs
We have not had many friends on our trip. We have met a couple of families we connected with, but our time is usually short.
In Santa Cruz we met the Youngs. They are also full-timers and they have 3 girls about the same ages as our older kids. The kids got along great, and we clicked with the parents as well. Our kids hung out with theirs whenever they had the chance. Hopefully we reconnect later, if the fates allow.
Visit with Ben & Sammy
While we were in the Bay area we really wanted to connect with my friend Ben, from college. He lives in Berkeley with his family. They were kind enough to drive down today to meet us. We decided to have dinner downtown and we stumbled upon some live music in Abbott Square. It was a great place to visit.
UC Santa Cruz Arboretum
Surfing!
I don’t remember when it started, but as far back as I can remember I have wanted to be a surfer. I have always loved the beach and I think the thrill of surfing combined with beach life has always attracted me. Surfers are the coolest, right?
Surfing is the only thing on my bucket list, and today I got to cross it off! With my parents in town to help watch the little girls, Susan, Andrew, Mari, Elliot, and I got to spend the afternoon surfing, which was awesome. We signed up for lessons a couple of weeks ago with one of the surf schools here in Santa Cruz. They provided the boards and wet suits, and two instructors.
After getting dressed and carrying our boards to the beach, which was quite a task, we had a short on-shore lesson. Rick & Gio taught us a few fundamentals (don’t ever look down) and how to stand up, and then it was into the water. The water was flat all day, but just as Rick planned the waves started coming up our of nowhere as the tide went out.
The waves were just perfect for us to get started on and the cove we were in was great. We could stand with the water up just past our waist about 100 yards out into the bay. We would wait for a group of waves and then Rick and Gio would give us a push and tell us when to stand up.
The first phase of our lessons was learning how to stand up and ride the wave the whole time. The next phase would be learning how to paddle into the wave (get started by yourself). They said that if you start out that way then you can get exhausted very quickly and not have any fun at all. I can see that because by the end of our two-hour lesson we were all pretty much exhausted.
All of the kids were great at surfing. They picked it up much quicker than Susan and I. I think they were successful about 75% of the time. Rick & Gio were most impressed with Mari, who picked it up quickly and rode very consistently. Elliot and Andrew were right there with her. Susan and I had a harder time, probably being successful just 25% of the time, but we still had a blast.
It was a great time, and a great blessing for me to have the experience with the rest of my family.
Mar-Mar and Be-Bob played with the girls at the beach, which was great because my mom took a bunch of pictures for us while my dad played in the sand. I think we were all ready to leave at about the same time and then we went out to eat on the wharf, a pier right by the beach. There was a beautiful sunset.
Monarch Migration
There is a state park in Santa Cruz, Natural Bridges, where thousands of monarchs spend their winter. They are attracted to a stand of Eucalyptus trees in a narrow canyon just off the coast. There is a trail down into the canyon where you can gaze that the clumps of butterflies up in the trees. As the temperature warms up many of them take flight and go from tree to tree.
Mar-Mar and the Concrete Boat
Today we went to look at a concrete boat. It was built in 1918, turned into an amusement facility in 1930, and used as a fishing pier for the past few years. Some recent storms have not been kind to it.
Santa Cruz Boardwalk
Santa Cruz has a amusement park on a boardwalk right on the beach. It was a fun place to spend the afternoon.
Friday in Santa Cruz
Mar-Mar & Be-Bob Visit the Mystery Spot
Last night my parents flew into San Francisco and today they made the trip south to join us in Santa Cruz. After getting settled in this morning we went to The Mystery Spot, a gravitational vortex in the Santa Cruz area. We went for a short hike and then got a tour of the place, which centers around a cabin with some strange gravitational anomalies.
Halloween in Santa Cruz
We had a fun Halloween in Santa Cruz! We asked a few locals for the best things to do and our plan ended up working out well. In the afternoon we went trick-or-treating in downtown Santa Cruz. They close down the street and all of the shops hand out candy. It was fun and crowded.
After downtown we headed back to the RV for a break and dinner, walking tacos. Then it was on to ‘The Vineyards’ a neighborhood just down the road from our RV park. Holy Cow was it busy! We saw a few people walking there as we approached and as we turned into the neighborhood it was just flooded with people. We found a nice place to park and spent about 90 minutes there.
This year Mari was definitely the leader, directing us where to go and keeping everyone moving. Elliot and Lucia stayed up with her. Andrew would have, but his costume forced him to move slowly so he usually lagged behind with me, Susan, and Rose in the stroller. Rose would ride in the strolled in between houses and when we would approach the house she would hop out and run up with the other kids, who were always eager to help her out. Rose ate most of her candy as we went, so we tried to skip as many houses as we could, for her.
