Let's go to the beach

This little rock is in a pot plant by my front door. Isn't it lovely?

Beach living in a little pink cottage in Santa Cruz is a gratifying experience.

I have been wanting to post this entry for a while, but I wanted to wait until I had all the photos I was hoping to share. And given we've just gone 4 rounds of camping in the mountains, it's time to take it back to the beach, and introduce you to my gorgeous neighbourhood.

First, the cottage itself, which I know I've shared before, but in the interests of theme integrity.....

The cottage was built in 1928. It's cute and cosy and epitomises old Santa Cruz:

This is the front patio area:

There are signs everywhere that you're not far from the beach (I seem to be catching up on my Royal Wedding reading!)

The main room viewed from the back door (well cluttered with my junk!)

Main room viewed from the kitchen (a little tidier):

And the view from the front door (messy again). You can see through to the hot tub out the back!

My little kitchen table, avec laptop. This is where it's all happening, folks!

Okay, so you remember how I went running in the mornings? One morning was especially stunning, and I was all, "I wish I had my camera", before realising I was carrying my iPhone (for the running app!) Uh, DUHR!!!


A brief pause and we bring you the following early morning images of Natalie's beachside jogging route:

 

And there were even poppies growing on top of the cliff! This required another interruption to my run (the sacrifices I make in the name of blogging):

Moving a little further afield. The Santa Cruz coastline is dotted with beautiful individual state beaches. My avoid-the-freeway-and-ignore-the-GPS drive home from work just happened to hug the coast.


Here is a sample of my commuting views.


This is Twin Lakes Beach.

Then Santa Cruz Harbour on East Cliff Drive.

I stopped on the way home from camping to take these shots, as it was a gorgeous afternoon in Santa Cruz and much too good a photographic opportunity to waste.


I love the stand-up paddleboader in this shot! Note the little lighthouse on the breakwater also.

Note the Californian and U.S. flags. The former features a grizzly bear, unfortunately now extinct in California.

The moorings extend further up the river - this is the view from the other side of the road:

More of Twin Lakes Beach. In the evenings, people have campfires on the sand.

You can see all the way to the lighthouse building on West Cliff Drive:

And here's my neighbourhood: Pleasure Point.

These photos are taken on East Cliff Drive, one block from my cottage. These are typical views on the way to work: 

Pleasure Point is surfing heaven (more on that later!)


The below shots were taken on a Wednesday evening East Cliff Drive walk with Val and Mike, the night they came over for dinner before our camping trip.

I love how there are houses built right into the cliff. I also love all the beautiful flowers that grow along the cliff top.

Yes, it's a tough gig living the Santa Cruz beach life!