The Cuddle Puddle

Wednesday, March 20, 2012
Santa Cruz, CA

Our next stop on the adventure is Santa Cruz, CA.  The Santa Ynes Valley is the area we traveled through on our way.  We were amazed at the miles of grape vineyards we traveled through on our way.  It was beautiful.

Mark was the driver today.  I would like to point out that the last picture in the last post was of Jackson and Cruise playing in the drivers seat.  Today Mark is coming down with the cold that the boys had while playing in the drivers seat.  Glad I didn't take the wheel for that drive.

Lindsey turned us on to a tourist destination in Santa Cruz so our first stop was the Mystery Spot.  It is a small area where everything is affected by a mystery force and everything seems to lean down this hill more so than normal.  This is the cabin.

Mark as he walked up a wall.

Mark also took part in a demonstration for the group.  Mark was quick to point out how everything they did was a trick (optical illusion) but we did have a great time.

On our way to the Mystery Spot we were witness to how the financial crisis has impacted California.  Instead of fixing the road that had been partially washed out, they just installed a traffic light and made the road a one way road.  Ingenious.

Next was the Pier in Santa Cruz.  We were able to park right out on the pier and walk around.  At the far end we found this "cuddle puddle".  About 30 sea lions basking in the sun.  It was funny because all along the pier were square openings where people would look down to try to find sea lions below the pier.  Nobody was looking off the end of the pier and that is where I happened to find the biggest herd of them.

I think this small boat would work well when Mark and I move to Mexico and I need a shrimping boat to do some fishing.....

A view from the pier back towards shore where the amusement park is.

These are surfers that we watched from the cliffs.  There is about a mile of cliffs along the coastline north of Santa Cruz where the surfers hang out and surf.