The Golden State

Here are the rest of my California pictures. Like I said, I didn't get too many. I did take more pictures with Stacie's camera so I will just have to wait until she sends them to me. They are all pictures of the marina where I went for a bike ride with my Aunt Josiane. The marina just happens to be one of my most favoritest places ever! It is so beautiful down there by the bay. I am sure a blog post about it will come in the near future. :)


So here's a little more about California . . .
Monday night was perhaps the highlight of my trip. We went down to the Boardwalk in Santa Cruz for 75 cent night. (Is there really no cents sign on the keyboard?) All the rides were 75 cents. Amber and I jumped right onto perhaps the most exhilarating ride in the park called the Fireball. After almost peeing our pants, we decided to cool down and ride the roller coaster. And I'm talking THE roller coaster: The Giant Dipper. It was the first roller coaster either one of us ever rode and it continues to be one of our favorites. It is an old wooden roller coaster and, I learned that night, the 6th oldest in the nation. Pretty cool. I find that roller coasters are one of the few places where I can really let out my emotions. There may be times when I feel like yelling and screaming and laughing simultaneously, but only on roller coasters can I actually get away with it without drawing attention to myself because everybody else is doing it too! I wish that I lived closer to a roller coaster. . . And to the beach. That was another highlight of my trip. The beach is about a 15-minute walk from Stacie's house. You get to walk down this path through a wooded area that smells of eucalyptus. I love it. It's so nice to pack a lunch, a towel, and a good book or crossword puzzle and just relax on the shore. Heat emanates from the sand underneath your feet (yes I go barefoot) and the sound of the waves lulls you into a sweet state of contentment.

Aside from that, we did the traditional California trip activities: get a haircut, watch "What Not To Wear," go to a movie, and eat corn dogs and chocolate-dipped ice cream cones at the Boardwalk.

Unfortunately Amber got sick toward the end of our trip. After sharing a room and being cooped up in a car with her for about 16 hours on the drive home, I guess it's to be expected that I would get sick too. I thought that I was strong enough to avoid the infectious transmission, but alas, here I am with a sore throat, cough, and stuffy nose. And I start school this week! What a way to start off my last semester of college. (My last semester!)

We all got matching "tattoos" of a lotus on our hands. It's the new Rodrigues Family gang symbol.