Livermore & Santa Cruz

I have to mention one more time-- taking the back roads is awesome. There are parts of northern California that are ridiculously gorgeous. Multiple times Jake and I have considered living in a tree in the woods here. If I had millions of extra dollars I would definitely have a vacation home in "Nor Cal." We were lucky to spend a few days with Jake's cousins in Livermore. We had a couple of family dinners with games, lots of laughing, music made with cereal bowls, and a haircut.

In Santa Cruz we couchsurfed with a dreadlocked Reggae lover who took us to see some surfing and a cemetery. At the ocean there was this bird and otter playing together that was cracking me up. The otter would dive under the water then pop up about 20 feet away from the bird, then the bird would fly over to him/her and hang out for minute before the otter would pop back under the water again. They looked like they were having so much fun together that they didn't even notice the surfer in the water. 

Here I am obsessing over a cemetery one more time. Santa Cruz has a pretty awesome and pretty creepy graveyard. The back of the cemetery slopes uphill into the woods with heavy foliage and lots of nature noise. Awesome, and creepy. Old headstones are so much more ornate and eye catching than what seems to be permitted these days. If they allow it, I think I want to have bells and whistles on mine. I love the inscription on the last stone. "He was a colored man and willed all his property to Santa Cruz School District No 1. Rest in Peace." Simple, sweet, and telling.