We managed to get out to the coast for a few days of rest and relaxation. I’ve wanted to visit Santa Cruz in the fall, to go to the beach when the crowds aren’t there, for quite a few years now. We celebrated our twentieth wedding anniversary, and my fifty-first birthday is coming up, so it was kind of a bundle celebration adventure. I feel incredibly blessed and lucky at this point in my life that we are occasionally able to visit places like this, but this was a special trip. I am so grateful for my life and glad to be alive. These days I look for beauty in the world constantly. I’ve previously written about Santa Cruz and posted pictures, here is the link to that post. Every visit is a new experience. Here are some photos ( I took about five hundred pictures this trip) of this visit.
TS
Only the co-pilot may take pictures while the vehicle is in motion, exercising all due caution, being careful not to distract the driver. That said, road pictures are a quintessential part of any trip.
Coastal Bluffs Trail and Wilder Ranch, Santa Cruz, California
This time of year, the fog rolls in and out whenever.
For a while, the trail looked like it went off into nowhere, and out there, one wrong turn could go right off a cliff.
Cowell Beach
Historic La Bahia apartments on Beach Street, now fenced off for impending construction.
Probably not haunted at all.
Beach Street essentially deserted.
Cowell Beach, looking toward the Pier and the Boardwark.
The moon and a little contrail, or something plummeting to earth, over the ocean and pier.
The Boardwalk deserted. Only the arcade and one store were open.
Getting ready for Christmas at the Boardwalk. This was cool to see, the preparation.
Breakfast at Beach Street Cafe one morning.Beach Street CafeBeach Street Cafe
Mural on the side of Beach Street LiquorsOne of the cool photos on the wall inside The Ideal Cafe.
This is a Golden Eagle taking apart and eating a gopher it swooped in on, while three crows look on and squawk in the hopes of scraps.
This is a seagull eating a cracker on the railing outside our hotel room.
Cowell Beach
Sunset on Cowell BeachSanta Cruz Municipal Wharf
The empty Boardwalk after dark.
Back out to Wilder Ranch and the Coastal Bluffs Trail.
Wilder Ranch
Garden at Wilder Ranch
A beautiful, ancient, Ginko “Maidenhair” Tree on the grounds of Wilder Ranch.The view right before heading out for home, the fog lifted.
The wharf from Cowell Beach.
A rose washed ashore. I’ve dubbed this photograph “Winter Formal.”
A sunflower in the sand.Twinkle, twinkle, little star…
Footprints in the sand. God has carried me a lot in this life, and I am thankful.
