Blogs from Santa Cruz, California, United States, North America - page 7

Central California is a desert at noon, a paradise at nine. It is now 9:51 (in the evening, of course--we know very little of this hour's AM counterpart), and the sun's fading rays have given way to a hundred tiny reflections of head- and taillights off the metal-plated rubber tabs lacing the lanes of I-5 North. Nevada looms along the right-hand horizon, impeding our progress east--a fact I'm learning to regard as irrelevant (with the rest of self and future). Today marked the end of a lovely stay in the woods bordering the still-foreign city of Santa Cruz. (We never really made it into town.) Brad and Colleen--friends of Tim's from his early Scotland days--welcomed us yesterday to their gorgeous, garden-lined driveway on Forest Drive. The redwoods towered on all sides, upward to the left and ... read more

I had just picked up the hire car at 5:30 am and was confused by pretty much everything. The steering wheel was on the worng side, every road had waaay too many lanes of traffic each side and I wasn’t entirely sure of the highway code in California. Within about 5 minutes I was to learn one very helpful caveat of information. You are allowed to turn right on a red light. Within another 5 minutes I was to learn my second lesson. Provided you drive like a psychopath within the speed limit, you can get away with pretty much anything, ESPECIALLY on the freeway. Overtake, undertake, cut people up, slam on, weave, all seem to be acceptable driving styles. Indicators I’m convinced are purely for decorative purposes and the horn should be used at least ... read more

History Although now it is mainly a tourist destination and most of the shops represent this a lot of the buildings retain the characteristics of the original town that was built in 1869. Before this the location was used by Native Americans of the Soquel tribe but they were pushed out when Santa Cruz County was established in 1791. The Mexican era followed a prestigious Castro family owned the land. Looking at the buildings you can see that much of the architecture of the buildings is of Mexican origin. His land was then sold on when California became a state in 1849 and German immigrant Frederick Hihn created a much of the towns early industry and brought the land of the Castro family. The town then became famed as seaside resort when the Pleasure Pier and ... read more

Scream if you want to go faster The first thing you notice when walking towards Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk is the intimidating figure of the Giant Dipper Roller coaster looming ominously out over the sea. Celebrating its 100th birthday this year, The Boardwalk boasts of being the oldest major seaside resort on the West Coast and the thought that the rides are now more rickety only adds to their thrill. The classic wooden ride consists of three big drops and a top speed of 55mph as I watched it plummet seawards with its captive screaming victims, I knew this had to be my first port of call. Entering the park I saw that the Dipper was not the only offering for big scares rides. The Double Shot is a 125ft tower that launches riders vertically in ... read more

Da vi ankom til Santa Cruz havde vinteren huseret med regn, blæst og 12-15 grader C i 14 dage - nok til at folk i byen var trætte af vintervejret. Vi bragte det gode vejr og den klare himmel med os fra San Francisco. Temperaturen om dagen lå omkring 20 grader C, som er væsentligt varmere end det normale for årstiden. Til gengæld faldt nattemperaturen til få plusgrader. Så de første par nætter havde vi ikke fået styr på termostatindstillingerne på varmesystemet. Det havde den kontante konsekvens at vi hundefrøs om natten, da tæpperne vi havde lejet i det individuelle udstyrskit slet ikke var varme nok. Så vi måtte lægge os sammen med hver vores unger for at holde dem varme og dermed også os selv. Erica, Russel & Casey tog os med på en sightseeing ... read more