Weekend in Santa Cruz

Last Friday night (the 24th) we headed West to Santa Cruz to visit Patrick's coworker, Sarah (and her fiance- Justin), who has been inviting us to come see the city for quite a while now! I am very pleased we did because we had a great time exploring!

We started the weekend off with a pleasant walk downtown to stroll among the shops and have a local brew over a delicious diner dinner, and followed it up the next morning by checking out a couple coffee shops and visiting the wharf.

Justin dropped us off at the wharf, where a pier with shops and restaurants extends over the ocean. On the opposite side of where you see Patrick, there's a large boardwalk with a carnival along the shore (it reminds me of Monopoly!).

The weather was perfect, and the sun made the ocean look like a blanket of blue sequins.

Sea lions liked to lay on the rafters underneath us. A few railed openings allowed us to observe them and hear their barks echo.

Leaning over the edge of the end rail, we saw a large group of the sea lions swimming and showing off for the onlookers.

Some of the seagulls were perched very close. It's amazing how hundreds of feathers can lay so smooth and flawless-looking.

On our way back, I noticed a sign for a wine tasting room on the second story of a shop. The price was reasonable and the view and atmosphere were pleasant, so we ordered a flight to share with the "purple cow" appetizer (a red wine-soaked cheese with crackers). It was the perfect impromptu stop!

We left the wharf to embark upon a somewhat long, but lovely, walk along the coast toward our destination of tidal pools.

Ice plant, a succulent, coats the steep hills to help prevent erosion, and it looks pretty to boot!

This plant striked me as rather odd and intriguing in appearance.

It was fun to watch surfers ride the large waves that came in. It's funny how that's a common hobby around here when it seems like an activity for the movies to a girl from the Midwest. Sarah told us how there's a whole unwritten set of rules/protocol to the culture- if you hog the good waves and don't take turns, that can be grounds for a beat down! (Click on the picture for a short video.)

The tide was already coming in when we made it, but we still had plenty of intriguing and beautiful surroundings to keep us engaged at the tidal pools.


These weird rock structures were dotted all around, but this was one of the larger ones. Patrick thought they might be concretions. I thought they looked like drinking fountains. :)


Doesn't that outline look like a goldfish cracker?!


Upon our first glances in the puddles, we didn't see much, but after a more patient and careful observation, Patrick noticed the subtle movements of many tiny hermit crabs.


If you touch the "petals" of the anemone, they cling to you- it was so weird feeling! This one is a fun color.


This one looked so perfect, almost like a flower.


We'll have to bring our kayaks here sometime, but for this trip it was enjoyable to watch others from a comfy ledge with a good view.


I had hoped to see starfish, but we didn't get down to any of the deeper pools since the algae made the rocks quite slippery. Luckily, Justin joined up with us to give us a ride, and he's a seasoned and passionate tidal pool adventurer. Within minutes he handed us a few to look at, to my extreme delight!


A deep purple one. It's almost hard to tell in this photo, but the underside below reveals more of it's plum hue on camera.


This one just has muck on it, but the orange one has an iron grip on a mussel, if you were to flip it over.


So cool and pretty!I feel like miniature ones would make lovely brooches were there not the issue of them being alive and needing water, and whatnot.

The ocean's intrigues kept us so occupied that we skipped lunch, but we fulfilled our hunger with a popular downtown ice cream place that makes all its ingredients from scratch and carries some unusual flavors. After a brief respite at our hosts' house, we spent Saturday evening picnicking outside at a local brewery with a gourmet pizza we picked up on the way. For dessert, Justin sneaked off to the bakery around the corner for a large pan of scrumptious apple crisp. The next day we walked a bit of it off during a short hike through a park just outside of town.

We've seen the Sequoias in Mariposa Grove about a year and a half ago, but it's still astounding to take in the girth of the Redwoods! You may be able to make out Patrick's face peering out from the hollow in the trunk.


Even the forest has unusual new creatures for us to see. The banana slugs are rightly named! If you click on the picture, you can see its lined belly better.

After our hike, we hit up a bakery of recommendation from Sarah, where we went a bit overboard on the sweets (we bought a bag full of goodies to take home!), and browsed/shopped among the downtown strip. Sarah told us the population of Santa Cruz is smaller than Merced, but by its unique and many offerings, you wouldn't think so!

You know, I never used to think of myself as a big beach town person, but I've gotta say my exposure to the ocean is starting to prove me wrong. Santa Cruz was an awesome new place to explore, and I look forward to seeing more of it soon!

Concord & San Francisco

January 14-16, Patrick and I capitalized on the holiday weekend by visiting our pals in Concord, which is not far from San Francisco. I hadn't been to that area yet and Patrick's exposure had been been limited, so we looked forward to exploring the city a bit in addition to hanging out.

Saturday we mostly lounged around Phil & Vanessa's apartment. Phil was brewing his first batch of beer, so Patrick consulted on an as-needed basis.

Later that night we had some fun at the nearby bowling alley. Patrick & Vanessa performed very well (I think they both got strikes on their first 3 turns), especially considering none of us had bowled in quite some time.

The next morning we took the bart (the city's rail system) into SF. One of our first observances as we strolled the city streets must have been a good omen that we were meant to be there! ;)

Our first destination was Chinatown, at my request. I hadn't been to one before, but my first encounter was with good timing. Preceding the Chinese New Year by about a week, the area was hosting a mini festival of flowers, where you could purchase the decorations and fauna used in people's celebrations of the holiday.

Each of the 2 dragons had 2 performers inside the suits. They would jump on each other's shoulders to make the dragon stand up tall, and the eyelids/mouth on the costume would move. It was quite intriguing to watch them dance to the drumbeats!

Our glutes got a workout walking around this city, and I'm sure parking breaks do too.

The nice thing about walking up the steep hills is that we were periodically rewarded with some decent views. Here, we got one of Alcatraz.

The Bay Bridge in the background.

Lombard Street is the most crooked street in America (the road wound up the hill parallel to itself, with near 180 degree curves repetitively placed).

Lombard Street was also home to many cute living quarters! (Although we're not sure how the resident here would get their car in the garage. The picture may not highlight it well, but the driveway's decent would be rather detrimental to an auto's underside).

We're on our way to the sea!

...But first a quick stop at Ghirardelli for a free square of chocolate. MMM! :)

We made it to the Pacific Ocean! I dipped my finger in it and while I debated whether to take my shoes off or not, a wave washed onto my feet and decided for me. Luckily just a little bit got in!

We walked along the marina pier to take in the ocean wind and see what people were catching. A girl casting a basket for crabs showed me the little guy that her family swept up. Hopefully they don't get sick if their intention was to eat these. The sediment is too contaminated from mining long ago for the food to be healthy near that coast.

The Golden Gate Bridge!

Although it was a gorgeous, sunny day, we were rather chilled after spending time leisurely walking and loitering along the blustery shoreline, so we popped into a nearby cafe/bookstore to rejuvenate. To Patrick's and Vanessa's dismay, the cafe was out of chocolate! Apparently everyone wanted a hot cocoa fix that day. I contented myself with a latte, however.

Purchasing a cable car ticket meant we could revel in an icon of the city, while providing ourselves some respite from walking all the way back to the bart station!

The four of us disembarked near the Hyatt hotel, where we took the lift to the top floor to cheers a glass to the fun day and survey the city night lights. Afterward we passed Union Square (above) on our way to dinner/dessert at a creperie. By the time we got back to Phil & Vanessa's we were too tuckered out to drive home, but we returned the following morning with the desire to come back again!

Thanksgiving in Portland, OR

We're obviously a little behind in the posts... but whatever. :-)

Over Thanksgiving we traveled up to Portland to visit with our friend Kat that lives up there.  We rented a car and left Merced after work on Wendesday and drove to Yreka (note: not a spelling error).  The driving weather was forecast to be less than desirable but we found that the weather wasn't an issue- the rental car was.  Headlights that illuminate roughly 30 feet in front of the car are not very helpful on dark mountain roads and windshield wipers that smear the water around make seeing difficult.  Other than that, the drive was uneventful.  We made it to Kat's apartment around 1 pm on turkey day.  The rest of Thursday was spent wining, dining, and catching up with Kat.

On Friday we got a bit of a late start and Kat had to work so we were on our own.  First we walked to a little cafe just down the street from Kat's apartment, then we drove across town to the rose gardens.  There were few roses at the time but we could tell that the garden would be quite amazing in full bloom.  We'll have to check that out during warmer weather.  Following a snack and a half hour of debating what to do next we decided to head to wine country.  We figured we'd go visit some wineries and then pick Kat up when she was finished working.  Things changed when Atalie spotted a giant Goodwill store. An hour-plus later we got back on the road but it was getting late so we headed up towards the winery Kat works at (Cooper Mtn), stopping at another one (Ponzi) along the way.  We did tastings at both and bought a couple bottles that we enjoyed (and could afford).  The night was finished off with dinner and a redbox movie.

Saturday we got up early and headed to Voodoo doughnuts (famous for odd flavored pastries) for breakfast.  Kat had to work again so Atalie and I decided to hit up the Saturday market, which had lots of cool stuff (just out of our price range) and see some of the other shops around Portland as well as some craft brew houses (there are plenty to choose from in Portland).  We ended the night at a really nice steakhouse (we were the youngest patrons in there).

Sunday, we made the drive back to Merced... a little bummed that we didn't get a chance to see more of Portland.  But at least we got a taste of it and got some quality visit time with Kat.

Getting dinner ready.

 In the rose gardens (minus roses).

 Voodoo donuts breakfast.

Dinner with Kat at Jake's Grill.

Mt. Shasta on the drive back to Merced.

November 19- Sentinel Dome & Taft Point

Patrick and I wanted to get one more use out of our annual National Parks pass before it expired, so we walked a couple short trails in Yosemite the weekend before Thanksgiving. Options are fewer in the winter since many of the roads, trails and passes are closed for the season, but we were fortunate enough to get partway up the road to Glacier Point to venture paths to Sentinel Dome and Taft Point. We were also fortunate that we didn't under-dress (I decided at the last minute to throw gloves/hat/extra fleece in the car, just in case) since I checked the Valley weather/temperature, forgetting we'd be at the higher elevation.

This tree/root/whatever was an eye-catching absurdity as it grew and protruded from the middle of a boulder. As you can see, the path was fairly easy and pleasant except for occasional ice patches that threatened sure footing, particularly when we reached the steeper ground to the dome.

As we ascended, the air grew very dense with fog. The Dome didn't have snow at the top of it, but the cold breeze coated the shrubbery with crystals of thick frost. The fog obscured our view but it created a very solemn and surreal feeling. It sort of reminded me of when a movie character is transported to a virtual reality that looks like a never ending empty white room.

This made me think of Galadriel's Mirror (Lord of the Rings), which I thought was really neat. But when I got closer it wasn't a frozen pool that Patrick was peering into, just a smooth metal compass mounted on the stone. Oh well- it was still a fun thought to conjure!

On the way to Taft Point there were deep fissures that allowed us to glimpse the Valley floor from far above. A person on the top of the cliff in the foreground can provide some scale.

When turning away from one of the fissures, something in a bush caught my eye- a pair of sunglasses someone must have set down and forgot about. There's a scratch on one lens, but the condition is way better than any of my pairs in drastic need of replacement, so I was thoroughly pleased at the more than appropriate find. Patrick said it's a decent semi-pricy brand of sunglasses too. We lost our camera case last year in the park, so I guess that's part of the balance of nature!

Patrick, perched on an arch overlooking El Capitan.

The sun paid us a visit, illuminating the base of El Capitan with rays that chased away the fog for a time. It made an incomparable backdrop for a photo.

Here's the same view but panned to the left a bit to capture the other ridge. Around every corner in Yosemite, there seems to be another gorgeous and amazing perspective of God's creation!