Day 113: Santa Cruz
Posted by the girls on Monday, July 25, 2011
Since we were disappointed with the RV park rates, we packed up our stuff to seek new accommodations. First though, we went to check out the Mystery Spot, which was only about a 1/2 mile from where we were staying. The Mystery Spot is a 150 ft diameter circle that has some weird gravitational forces; the trees grow in unusual ways and things happen that wouldn't normally happen. It's a bit difficult to explain, but you can see some of our goofy photos in the Picasa albums and read more about the phenomenon here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Spot
We left the Mystery Spot and headed toward downtown to look for a cheap motel. After a little searching and a few phone calls, we found out that even the "cheap" motels in Santa Cruz were $100+/night! We were sitting on the sidewalk, debating what to do next, when two nice ladies walked by and stopped to say hello. We told them about our trip and asked them if they knew about any cheap accommodations in the area. One of them, Shannon, offered us to stay at her apartment with her husband, Dan.
We all walked to Shannon's apartment together and dropped our bikes and gear off. We enjoyed playing with her friend's little son, Elliot and ate some delicious sourdough bread with avocado, heirloom tomatoes and homemade bean dip. Before leaving her apartment to explore the downtown area, we were able to check another item off of Emily's bucket list: to ride a tandem bicycle. Shannon just happened to have one in her garage, so we all took it for a spin!
We then walked downtown and went into a few cute shops. We also happened to run into a small cactus festival. Eventually, we made our way to the beach. We walked down the famous boardwalk and watched all of the people going on rides and eating crazy fair food (like deep fried oreos, cotton candy, and garlic fries). We also walked out to the end of the pier and saw lots of sea lions and pelicans. We headed back towards Shannon's place and ate a taqueria for dinner. We also stopped at Trader Joe's to pick up some goodies.
We had a wonderful day in Santa Cruz and were so lucky to have met Shannon and Dan!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Spot
We left the Mystery Spot and headed toward downtown to look for a cheap motel. After a little searching and a few phone calls, we found out that even the "cheap" motels in Santa Cruz were $100+/night! We were sitting on the sidewalk, debating what to do next, when two nice ladies walked by and stopped to say hello. We told them about our trip and asked them if they knew about any cheap accommodations in the area. One of them, Shannon, offered us to stay at her apartment with her husband, Dan.
We all walked to Shannon's apartment together and dropped our bikes and gear off. We enjoyed playing with her friend's little son, Elliot and ate some delicious sourdough bread with avocado, heirloom tomatoes and homemade bean dip. Before leaving her apartment to explore the downtown area, we were able to check another item off of Emily's bucket list: to ride a tandem bicycle. Shannon just happened to have one in her garage, so we all took it for a spin!
We then walked downtown and went into a few cute shops. We also happened to run into a small cactus festival. Eventually, we made our way to the beach. We walked down the famous boardwalk and watched all of the people going on rides and eating crazy fair food (like deep fried oreos, cotton candy, and garlic fries). We also walked out to the end of the pier and saw lots of sea lions and pelicans. We headed back towards Shannon's place and ate a taqueria for dinner. We also stopped at Trader Joe's to pick up some goodies.
We had a wonderful day in Santa Cruz and were so lucky to have met Shannon and Dan!!
