Naked Ladies Everywhere
August 3, 1997

Biking around Pajaro Valley...

There were naked ladies everywhere. The bike wobbled as my eyes kept drifting from the road. Had I brought a camera I would have shot roll after roll. I was amazed. My eyes popped out of my head. My jaw dropped. I stood my bike and drooled. There they were, in all their pink splendor arrayed on lawns, in front of grey weathered fences, even dancing in youthful bloom in open meadows. But alas, I rode on by, oblivious to their beckoning waves. Next year, when they spring from their bulbs to bloom again, I will be there with my camera.

We spent the weekend on a journey to Soquel, near Santa Cruz, to partake in the Pajaro Valley Century. We found a homey RV park in Watsonville through the internet that had a space and the price was right. The ride and weather were beautiful. The whole weekend was great. The little RV park in turned out to be a great find, used largely by locals who bring their families on weekends for picnicing and fishing.. We camped on a grassy lawn that goes down to a little lake. There are paddleboats, row boats, and sailboats to rent. They even have free paddleboat races on Saturday mornings, with complimentary ice cream to the entrants. Next time we will throw on the canoe, as there are a couple of arms of the lake to explore.

We began the ride at about 7:30am, and wound up through redwoods above Soquel. Then back down to pass through the Santa Cruz harbor, then through Capitola and on down the coast past artichoke fields, winding back inland after crossing the Pajaro river, then up and around the hills east of Watsonville through redwoods and back into Soquel. We wore extra clothes expecting morning fog, but the day was clear from the start. We were back to the trailer at about 3 for a nap. We were just waking as the family next door came back from an outing to the beach, and the first words we heard were as the mom got out of the car saying, "And don't even touch each other - if you do you're dead!" Sometimes we get a great kick out of having all the kids grown and gone and our big effort for the evening being the decision of where to go out for dinner. We ended up eating lobster (a rather strange presentation, though) at a restaurant in capitola watching the surf and feeling the beautiful sea breeze through an open window. Sunday, we got ourselves to the ocean at Sunset Beach, where we got some more of the sea breeze, watched fishermen, kids playing in the surf and making castles, and now and then read our books. Then back for lunch, hooked up, and started the four and a half hour ride home. We will be back.