It’s not that far away to drive to the seashore but it’s always more the worth if you have a special reason. Since Maarten has got a richer social life than both of us he is having another birthday party and mom and dad may join him. We meet the other ‘partygoers’ at the Ms. Blue, 87 feet long whale skeleton.
Maarten becomes excited immediately. Inside he can hold a seastar and pet the sea anemone. The tour with Miss Jennifer is great but I admit the narratives about the elephant seals and the blue whale might be not that interesting to our toddler boy yet. Though without the tour he would miss the two funny dolphins in the outdoor pool.
When the party is done we drive 4 miles North of Santa Cruz to the Wilder Ranch State Park. The parking is so busy. There is a Fall Festival at the ranch. I’m not sure I still want to visit the shore right here. However we take the Old Landing Cove trail past the brussels sprouts fields and shortly leave the crowds behind. We eat our lunch above the trail’s namesake. At this place the sailing vessels loaded lumber in the late 19th century.
The lovely walk further along the coastal bluffs and pocket beaches is very easy but Maarten is already tired and refuses to walk at all. He complains there are no acorns here. How should I explain that?
The flocks of seagulls and pelicans made the walk a bit more exciting but the attraction number one is the water as usual. Close to the seal rookery we take the path down to a small beach. Maarten doesn’t care about the seals. Only here on the beach he comes to life again!
His shoes and pants are wet very soon. Luckily the weather is still so warm.
On the inland side of this small beach there is a shallow cave filled with ferns. The water drips down and it’s pretty mysterious. Not for Maarten. He walks down the cave and collects sticks as anywhere else to build ‘a fence’.
On our way back he walks barefoot without complaining and he is always pleased to flirt with any of the ladies we meet.
