Enjoying the pleasures of Santa Cruz

Early this morning we were woken up by the sound of Ralph's phone ringing.  It was around 6:30 a.m. and the Insurance Company was calling to discuss with us about the forms to be completed.  We were happy that they are actively pursuing this on our behalf.

After an early breakfast we headed out to the Santa Cruz Pier where we spent a couple of hours enjoying the Sea Lions.  They were all around the pier and it was so much fun to watch them.  I could certainly spend the whole day here watching their crazy antics as they played with each other.

Fisherman talk - have you caught anything?

Playful sea lions

This is referred to as a "Raft".  It was so cool to see.

How did he get up here?

My happy face!!

Looking across the bay.

Waves washing up on shore.

Anticipating the surf!!

We enjoyed lunch that we made ourselves from the leftover Sour Dough bread and chicken.  While enjoying our lunch we struck up a conversation with a family that was getting ready to surf.  I noticed their license plate was from Minnesota so I commented on how far away from home they were.  We had a really enjoyable conversation and they ended up telling us about this park called "Henry Cowell Redwood State Park".  It was only a short 30 minute drive from the coast so we went there to explore. It was amazing.  We had such a wonderful time walking through the forest filled with Redwoods. They are so majestic.   

See how big!!

Look up up up...

We went down to the beach to watch the sun set.  Ralph and I practiced doing some time lapse photography.  We're pretty happy with how it turned out.

Evening sunset.

We finished our day with a really nice dinner at Firefish Grill.  The food was amazing.  It was the perfect end to a perfect day.