A New Outing

This marks the third weekend in my "need to do something new" mission before we leave California in one month.

The first thing we have to do was to think south instead of north (it's been our tendency to go north for beaches, state parks and the like).

It was not hard to find a place we had never ventured to in that direction. Just beyond Watsonville, arguably the agriculture capital of California, the coastline is also dotted with numerous state beaches. We settled on Zmudowski State Beach. Perhaps because of its name?

The day was sunny, but on the chilly side. We followed signs, driving by fields and fields of strawberries and artichokes (most of which end up all over the country, and beyond). Jim and I simultaneously remarked on how we felt like we were back in New Zealand, heading to a remote beach, a place we knew little about.

The road ends at Zmudowski State Beach with sand dunes blocking the views of the Pacific Ocean.

Just beyond the dunes, however, we were met with the ample deserted beautiful beach. It was windy, too, or should I say fresh (as the Kiwi would have described the day). Lots of treasures from the sea came home with us. It was a fun new experience: mission accomplished, for the weekend.

The Afternoon

How we started our afternoon journey

To find this a few miles away

"Grandma"

With a few weeks left in Santa Cruz (yet again...have we not been here before about 3 times?), I made a commitment to doing one new thing that we have not done before during the weekends.

Today, it was to try a new beach that we had not been to before: Gazos Creek was the pick of choice. We drive by it all the time, to get our favorite that is Bean Hollow. And each time we pass by Gazos Creek, I would ask the kids if we could try this one out. "NO!" would be the answer. Everytime.

Well, not today. I had a mission that needed to be accomplished.

We left sunny Santa Cruz, to a cold and foggy coastline. The cold wind blew, making the wind-surfers particularly happy. But us? On a new windy beach? Not too happy. We lasted 30 minutes before calling it quits.

There were strawberries to be picked!

And some sun to be had!

So much for trying to do something new. But you know, we would not have known: to never go to a beach where the wind-surfers thrive. Now I have to think about what the new thing will be for next weekend...

Before I go, can I just tell you what a cool group of pickers we had at Swanton Farm? It was possibly one of the most diverse group of pickers in Santa Cruz county. There were Asian families and Indian families... The grandma in the picture above was my favorite. She was picking, eating, all the while collecting strawberries in her sari. She was also conversing with her family members in fast, fluent (I am assuming) Hindi. It was awesome to watch. Claire kept asking me why I was so interested. "This scene makes me happy... I can't really tell you why, but I am digging the grandma!"