July Doin's - Santa Cruz predominates

After the holidays and the festival, I sort of fell into a slow-motion quietude phase.  Didn't even amass 2 miles per day average on my Fitbit for the week, and that's sayin' somethin', really.  But I have sprung back after walking with Brenda and visiting Jeffery in Santa Cruz, and the rest of the summer is still ahead!

Let's start with some chicory and sweet peas along the highway near Quincy

pretty, huh?

and here's the beaver-chewed tree along Caribou Rd. on a hike with Brenda

I like how Santa Cruz paints the utility boxes to camoflage them.

A funny beach house in Aptos

My Aunt Tootoo's old house in Aptos

Here's yet another weird abode

View of the Aptos Beach

Took a walk to the wharf and saw the sights

Art shot of the river and sea

Many families on the beach were playing baseball (wiffle ball)

art shot of receding wave

A fixer-upper; the Eddy House

Spotted from the highway, I had to stop and investigate.  Couldn't brave the descent to the beach myself.

So, I took a walk along the cliff above the beach

See the lady on the rock?

This is the hike down the hill to the beach, which gives a little perspective when you realize you can see two humans on the trail in the picture..  I took Jeffery to see what I'd found and to have him help me get to the beach after he got off work that night

the wave in the tunnel

me on the beach

This is not a blurry shot; these grasses were seriously fluffy.

We hiked along the cliff edge while the day remained nice and watched the surf crashing against the rocks

Jeffery on the beach right at Davenport

Rock in the water, waves crashed against it so powerfully, they engulfed it in spray

We are going whale watching!

morning light in the harbor

Coast Guard boat

Leaving Santa Cruz harbor.  Jeffery took a really great shot of this, but I didn't snag it from him

We saw thousands of shearwater birds in great rafts at regular intervals, and laughed when they ran away from the boat as if walking on the water.

Thar she blows!

Gull, whale, and boat

I have many shots like this, as we saw many whales

Several times the whales rolled and showed bellies and flippers

So close, you can see the shine on it.

My best tail shot

We saw several great tail waves

Jeffery

Couldn't believe how big they were

One final tail shot, with clear markings to identify which whale it is for those who keep track.  I did happen to come over poorly on the return trip, so there's no photos of the homecoming views

On our way towards Hollister, we had to stop to see what was being grown under the cloth greenhouses.  It was berries.

One view of the Plaza beside the San Juan Bautista Mission

Another side of the plaza, the hotel and stables

liked the weathervane on the Stables

Here's the whole Stables, which has a false front

The Plaza Hotel

The Mission side of the Plaza

I liked the metal-work addition to the roof support

Jeffery tries to find out who the statue was, but the only inscriptions were bible passages

Approaching the church

View out from the fourth side of the plaza

Inscription inside the church door

The baptism chapel

Another painted doorway that I particularly liked

This is for Grant, a reed canoe.  His next project?

I was fascinated by the way they imbedded this nice shelf into the wall

Here's a different view of the chest I loved, which I showed on Facebook

Drawer detail, for Dan's edification (grin)

Historical stuff

Scary baby Jesus doll

Things that would be in a home around the era of the Mission's heyday

Couldn't get close, but this chair seems to be made of bark and leather

Priestly garments

Lovely cactus

Jeffery and the Giant Cactus

I really liked this window

And this wooden chandelier

And this bench, which is modern

In the church, the way up to a preaching balcony

Here's the preaching balcony; my Mom says it's a pulpit.

The Altar and Reredos (a screen behind the altar, often depicting religious figures)

This poem was pretty touching

The Masonic Hall just north of the Plaza

Back in Santa Cruz, we found a restaurant called Jeffery's, spelled the same as my Jeffery's!

There you are, and thanks for putting up with my enthusiastic musings and views