Santa Cruz

We started off our one and only full day in Santa Cruz by sleeping in. We had planned to surf, but there were no waves. So, we slept in and leisurely made our way over to Café Iveta on James' recommendation. It was excellent! We ended up getting breakfast (breakfast burrito and bagel with lox) and sharing a second breakfast (egg on toast) to go with our coffee and chai and fresh squeezed OJ. Every single thing was delicious. We lingered for a while making plans for our future empire and plotted out a course for the rest of our morning.

We decided to drive a few blocks down to the ocean and check out some of the nearby breaks. We stopped at the surf museum and Steamer's Lane and watched a solitary surfer wait for waves from the cliff above. He caught one and finally another and we moved on. Continuing down West Cliff Drive, we thought the houses looked more east coast than west. Our drive took us down to Cowell's and the boardwalk where we played some air hockey and video games at the arcade, did a little shopping and strolled down the boardwalk.

After we'd had our fill of carnival fun (not very long), we went to New Leaf to pick up some groceries for pizza making! When we got home, our hosts were in the yard relaxing and getting the oven ready for us. We got a lesson in wood-fired pizza making and we became instant pizza chefs. Our hosts took off and James and his family came by to make and share pizza with us. It was magical.

We decided we MUST have a wood fire oven. After James and his family left (their 2 year old had a previous engagement), we made one more pizza with an egg from the house chickens. It was fantastic and we were stuffed. We cleaned up the kitchen and ourselves, took a moment to rest and then went downtown to check out one of my favorite shops in the world, Bookshop Santa Cruz.

We got a great parking spot in front of a sweet cafe and had espresso and hot chocolate before heading over to the bookshop. There, we got some other ideas for our house with the pizza oven in the design section and bought a "surfari" book. After a short stroll around the block, we headed home. Tomorrow, we hit the road! Destination: Los Angeles via Big Sur.