There were things in Yosemite that we were not able to see during our stay there, that we would love to come back and see *some day*, but we were eager to move on to the next leg of our trip...Santa Cruz!!!
So the kids picked out their souvenirs...
...we took a few final photographs in our hotel...
...and then we were West-bound headed for the coast of California! :0)
I can't remember exactly, but I think our drive from Yosemite to Santa Cruz took us about 3 hours??? Rick and I spent our time chit-chatting, the kids spent their time watching movies, and then occasionally there were bursts of our own random personal TV Trivia game. When we first left for Yosemite, Beatrice had a hard time playing the game with us...she wouldn't shout out the answer (if she knew it) quick enough, and she didn't understand the concept of formulating a trivia question for us. She wanted to play so bad, and yet she was all discombobulated about it. But something *clicked* for her on this 2nd part of our trip! It was so exciting to watch! Sometimes she was able to answer a question before anyone else, AND she was able to construct questions of her own for us! We were all so proud! :0)
Ok, back to Santa Cruz...
So, our time spent in Santa Cruz had a split-personality. There were moments that I LOVED...and moments that I DIDN'T! More like...there were parts of the town that Bea and I explored...and then there was the part of town where our hotel was. Sigh.
While we were at Yosemite, I Googled "things to do in Santa Cruz"...I was so excited with the results of that search! But when we reached our hotel, the boys were fuddy-duddies...they just wanted to relax in our room and watch TV. :0(
Bea and I decided to leave the boys in our dust!...we had things to do, and things to see! :0)
We arrived in Santa Cruz on a Thursday, and much to my total disappointment, the main attraction in Santa Cruz (just 1 block from our hotel) was "The Boardwalk," and apparently during the off-season, The Boardwalk is only open on Fridays and Saturdays. For my fellow San Diegans, The Boardwalk is similar to our Belmont Park, only it's about 3x as big/exciting! I was SO bummed that we weren't going to get to play there. :0( But we still went, lol...
And then we ventured to the light house...
...which housed the surfing museum...
...Light House Beach was GORGEOUS!...
...we then made our way up the coast to "The Natural Bridges"...
...and then we drove to the town clock...
...and ended our date at a French Bakery :0)...
Beatrice had the olallieberry ice cream, and I chose a cream puff AND a I had my first ever macaroon...I chose the peppermint macaroon with a chocolate ganache filling! Oh my word, that was SOOOO good!!!
Beatrice and I had such a GREAT afternoon together! We not only saw the beautiful coastline, but we also drove through gorgeous neighborhoods!
Unfortunately, when you have never been to a town, and you book a hotel online, you have no idea what part of town your hotel is actually in. We were NOT staying in those beautiful parts we saw earlier in our day. We were staying in a ROUGH neighborhood, and Rick and I were completely uncomfortable for the majority of our time in Santa Cruz. :0( Once Bea and I re-joined the boys at our hotel, we left our room for a quick bite of dinner, and then we went straight back to our room, and locked our door for the rest of the day/evening/night.
Good night Santa Cruz...
...we are SO excited to leave you in the morning! :0)
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