Today we arrived at our final destination: Santa Cruz.  Well, actually Watsonville.  $300 a night oceanfront rooms were not in the budget--which was hard for our 15 year old to grasp.  We settled in to our disappointing Best Western stuck in the middle of a business district with a room barely big enough for two of us much less a family of five.  There was barely room for anyone to sleep on the floor and wouldn't you know it was the oldest's turn to make his bed there. 

Prior to checking into the hotel, we stopped in at "The Post Office" in Aptos.  Ian had been admiring this dirt jump bike park via videos and photos online and seeing it live was part of the impetus for heading south.  When he feasted his eyes on the real thing, he burst into tears at the enormity of it all.  The jumps in our town were miniscule compared to these.  It was a bit overwhelming to say the least.  Fortunately, as all the boys surveyed the area, Ian met a pro rider who was hanging out down the road along with a fellow 13 year old who lived across the street and was sponsored by five different biking companies. Although this was an impressive fact to Ian, he was even more pleased that he had finally met someone his age who was shorter than him.

After settling in to our digs, we headed into Santa Cruz to take in the legendary Boardwalk.  About 10,000 other people had the same idea.  Apparently it was the 60th anniversary of its inception so the rides were just a dollar and the lines reflected that.  After walking from one end to the other, we found ourselves in the arcade--1200 miles to play overpriced games?  

The following day we played shuttle drivers so that everyone's wishes came true.  We went back to Aptos and connected with Ian's new friend who was going to show him around town to the hidden gems of bike parks that were more his speed.  Next stop: a skim board for Ben.  Final destination: a wetsuit and surfboard for Quinn.  

Everyone enjoyed pursuing their activities, although Dad was pretty spent on being shuttle driver,  and by the time we returned to the crummy hotel, even the fact that the one building our room was in had no hot water, there were no complaints from my beach boys.