Blue Sky Friday

Wow. I can't have too many full days like this in a row! I'm so tired, and this is supposed to be a vacation, right?

Anyway, I did catch plenty of Z's. And being still largely full, I didn't have breakfast. I just showered, pulled the shelves out of my car (parents brought down a lot of furniture for me, more than I asked for, but hey, all of my things should be sorted away now. No more line up of boxes on the wall!). Went and picked up Ma and Pa. We left Holly in my backyard and drove to the UCSC Arboretum. It was a beautiful day to spend amid the gardens. There were plants from New Zealand, South...America?, and Australia. The Australia plants were the coolest because they had all these interesting shapes. I must go back to the Arboretum with my sketchbook and draw some of the cool plant shapes.

We had leftovers for lunch back at my place, and Nathan and Helen came down for the rest of the day. We once again left Holly behind (poor doggy, but we'll do something pet friendly tomorrow probably). We went to Natural Bridges State Park, which is a lie because there is only ONE bridge. Singular. We walked the loop through the park, saw the monarch butterflies, fiddled with anemones in tide pools, and I asked about what presents people want for Christmas.

From the park we drove down Cliff Drive and parked in the residential area, and walked out along the Wharf. Saw the sun go down and the boardwalk lit up for all of an hour it seemed. Saw the sea lions make their rucus and had some fish and chips. No leftovers! I think leftovers can really only be eaten for 2/3s of the post-Thanksgiving meals.

And Nathan got us dessert. Caramel apples and fudge (though Mom has since whisked away the fudge and I know not where it is). We drove back to my house, dished up some leftovers for Nathan, and said adieu to him and Helen. I drove Ma & Pa back to the campsite soon after. Tomorrow there will be a train adventure of sorts. Hopefully I won't be surrounded by too many children.

I spent the rest of the night catching up on portraits (as you can see below) and relaxing. I banged my hand on my desk, so hopefully it won't be too bad come morning.