California 2022 - Day 1/6

Flying to California: A Day of Coastal Relaxation

Jeremiah and I woke up at 3am to fly to California from Colorado on June 19, 2022 - Father's Day. We had packed the night before, we just needed to get dressed and brush our teeth. We ate our last breakfast muffins we had ordered from our local favorite coffee shop, Milly's, and locked up the house.

The dogs were dropped off the night before at Jeremiah's parent's house. The bunnies were still in the house, with a plan for family to check on them while we were gone.

We waited at the end of the driveway for the Lyft driver, who showed up around 3:30am. Our Lyft driver picked us up in a brand new Tesla. His name was Tyro, and we learned that he is a DJ who produces Dubstep music. You can follow him on Instagram @ItsTyroMusic

He dropped us off at Denver International Airport. We had originally planned on only checking one suitcase (the second one nested inside the first), but it was too heavy, so we ended up checking both. We made our way to the security checkpoint to find that the line extended halfway down baggage claim beyond the stanchions set up near the checkpoint. I was the longest security line either of us had ever seen.

Jeremiah and I made our way to terminal C and arrived at our gate just in time to board. Our Southwest flight was only about half full, so we were able to have a row to ourselves. We played three games of Cribbage during our flight. Rebecca won one, and Jeremiah won two. ​

Capitola

We arrived in San Jose and made our way to baggage claim. Rebecca's mom, Beth, came running in to give us hugs while we waited for our bags to arrive. After we received our luggage, we went outside to greet Rebecca's dad, Jeff.

All four of us went to Beth and Jeff's house in Campbell where we dropped off a majority of our luggage. We then left and had breakfast in Capitola. We ate at a locally owned restaurant called Avenue Cafe. We then walked downtown, eventually making our way to Mr. Toot's for a cup of coffee.

We strolled down a path by Soquel Creek, walking a loop back to Avenue. The antique store that was right down the road from the Cafe had opened, and Rebecca went inside to check it out. However, she left empty-handed. 

Natural Bridges State Beach

Rebecca waded in the water, taking photographs, but the water was too cold for Jeremiah. Beth and Jeff set up a spot on the beach to sit and admire the waves. Jeremiah and Rebecca wandered over to the nearby tide pools. There wasn't a lot of sea life activity, so we made our way around to the deeper tide pools. Here we saw a lot of anemone and crabs.

Santa Cruz

Beth, Jeff, Rebecca and Jeremiah left Natural Bridges and drove to Santa Cruz. We were ready to bum on a beach, but wanted to check out a few shops in Santa Cruz first. The first store was a place called Mythic Games, which, contrary to what you may believe based on the name of the place, had very few games for sale. Despite that, we bought Azul: Queen's Garden. We went to Bookshop Santa Cruz, which we thought was a second hand book store, but it was mostly new books. There were very few used books. Right next to the bookstore was a place called Comicopolis, which wasn't on our list of places to check out, but we are glad we did! They had way more board games than the game store, and we picked up two: The Tea Dragon Society and Autumn Harvest. Afterwards we made our way to The Hat Company, where Rebecca purchased a giant straw sunhat, and a green sunhat. Next to The Hat Company was another coffee shop, called Santa Cruz Coffee Roasting. Jeremiah and Rebecca both got blenders, and they were delicious!​

Aptos

After seeing how busy the beach in Santa Cruz was, we decided to drive a bit further to more quiet beach called Rio Del Mar, located in Aptos. Jeremiah and Rebecca did quite a bit of seashell hunting, while Jeff tried out his brand new metal detector. Towards the end of our time at the beach, we saw an otter, though it was too far away to get a good shot. ​

We made our way back to Campbell, to Beth and Jeff's house, where Beth made orange chicken with white rice and broccoli for dinner. Jeremiah and Rebecca then re-arranged their luggage to fit a few night's worth of outfits in the smaller suitcase, and hit the road. Beth and Jeff let Jeremiah and Rebecca borrow their car, which was kind of them.

Jeremiah and Rebecca left the house around 9pm and drove North toward Redwood National Park. We arrived in a place called Ukiah, and stayed at the Comfort Inn, where Jeremiah had booked us a room. ​