A RESPITE IN SANTA CRUZ

We drove down US-101 and CA-85 towards Santa Cruz; me, giddy about the adventure of being on a new road to new place, Ken, pleased about the little getaway. He drove expertly through the windy roads and kept turning the station back to EDM.  The windows were down and everything sparkled.

There were a lot of different places we could have spent our night away, but I chose Santa Cruz because it was really close to San Francisco, it had a history of surf culture, there was an Airbnb place that I wanted to stay at, and I wanted to check out the downtown are of a small to mid-sized city in California. Our first stop when we got there was Seal Rock and the surfing museum and I was blown away by the view and the surfers dropping into the water from the rock. Just standing in that spot surrounded by the ocean was like a balm for my soul.

The wharf, the boardwalk, and even the downtown (even though everything was closed by the time we got there) - in my mind, all these places were glazed with sun. Was it just my imagination and preconceptions, or was everyone more relaxed?

We needed this. Even if it was just one night away, even it it was just pitter patter around on unknown streets, try on sunglasses in surf shops and drink a pitcher of margarita, it was just me and him. The busy versions of ourselves seemed eons way, and I reveled in those extra moments we saw each other in the sunlight.