Johnny and I had a fabulous few days in the Santa Cruz mountains! We went to Big Basin Redwoods State Park and totally enjoyed our time together in the woods! Much of our time was spent hiking and biking and some going to the beach and the Santa Cruz Boardwalk. We were beyond blessed to have had time together to experience such beauty and to have experienced such a sweet time in Gods majestic creation.
Before we went on our trip we read about fabulous places to visit while in Santa Cruz. One of them was a small very popular place called Tacos Moreno. The line for lunch was long, but fast. We sat with others sharing a table and conversation. What a delicious lunch!
The very favorite part of our vacation was our bike ride in the woods using the parks service road. This place was almost magical and the experience was just amazing! There is nothing that I can ever remember doing that compared to this. It was like being in a private wonderland. Wow!
The camping part of our trip was great! Cooking and cleaning takes on a whole different meaning when camping. Food tastes so much better out in the woods than about any other time. Our favorite meals were breakfast. We had eggs and bacon one morning and the other two we had eggs with chili and cheese. (We added corn chips to make it even better!) Each morning Johnny would wake up first, start the fire and coffee…and then I would peek out of the tent and come to the fire and warm back up. He is one wonderful husband!
There is the short but special Redwood Trail Loop by the park headquarters and visitors center. As you can see in the pictures these trees are huge! We each had to strike a pose by the father and mother of the forest.
One one of our days we rode our bikes for the three miles along West Cliff Drive between the Boardwalk Natural Bridges Beach and loved it!
After the ride we parked our bikes at the Boardwalk and went down on the beach where it was so warm and comfortable. That evening happened to be the first night of the season that the Boardwalk was offering one dollar rides. They do this all summer on Monday and Tuesday evenings. The Giant Dipper was…Awesome!!! (So was the ice cream!)
On our last day, when we headed out of the park we stopped at a place that we had seen earlier. This fabulous store was in the little town of Ben Lomond. Mountain Feed and Farm Supply is a must visit for all!
While at the Mountain Feed store we asked about a place for us to have lunch. The helpful woman told us of a place in Felton that had a huge oak tree in the outdoor eating area. It was not tough to find! The lunch at Felton Guild Oak Tree Ristorante was delicious and we loved the grounds as well. This place had an outdoor wedding chapel that was just gorgeous.
Our last adventure was yet another sun-kissed hour at the beautiful beach. This time we were at the harbor beach. Johnny is a surfer at heart. He surfed for years and years! So this afternoon he went out into the water and did just that…though this time he body surfed. It was such a blessing to watch him in his element.
The picture below is from the back of Johnny’s tee-shirt (that shows up in almost all the pictures!) saying just what we experienced these few days together…”life is good”.
Patti Mustain 