Summer 2018 Road Trip - Day 7

We walked in downtown Santa Cruz on our last day. There are some cool shops. I came across a sock shop that sells all types of novelty socks. I got myself a pair of floral socks and another pair with cats and books on them, so cute! They also had a very cool selection of sandals and clogs ... brands that I hadn't known existed! I ended up getting a pair of grey sandal clogs, they're very pretty.

We visited The Mystery Spot. It's such an odd place. Definitely NOT recommended if you suffer from vertigo. This place is like an optical illusion. I really don't think there's anything mysterious about it. It's set up to make it appear as if objects defy gravity but in reality it's a tilt induced visual illusion. I left this place with a headache and felt nauseated. Not visiting this place again.

Riley wanted to go to the beach so we stopped by Seacliff State Beach. This beach is known for the concrete ship SS Palo Alto lying in the water.

Here's a bit of info on the ship: The Palo Alto remained docked in Oakland until 1929, when the Cal-Nevada Company bought the ship with the idea of making her into an amusement and fishing ship. Her maiden voyage was made under tow to Seacliff State Beach. Once positioned at the beach, the sea cocks were opened and the Palo Alto settled to the ocean bottom. By the summer of 1930 a pier had been built leading to the ship, the ship was remodeled. A dance floor on the main deck was added, also a cafe in the superstructure was built, as was a fifty-four foot heated swimming pool, and a series of carnival type concessions were placed on the afterdeck. The Cal-Nevada Company went broke after two seasons -- then the Palo Alto was stripped, leaving the ship and the pier to be used only for fishing. It is now permanently closed to the public. In the 2016-2017 storm season, a section of the ship overturned, and the pier was damaged.

We went back to our hotel room to freshen up and rest for a bit ... the sun can be so draining. We headed back to Capitola for an early dinner.

Riley and his silly faces.

It's not everyday one sees pastel colored homes. This is definitely Capitola's focal point.

Santa Cruz is definitely a place to have fun ... and Capitola is definitely where you want to go to wind down. Good thing they're so close in distance. However, we haven't found a good Mexican food place here. You would think they would have them in abundance but the ones we've stopped by to look at their menu haven't looked appealing. Next time we're here I'll definitely ask some hispanic locals for recommendations. I hope to visit soon.

Summer 2018 Road Trip - Day 6

July 4th - Independence Day!

Got our day started early. After breakfast at Linda's Seabreeze Cafe we drove straight to the Boardwalk. Riley loves roller coasters and fast rides. He's such a thrill seeker, has been ever since he was a little boy. Good thing Jacob goes on rides with him and makes sure he's safe.
I love the look on his little face!

Maybe one day I'll feel brave and ride on the Sky Glider ... but until then I'll admire them from down below.

As you can imagine, the Boardwalk was super crowded on this 4th of July. The day started out cloudy and chilly but by 3:00 pm the sun broke through the clouds and it began to warm up. Jacob and Riley got on several more rides then it was time to leave.

For lunch we stopped at Gayle's Bakery and Rosticceria in Capitola, which is a short twelve minutes away from the Boardwalk. They have a large array of foods. There's a Grab & Go case filled with a variety of soups, dips, sandwiches, complete dinners, salads, etc or you can choose to eat in and enjoy a sandwich, soup or a hot entree which we got but bummed that I didn't take a picture of it to share on here. It was so very good!
I loved the fact that they had the place decorated very patriotic, as it should be! We all should show our patriotism ESPECIALLY on Independence Day!

Their tables caught my eye because of the mosaic of broken plate pieces on them. I thought it was a pretty unique, creative and an interesting touch to the restaurant's decor.

After lunch we went for a stroll at Capitola Village. Stopped by at Surf n Shack to buy several bumper stickers. Cool stuff in there.

And then made our way to get ice cream at Souza's.

The vibe in Capitola is slow paced ... definitely less adolescents, some young families but a lot more of the 30-40 year range couples.

After we left Capitola we went back to our hotel to freshen up and rest for a bit. You would think that Santa Cruz would have the fireworks show at the beach but it's not. The fireworks show is held at Skypark in Scotts Valley which is only eleven minutes away from Santa Cruz.

We brought our own snacks since Riley already had enough junk food. Jacob introduced him to adding peanut butter on his banana with a few chocolate chips. He loved it!

We lucked out on where we parked. We backed up the rental and opened the van's back door and sat inside during the fireworks show while Riley watched from a few feet away.

We were surprised the fireworks show was pretty good. The grand finale was awesome!

I'm thankful to be living in such a great country. I thank God and our forefathers especially Benjamin Franklin who was part of the five member committee that helped draft the Declaration of Independence,  in which the 13 American colonies declared their freedom from British rule.

E PLURIBUS UNUM

"E Pluribus Unum" is a Latin phrase that is best translated as, "Out of many, one." These words, as they relate to the United States, have particularly great symbolism when taking into account the fact that the motto was proposed on July 4, 1776 as the theme of the seal for the United States.

Summer 2018 Road Trip - Day 5

July 3, 18

Day five was a somewhat of a slow day.
We Yelped breakfast places in Santa Cruz and picked Harbor Cafe. It had great reviews ... I mean the food looked decent but upon tasting it we felt that the food was bland, Jacob was annoyed that they didn't have any red salsa and he said that the biscuits and gravy didn't appear to have been made in house, more like out of a can (that's NOT good quality). I was pleased with mine.

After breakfast we headed over to the arcade at the boardwalk. We wanted to split our time at the boardwalk and wanted to get the arcade part out of the way. I watched the boys play for a bit but then I spotted a bench and took out my book from my purse and enjoyed a bit of reading.

After a while I went outside to people watch. Being here you can't help but think about the movie The Lost Boys. This spot would make the third place we visited where a movie was filmed. The Birds in Bodega Bay, Winchester which was partially filmed at the Winchester Mystery House, and The Lost Boys here at the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. So Cool!!!

California is so cool in many ways but it also stinks in so many others. We did see a lot of transients all over Santa Cruz, awful but one can't really be shocked since liberal cities/states tend to have this problem just like in Washington.

After leaving the boardwalk we drove to Natural Bridges State Beach. It's a hotspot for Monarch butterfly migrations. There are up to 150,000 and can be seen from October through early February. We had a nice time hanging out at the beach for a bit. Hearing the waves crashing against the shore is always so relaxing and taking in the pretty view always has me thanking God for this wonderful creation He created for us to enjoy! The ocean/beach is truly amazing!

We drove down Steamer Lane. A nice drive with attractive homes to the left and the pretty ocean on the right. The scene here is similar to Coronado's Ocean Boulevard but on a smaller scale. These people have such gorgeous views.

We dropped our things off at the hotel and separated our dirty clothes. Since it was day five of our trip we had accumulated quite a bit of dirty clothes so we headed on over to a laundromat that was across from a Goodwill store, you know what that means ... bargain book shopping!!!

For dinner we ate at Woodstock Pizza on Front Street. It was ok.

After dinner we headed back to the hotel. We wanted to have a relaxing evening  and to go to sleep at a decent time since the 4th was the following day ... a long day ahead.

Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz and Capitola


We arrived in Santa Cruz at 4:10 pm on July 1st. But before we drove over to the waterfront we stopped for some BBQ.  Given that Riley is such a picky eater I know to bring bread, peanut butter and strawberry jam on our trips and fruits I know he likes because more than likely he wont eat anything that's on the menu wherever we stop unless we stop for Pizza.

After we ate we drove on over to the Light House. If you're a Lost Boys fan you'll remember this light house from the beginning of the movie when they're driving into "Santa Carla" as they named it. Last time we visited we didn't walk along Steamer's Lane (this street's name) and obviously didn't get a chance to see the light house either. It was pretty cool to see and it's pretty here. I wouldn't mind living in Santa Cruz for a few months out of the year.

Glad that Jacob likes it as well.

I'm so happy we have these pictures, memories to look back on. It's cool for us to have given we're Californian's. Crazy that it took me this long to visit and explore northern Cal. Jacob had been to Santa Cruz when he was young so it was exciting for him as well to visit once again.

I was excited for Sydna to see the Boardwalk because she's also a big Lost Boys fan. Nathan really doesn't care much for that movie (what?! I know). She was excited and I was happy for her.

During our first visit to Santa Cruz which was last year I completely forgot about the bridge that also comes out in the Lost Boys movie. You know, the part where David and his boys make it seem like they jumped off the bridge but then Michael realizes that they're hanging from underneath it? In the movie the bridge is depicted as a tall bridge but in reality this is what that bridge looks like. Obviously, trick photography/special effects.

Riley couldn't wait to go on rides. He remembered us being here last year but since he was barely recovering from having the stomach bug he didn't get a chance to go on many rides then so he was super excited to be able to go on rides this time around.
As soon as we entered, we got our tickets and Sydna and Nathan went off together while me, Jacob and Riley mainly hung out at the children's area.

He got on all the rides. He had so much fun and asked if he could ride them all again. We had to say no. It was getting dark and it was cold.

Before we left we had some fair food. I had nachos and a beer. So good. I would have enjoyed the beer more if it wasn't freezing. I also got us churros. We hadn't had one in years!

I bought a few souvenirs before we left. How could I not. I love that this boardwalk exists. How fun it must be to live near by and being able to hang out anytime of the year. Riley would totally want to visit every weekend. I would definitely be taking walks along Steamer's Lane and I'm sure I would have been exploring downtown Santa Cruz and hanging out at bookstores.

By the end of the day we were all tired and ready to shower and go to sleep.

Given that we visited Santa Cruz days before a major holiday (4th of July) we came to find that every four star restaurant on Yelp that we drove to was jammed packed. The line was so long down the street it was ridiculous. We drove to three different breakfast joints and they were all jammed so we ended up eating at IHOP which we're really not into but had no other choice.
We ordered Riley scrambled eggs, bacon and toast. To our amazement he ate one piece of bacon. It was hard for me to believe he actually ate a piece of bacon. We told him how he had been missing out all this time and to trust us when we tell him that food is good.

I had not heard of Capitola before not even during our visit to Santa Cruz last year. It's only a few minutes drive from Santa Cruz ... a quaint little beach town. While I was doing our itinerary for this trip I stumbled across Capitola on the map so I began to research the area and I loved what I saw. So, I told Jacob that I wanted to make sure we stopped by to check it out.
So glad we did because we fell for this place as soon as we saw it. Again, the feeling of laid back just omitted from this place. It's just another surfing spot with several restaurants along the water and some colorful homes across the sand near the wharf.

I could have stayed here and watch these surfers do their thing but we still had a bit of a drive ahead of us so we couldn't linger for long. I did tell Jacob that I would love to come back here and stay for a few days.

Sydna and Nathan liked Capitola as well. Riley wasn't that thrilled about it though, lol. If there's no kid entertainment he doesn't want any part of it. I'm sure he would enjoy himself playing on the beach but that wasn't in our agenda for the day so he wasn't happy about that.

I also wanted Sydna to see the 17 mile drive in Pebble Beach. It's a very relaxing scenic drive. When it comes to nature we tend to enjoy the same things. I love that!

Nathan is really not into sightseeing (so lame), so he stayed in the car but Riley is as long as there's climbing or rock skipping to do.

The boys did that while us girls went on a little walk and admired the beautiful pacific ocean and wild flowers.

Before we left I wanted to get a picture with my husband whom I love so much. I love exploring places with him.

We saw a momma deer and her fawn. At first we didn't know what was going on. A car had stopped a few cars in front of us and we couldn't see why. I even told Jacob to honk so they could move along because you know how there's people that get distracted and don't pay attention to their driving. But then I saw an adult deer to the left then we realized that the fawn was on the right side of us and was scared to cross the road. So, that was the hold up. The fawn crossed the road safely. While we waited I thought these flowers growing along this old wooden fence made for a pretty picture.

I wanted to sneak this picture in here so you all can see evidence that Riley is eating a hamburger. He doesn't eat them often but will finish one if he's starving. That's the trick, to not let him snack on anything prior to his meal. He prefers Wendy's burgers though. We rarely eat at Wendy's. We only get Riley a burger from there. We do however sometimes stop there to get a frosty and fries though. I just can't make myself eat a squared patty. That's just not appealing to me.

These two days were the most scenic and exciting of our trip, for most of us at least. I enjoyed myself in spite of some challenging times here and there because when you're with several people things are bound to get chaotic. We'll get irritated, frustrated, and annoyed at times. It's human nature. But as parents we try to guide and reason. It is not right for one person to ruin the fun for everyone else.


San Juan Capistrano and San Diego coming up....

Road Trip - Days 7 & 8

(Such a bummer. A couple of days ago I had finished this post. I saw that it had saved but when I hit published only the pictures appeared, everything I had written was gone. Ugh! I gave up. It was late so I went to bed so now I'm giving it another try. Hope it saves this time.)

On the morning of our last day in San Francisco we decided to take Riley to an urgent care. The doctor was very nice and patient and instructed us on what to give Riley to eat. He needed to drink pedialyte but he HATED it. He reluctantly drank about half the bottle which is fine, at least half of it was in his system which slowly made him feel better.

As the morning progressed I was glad to see he looked better. I couldn't wait to leave San Francisco. That city is just not our thing. Anyway, Jacob and I were excited to continue on our road trip especially since Riley was beginning to feel better. We had many more fun activities planned for the little guy.

Although driving on Hwy 1 takes longer than the freeway it is quite gorgeous. I loved seeing the ocean to my left. Still trying to spot whales ... but nothing.

I got all excited when we got to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. I had been wanting to visit this place for some time now especially because part of The Lost Boys was filmed here and we're big fans of that movie {well, Jacob not so much but me and the kids love it}

As fun as the sky gliders looked I chose to just admire them from down below. I kinda have an issue with heights.

We didn't let Riley go on any kiddie rides because they all had lots of fast turns and we didn't want him to feel nauseous so he got to play lots of fun games instead. He didn't seem to mind.

When I was small I got on one but not now. I liked all the nostalgic pictures on it.

Riley had a lot of fun playing this game. It was challenging for him to get a frog to attach to the dangling magnet on the pole. But, he finally got one. He won a green frog. He was so happy.

The weather was nice, a pleasant 69 degrees and breezy.

Walking over to the arcade.

These are the same stairs where the guys from The Lost Boys were filmed going down them on their bikes. I thought that was neat!

After a while I checked the time and we were surprised that we had been here for four hours. That sure went by fast.
Now on to .....

We had driven through here once before {a couple of years ago} and it was super windy and very cold. The hotel we stayed at was within walking distance to Fisherman's Wharf. Someone had tired himself out in Santa Cruz and wanted daddy to hold him. But not too tired to bring his prized stuffed animals with him to dinner.

It was quite difficult to make a decision on where to eat, so many restaurants.

I got crab of course and Jacob prefers fish and clam chowder.

Riley had a good day. He didn't throw up only had slight diarrhea. Thankful he's getting better.


Day 8
After we got ready and checked out of the hotel we had breakfast at Old Monterey Cafe. It was decent. Riley ate an entire bowl of cheerios. Good sign.

We stopped at Cannery Row for some sightseeing. There's several restaurants here too. Bummer we weren't hungry once noon came around since we had a late breakfast. Next time.

We went on the 17-mile drive. It's in a private community in Pebble Beach. Such nice views.

I guess you can say we pretty much have a fun time interacting with squirrels. We seem to find them everywhere we go.

Riley had two animals to feed crackers to. That seagull was so patient and unafraid. I had never seen such a chill seagull.

This is the famous Lone Cypress, one of California's best known landmarks. It has prevailed on it's rocky perch for over 250 years. This place was packed with tourists, us included, lol.

Now on our way to Big Sur.

This is the closest picture I could get of the Big Sur Lighthouse. It is really a sham that the volunteer guides only have one tour a day, sometimes two {I believe in the summer months}. Also, if you want to tour the lighthouse one needs to be at the gate off Hwy 1 super early to guarantee a spot and only about twelve vehicles get chosen. That's a total bummer right?! I think so considering how popular this lighthouse is. So I just waved hi and bye.

We did quite a bit of driving on day 8. Still, no signs of whales.

Stopped at San Simeon to see the elephant seals. It was windy here and when the wind blew the sand hit our arms, legs and face and it hurt. Plus these mammals are super stinky. P.U!!!

Riley cracked up seeing the huge elephant seals move because their flab would jiggle all over.

Another must stop for me is Morro Bay. I don't know why I find this place so interesting. It calls to me. Even though this rock doesn't compare to Haystack Rock in Oregon it still intrigues me.

We had lunch. We got happy when Riley asked for pizza. Yes, he's definitely feeling better. Thank God.

Then we drove to the rock and let Riley splash a little. I also love to feel the cold water on my feet. So refreshing.

We ended our day in Santa Maria. Had to wash too so that's what we entertained ourselves in that evening, lol.
Excited that we were getting closer to San Diego and given that Riley was well on his way to recovery we were back to full blown fun.