Day 35 - 5/19 - Hopping out of the tent and gazing at endless fields of strawberries is not a bad way to wake up.

A slow morning at Sunset State Beach was followed up by shopping at Patagonia’s Santa Cruz Outlet store. We found out after looking around that in only two days they were having a Memorial Day sale at 40% off the entire store. Darn, won’t be in this area in two days. Oh well, we still managed to find something worthy of purchasing, go figure. Then we spent a couple of hours at the Santa Cruz Public Library which, we learned, is also a popular hangout for the homeless population. After we wrapped up there, we headed to the beach to have a picnic.

We strolled the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, laughed at the screaming fools on some of the rides, and contemplated eating a funnel cake - but opted not too as we were both quite full from lunch.

Then we drove to the lighthouse and walked around before driving a scenic residential road north out of town to hook back up with Hwy 1.

The day was sunny and warm in Santa Cruz but just a bit further north it was super windy. It didn’t bother us in the car and it appeared that it was enjoyed by the windsurfers and kite surfers that we found along the coast.

We made it to Half Moon Bay by late afternoon, checked in at the campground and then headed into town for some groceries. It was cold but very nice to be back in Half Moon Bay where only 4 months ago we had first thought up taking this road trip.