October 7, 2010

This morning we got up at around 8am planning to be out by 10, which was check-out time. We hadn’t prepared anything in the evening and quickly found out we had been a bit optimistic on the timing. It was difficult to get everyone into gear and the kids were not always cooperating.

After considerable stress and some raised adult voices we finally managed to get the house emptied and the car packed. We left at around 10:45. After 2 minutes on the road Iseline exclaimed that she really, really, really had to go to the restroom! The simplest solution was to turn back and visit the house one last time. So, at around 11am we were finally on our way.

I wanted to show the family the coastline going south. It is quite different from the valley and a very nice area in my opinion. We headed over to Half Moon Bay and followed HIghway 1 towards Santa Cruz. The highway follows the coastline and we got some good views of the Pacific ocean, the beaches and the cliffs.

Not too far after Half Moon Bay we saw a sign saying “Hay maze, next left.” Intriguing! We took a left and found a pumpkin farm that had morphed into an amusement park.

The main attraction was a very large maze made from hay. Really cool. It took us a long time to find our way through it.

A bit further down highway 1 Hélène spotted a nice beach and we pulled over to have a look. It seemed like it was very close, but in reality it was quite far away and we had to walk down a steep slope to get to it.

At the end it was too steep to walk, but someone had laid out a rope. Well, if we had come this far… We worked our way down to the beach one by one.

It was well worth the effort. There didn’t seem to be any other access to the beach and except for a man and his dog we were alone. At last we could touch the Pacific ocean, an ocean we are going to see much more of later during our voyage.

The water was very cold.

Adrian wrote in the sand. It’s difficult to see the scale here, but those letters are about 3 metres (10 feet) tall.

Sweaty, thirsty, happy and full of fine-grained dirt we got back into the car. It was probably not the smartest move to leave the car on the side of the highway with all our belongings, but we got away with it.

Next stop was Santa Cruz. I had spoken with several people who told me we had to go see the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. Now, being a modern intellectual I of course do not ask questions, but say “Uhum” and “We have to do that” when I do not know much about a place. Then, as soon as I am within reach of an internet connection, I go to Wikipedia.

“Boardwalk” turned out to be “a wooden walkway for pedestrians”. The Lonely Planet guide even said the one in Santa Cruz had been made in 1906. Cool. So I told the children we were going to go walk on a street made from planks on the lovely beach of Santa Cruz.

When we arrived there was no sign of planks, but several signs pointing towards the boardwalk. We went through an entrance marked “Santa Cruz Boardwalk.” There was a roller coaster and many small stores and rides that were closed. OK, so there is a small amusement part next to the boardwalk.

It took quite a long time for reality to come into alignment with the model I had made of this thing in my head. The “Santa Cruz Boardwalk” is an amusement park! There was no small amusement park next to the boardwalk, There was only an amusement park. And there were no planks. Not only that, the park was closed!

One place was open, but the dessert they advertised was a bit too American for us. Deep fried cheesecake? You just can’t make that up.

I was rather sheepish on our way back to the car. Another small planning mistake. Well, you can’t win them all.

Next stop was Monterey and the 17 mile drive. This was really worth the visit and I felt I earned back a couple of stars from Hélène. We drove around the beautiful Monterey peninsula and had multiple stops. What a gorgeous coastline.

Then we set our course for our final destination for the day, Carmel-at-the-sea. After checking in at the Inn we hurried down to Carmel beach to see the sunset. We were extremely lucky with our timing. The moment we arrived the solar disc touched the horizon and we got to see the sun disappear into the Pacific.

I made a comment about us being lucky to have arrived before the sun had moved below the horizon. Viktor corrected me and said “Dad, don’t you know the sun isn’t moving, it’s the earth spinning.” I had to admit he was correct.

After some seafood in Carmel we found our way back to our rented beds. It had been another nice day.

Eirik

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