San Juan Bautista, California and Santa Cruz

We arrived two days ago here at Betabel RV Park, but have had some busy days in between.

Before we left, our awning had torn.  We even ordered a replacement fabric, but when Kim was removing the old one, the bracket broke, so we now were discussing whether to get an electric one or not.  We are short people, and some of the non-electric awnings are a challenge to put out.  We had pretty much decided on the electric one, when it became obvious that we were going to have to have work done on the truck's cooling system.  Therefore part of the budget for that electric awning was going to have to go toward the work on the truck.  Oh well.  We ordered the awning we could afford from RV Restore and Repair in Morgan City, CA.  They were able to come out to Betabel RV Park and install it the day after we arrived.  Now we can check that off the list.

Friday we drove to Royal Oaks to visit with our long time friends, Janet and Winston.  They moved to California recently and we had a delightful time catching up.  Janet treated us to some home made butternut squash soup for lunch, and then we all headed to Santa Cruz.  Kim and I had never been there before, and we enjoyed walking down main street, just checking things out and enjoying the street musicians.  The heavenly smells from the Pacific Cookie Shop drew us in, and we all treated ourselves to a cookie of choice.  I had the cardamom sugar cookie.  I was thrilled because it tasted just like my grandma's sugar cookies, and I've never been able to figure out her secret ingredient.  I think it may have been the cardamom!

Back in the car, and a quick drive down to the pier.  We just sat on a bench and enjoyed watching the water and the kids playing on the beach.

Betsy and Janet enjoying the sunshine

I could see the boardwalk but we did not go down that way. The rides appeared not to be operating that day.  Instead we drove up to have a look see at the UC Santa Cruz Campus.  It is a very pretty campus with lots of green and plenty of hills.  Good thing most of the students are young and can handle the walk or bike ride up to the colleges.  I would have to wait for the bus.

Back to Janet and Winston's house for  homemade lasagne and fresh vegetables, good wine and brownies, and lots and lots of laughter!  The perfect ending to a wonderful day!