Santa Cruz Beach Day
We had a five hour lag in between water polo games on Saturday, so Barb and I grabbed a grilled veggie burger (hey! its Santa Cruz!) and headed north on the PCH to find a beach. The first place we came to was Wilder Ranch historical preserve. 
We asked the girl at the entrance booth how far a walk it was to the beach, because from where we were it looked like a pretty far walk. She said it was an easy 1/2 mile walk. We parked, grabbed our food, blankets, and cooler, and headed off. The trail out to the beach was a meandering path that skirted sheer cliffs and the mighty Pacific below. Seemed like a lot longer than a half mile but we 
finally found a beach that we could hike down to. I guess this park/beach was mostly for walkers and bike riders because we had the entire beach to ourselves!! Very cool. We enjoyed the grilled veggie burger and had some liquid refreshments. Sunbathed to the sounds of crashing waves on our own private beach. A great way to wind down after some intense weekend water polo.
Spring has sprung in our garden window! When Kelly graduated high school in 2004, Staci gave her a beautiful purple orchid. After the bloom fell off, Barb continued to water it on a regular basis. We were surpirsed the next year when it bloomed more beautiful than before! Over the years Staci gave Kate an orchid for her graduation, then Barb got one for a mother’s day gift and maybe the other for a Birthday. Every year they bloom! The perfect conditions must exist in our garden window. Or maybe its Staci? Or maybe Barb’s watering technique. Maybe all three!
Kelly was the only one with the intestinal fortitude to assend Mission peak with her mom and pops. Since it was just the three of us,
we decided to go for the family record of 1 hour 15 minutes. We started up the Ohlone side at 10:30 on a beautiful Monday morning. Sun shining and birds singing as we made our way up the peak. No time to dilly dally as we kept a pretty good pace up to the seasonal pond, beyond the whomping willow and pee tree, the “4 to 5 minute mark”, the outhouse, the hard part, Diane’s spot, and then to the peak. Kelly had pushed ahead at the end and made it to the the top in 1 hour 1o minutes. Barb and I trudged in (huff’n and a puff’n) at a fast paced 1 hour 11. We enjoyed 20 minutes on the top and then hightailed it back down. On to Starbucks and a reward drink and then back home. Finished the weekend off with BBQ at Vandenbusch’s and all is good in the world. ALL GOOD.
Went out to Lake Chabot Park in Castro Valley on Saturday for a hike with Marie and Ron. This hike was Ron’s choice and it turned out to be a winner. The place is a hidden gem. Nestled into the hills above Castro Valley, the lake was dammed in 1875 to reserve water for the people of the East Bay. It was restricted space for almost 90 years until it was turned into a park in the 60s. The lake offers boating and fishing and there are miles and miles of trails. Our plan was to start at the Marina and hike clockwise around the lake. The map indicated we could do the 12-14 mile long loop, or the 9-10 mile “shoreline” loop. We made our way out the western trail, and within a mile we were pretty much alone. At the old dam/spillway, the paved trail turned to dirt fire trail, and then when we got to the shoreline trail, to single track. The hike was nice. Green trees, plenty of shade, not too many hills and fantastic views and vistas. At some point we reached the “point of no return” where it wouldn’t make sense to turn around and head back. Since we were new to this park and the trails we weren’t always sure where we were or how long it would take to get back to the marina. 
We came out of the trees and walked the shoreline the rest of the way. The dirt trail turned back into paved trail and we were back at the marina. Only took about 3 1/2 hours. A ten mile hike is no walk in the park (ha ha) so we did need to retreat back to Marie and Ron’s for cocktails, BBQ and hot tub soak. AAHHH!! The good life. 
the slugirls were talking trash. The only reason that UCSC had a representative at the Nationals was because they were the host. Santa Cruz, finished the season ranked 9th to East Bay’s #4 . Anyway, a sweet win against the slugs put the girls into the final four! All the players and all the parents that came to town for the games went out to a nice Italian dinner in Santa Cruz that night. A time to bond with other parents, chat it up with the other players and just relax a bit after a very intense day of water polo. 
Saturday was a rough day. Two hard fought games, against higher seeded teams resulted in two losses. A morning loss to #1 seed Redlands was a hard one to swallow. We played better than the lady bulldogs but the refs gave the game away. READ A RULE BOOK ONCE IN A WHILE REF!!!! Then the afternoon loss to Cal Lutheran was a bitter pill to swallow. The girls needed a win to get into the championship match but lost a heart breaker by a score of 8-6. Sunday the girls again played Redlands for 3rd place. The game was tied 6-6 with less than a minute to play. Redlands got a lucky steal and scored the game winner with seconds to play. We had a great time rooting for the girls and visiting and cheering with all the parents and families that came to watch the game. Someday the water polo gods will learn the secret to success.