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Published: October 11th 2022
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On Monday, I was suddenly presented with an opportunity to spend time with Y during the week. What’s a better way to spend it than to go camping? Things might be hectic without V but don’t worry about it, just do it! I searched for the most coveted campsites in the area. This is a rare opportunity to snag a weekday spot! Half moon bay was out solid except for a few RV sites but New Brighton Beach was a go for Wednesday night! That is just a 40-minute drive and that place is always heavily booked 6 months ahead. So excited!!
Wednesday morning, we hit the road at 9:20 am. We weren’t particularly in a hurry since the campsite check-in wasn’t until 2 pm. By the time we got to Santa Cruz, it was past 10 am and we shot straight over to Swanton Berry Farm. U pick was only during the weekend so we went straight to the shop. The outside picnic area was so cute with blue picnic tables and a bunch of vehicle toys that Y would love to put his hands on. There was one big problem: wasps! They were all over our basket of
strawberries and a wrapped scone!! But it was already past snack time! What to do, what to do… They were all over the farm. We had no choice but to eat it elsewhere.
This took us to Shark Fin Cove. I didn’t have any reception and the parking was an unmarked spot along the road but this was one of the few times my instinct was good. Shark fin rock appears right around the corner from the road. Ahh, finally we enjoyed the pecan scone with strawberry sauce with the shark fin rock view at 11 am. That was really it for the rock because you walk further, and you lose the view of the fin. The rock turns into something else. But! There is a steep path leading to the cove which faces the fin straight on. And guess what, Y wanted to go there!! Oh man, V would’ve been perfect for this because I’m not exactly steady and nimble 😅 Oh well, just go slow. Y did so well in his zero-traction shoes and we made it to the cove unscathed. The cove was so worth it. Y had a blast building in the sand with the
shark fin rock view! Epic!
It was lunchtime but Y wanted to go back to the farm to see the old trucks. Swanton Berry Farm had loads of antique tractors and equipment out in the field. Y really loves them vehicles 🙂 oh wow wow wow, it was past 1 pm! Gotta find the lunch spot, quick! Without many options in between, we ended up at the Lighthouse Field State Park. The area was crowded but manageable. Parking spots were available here and there. We snagged a bench right by the lighthouse. The water toward the pier was dense black dots of surfers. It’s a good people-watching spot. Finally. Late lunch at 1:30 pm. Topped it off with the strawberries we just bought, yum!
By the time we started driving to the campsite, it was close to 2:45 pm. Since we came deep into Santa Cruz, the road to the campsite was slow. Y snuck in a 10-minute snooze and arrived at the campsite sometime after 3 pm. We got everything situated bam bam with Y being a great tent-building helper. First thing first, we wanted to check out the beach. We grabbed a few selected sand toys
for now. There was a beach access path right by our site 19. This led to the picnic area which connected to the downhill and stairs to the beach. The beach area is narrow but stretched out forever. We picked a spot and made bunch of castles. Y was happy digging 😄
We left for now to eat dinner. Sun was starting to come down. At ~6 pm, we checked out the beach again but had no luck for a grand sunset as the fog had rolled in 🙁 Well, we cut it short to clean up and get ready for the nightfall at the campsite. It was a pleasant evening. We had the bright moon right in front of our tent. Although it was getting chilly, inside the tent stayed warm enough. The sound of waves was near but not overwhelming. We woke up and it was still dark outside. Owls were hooting. We enjoyed the view slowly appearing in front of us for a while and took a stroll. Strange…at least 4 sites all around us were empty. There were more on the other side. When I booked our site, that was the only one available, hmm.
After breakfast, we packed our things. The tent and the table were wet from the fog. At around 9 am, we were all packed and ready to hit the beach!
People that visited the beach at this time were dog walkers. We planted ourselves by a big rock and Y laid all of his toys out of 2 boxes I hauled 😅 2 hours flew by fast. We had sandwiches to bite but saved the apples for after we moved the car out of the campsite before the noon checkout. Y was ready to move on from the spot and we drove in search of a day-use area for apples. Where did we end up? The day use beach access on the other side 😄 This time we sat on a rock and ate while we watched a few solo surfers and boogie boarders. And that’s a wrap for mommy and me camping trip. Wasn’t it fun, yea?
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