A Trip to Santa Cruz

Trying to be someone you're not is a waste of the person you are

Instead of waking up to another beautiful sunny day, on Monday the fog had rolled in.  The fog was already starting to lift when we headed out.  We were thankful for that but we also knew clouds were expected to roll in by early afternoon.  We still wanted to take another trip to the beach but this time we were going to head a little north of Monterey.  We were going to take a “quick” trip to Santa Cruz.

Lots of fog but no fog horn !

Artichoke Capital

Loved this little farm

It had been many years since either of us had been to Santa Cruz.  It had been so many years we couldn't remember much about the town.  Well, we knew that the beach had a boardwalk, lots of rides and was pretty popular for water sports.  We also knew it was well known for the younger crowd during spring break, summers and weekends the place would be packed.  

Santa Cruz was only 35 miles from where our motorhome was parked.  We couldn’t pass it by this time.  We had already skipped it in October when we were flying down the coast.  Well, we weren’t really flying but we were on a mission to get to Pismo Beach and pick up the new inverter we had ordered after our other one had died. (By the way ... Pismo Beach and Monterey are two of our favorite stops.)

One thing I have to admit is that it sure is pleasant being in this part of the country right now. We left the Arizona desert just before the hot, hot temperatures arrived.  Temperatures are definitely cooler along the California coast.  It is "cooler" but definitely not cold.

There were a few people on the beach at Santa Cruz but not very many. There were also a few people on the pier but not very many there either. However, it was early, cool and it was a Monday. We saw more sea otters than we saw people but that was really a good thing.  It was still before noon and it was cloudy.  That may have had something to do with not having a crowd.

 

This group of otters looked like they were still napping.

I read Donna K’s comment about the sea otters at Moss Landing just after we had returned from there.  That really was a great place to stop.  Not only did we see more of them, we also found a great place to walk along the beach. 

Other than that we made a few more stops on the way back to our RV.  One stop was at a fruit stand.  We had noticed several of these  on the way to Santa Cruz so on the way way back we made a point to stop at one of them.  We bought some butternut squash for 49 cents a pound. Terry picked up some luscious strawberries and I loaded up with grapefruit.

Another stop was to take a look at a few “interesting” motorcycles.

It was just a short detour to also swing by and pick up something for Sabrina.  We should have bought it yesterday when we were in Monterey but we didn’t.  We had never seen a similar t-shirt.  I should have known Sabrina would want it.  She did so we made a stop back to pick it up.   This is what Justin does for the Navy so, of course, she had to have it.

Cryptologic Technician ..  

We ended the day with a trip to Home Depot for a new water hose (which we discovered leaks).  Home Depot happened to be next door to Famous Dave’s.  Guess where we went for dinner?

We spent two nights at the Salinas Elks.  That’s what we said we’d do and we actually stuck with it. (There you go, Paul!!)  Tuesday morning we decided to head a little farther north … 126 miles.  We moved just north of San Francisco to the Elks in Vallejo.  I think we’re going to be hitting that 2-2-2 thing again.  We did arrive by 2:00, drove under 200 miles and will be here for two nights.  I think we’re doing good.  No ... we're doing great!

What are we going to do here?  Not much ... we have one day with a little moisture heading this way so we thought we'd just sit it out and let it pass us by.  Thursday we move again.  Napa Valley here we come.

‘Tis life on the road.