Let's go to Santa Cruz!

The weatherman said it was going to be HOT this weekend so Lauren and I headed to the beach on Saturday morning because it's usually cooler over there. Since we know on hot days like this there is usually bumper to bumper traffic going to the beach which can turn a 30 minute trip into an hour long (or more) drive we left at 10:00 am. We still hit a little traffic but it wasn't too bad.

We found our place in the sand and laid out our blankets and then I walked down the beach alone...Lauren thought lying on the beach sounded like a better idea. Flocks of these big birds kept going by. They were so pretty! I saw more of these than I saw seagulls which was unusual.

It was HOT on the beach so we decided to go up to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and walk around. I love the Boardwalk food but I was good and didn't eat any this time, not even the deep fried cheesecake....(yuck)

We never go to the beach without going on our favorite ride, the Giant Dipper! I grew up riding this roller coaster and now so has Lauren. She loves it as much as I do! This weekend was it's 85th Birthday. I've been riding it over 40 years! When I was a kid, my best friend and I rode it 21 times in a row!

I took my camera with me on the roller coaster. Here is a picture looking back as we are going up the big hill...

Here's a shot to my right at the beach...I guess I wasn't holding the camera very straight! lol

I wanted to get a shot of the huge drop but the guy in front of me blocked my view... After we left the Boardwalk we had lunch and then drove around to look at the pretty homes. This one is right on the edge of a cliff. This photo was taken looking out the car windshield so it's not very good...

That house is right on the road but look at their backyard...

Here's a better shot of the great view they have...

This is a little further down the road...

This house is amazing. I got out of the car to take some pictures of this closer up...

I'm snapping away and as I get a little closer I see something move and realize there is someone sitting under that umbrella watching me! OH NO! I was so embarrassed. You can barely see him, he's behind the bush (click on the photo to enlarge it). I still wanted to get some more pictures so I got behind a bush to take pictures of the side of the house so you could see how huge it is...

This is just down the street, that house above is on the left, they have such a great view...

Here's another pretty house with a great ocean view. I would love to sit out on that top balcony and have my coffee every morning! Dreaming...

Here are some pretty ocean shots from further up the road...

I hope you enjoyed your visit to Santa Cruz, California!