Wow! We've been in Santa Cruz, CA for more than three months! And it's been nearly two months since we've updated our blog!! Guess it's time to get on the stick and update you on what's been happening in October and November.!!! (We'll cover December in our final Santa Cruz blog posting prior to departing January 10.)
Our time here has been busy... and good. We are enjoying the time spent with Noreen and Susan and with their friends - all of whom have embraced us as though we've known each other for years. One of our goals for spending time in Santa Cruz is that Donna and Noreen would have the opportunity to catch up on so many holidays and special events that were missed celebrating together after living three quarters of a continent apart for nearly forty years. And catching up is just what we've been doing.
October provided ample opportunity for time spent together. The weather was fantastic (warm and dry) for the entire month, and we didn't waste many opportunities to spend time near Monterey Bay. And then, with political heat rising, we attended a great concert, 'Baroque Obama', which offered wonderful Baroque music, played with Baroque instruments, in support of the political campaign of Barack Obama. October also marked Donna's birthday; with a pleasant celebration which included 'tea and crumpets', followed by pumpkin carving. The next day, Halloween, we enjoyed a family parade in downtown Santa Cruz, which gave us a chance to enjoy the holiday with lots of little hobgoblins proudly displaying their 'trick-or-treat' costumes.
November saw the marking of a true milestone. Noreen turned 60, and the date was duly noted with a memorable visit to San Francisco for the four of us. On the following weekend there was a dinner celebration with many of Noreen and Susan's friends. The week of Thanksgiving Glen and Donna drove to Los Angeles in order to attend a Monday wedding of good friend Debbie (from our England days). Susan drove with us so that she could spend some time with her Mom, who lives in the L.A. area. Our son Glen, daughter-in-law Velvet, and grandson Evan met us in Los Angeles when we arrived on Sunday night. Glen had been attending an all-week business meeting, and Velvet and Evan joined him for the weekend. Then, on Tuesday morning, we all made our way back north to Santa Cruz for a family Thanksgiving celebration. But not before spending a night together in Paso Robles, CA, and then a day at Hearst Castle in San Simeon. - followed by a harrowing evening drive up the Pacific Coast Highway in dense fog! We made it home, however, without a problem. On Thursday we had a wonderful walk in the redwoods at Henry Cowell Redwood State Park, and a visit to Natural Bridges State Park for Monarch butterfly watching and a little beach time. Then, on Friday, we had a family dinner - which included not only Donna, Glen, Noreen, Susan, Glen jr., Velvet, and Evan, but also Ben (Noreen and Thom's son), Ben's girlfriend Maria, Thom, and his wife Linda, as well as Linda's daughter Trina. After a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner which included turkey and all of the fixings, Glen jr., Velvet and Evan headed up to San Francisco for the weekend.
There were, of course, many other memorable moments, but I'll leave that up to Donna's Picasa Photo Album to fill in the gaps. The album can be viewed at:
Hopefully you are all getting an idea of how we're spending our time in California. We'll be hitting the road again fairly soon, in early January, in order to finish the final leg of our Bounder Across America adventure. We intend to have at least one more entry in our blog before then, so stop by once in a while and give a look. In the meantime, drop us a brief note to let us know you've been here!
Donna & Glen
