Out and About

My friends and I finally got away for a few days at the beach.    It was a long time in planning, then colds and life got in the way.     For the first time in months, we had rain.   Just what you want when you get away for the weekend.     LOL     We did more inside things than we normally would.   Here is a peek inside the Santa Cruz Modern Art Museum.     The first group of photos is from the rooftop sculpture garden.   It was one of my favorite places.     

 The next two photos are from the metal sculpture exhibit. They had a station set up for people to try embossing metal sheets.    We had to try it too.

  Next we visited the local history section, which was very nicely and professionally presented.       This old guy was there to greet us.  LOL
At one point there was one of those warping mirrors where I snapped a self portrait.

At the entrance to this section the flooring was etched tile with the map of the monterey bay vicinity.

 Walking back to the car we were amused with the antics of blackbirds eating a piece of bread on the wet sidewalk.      

 This window display caught our eyes.    It is so typically Santa Cruz.   

 Wouldn't this make you want a beret?

Back at the house we enjoyed the kids artwork on the window between family room and kitchen.     The beach house is really set up well for kids activities, and the loving grandparents allow them to express their creativity and help make it their own special place to visit.

 On the way home we went to Sunset beach where we saw our native plant and California state flower, the California Poppy.     It's really early so there were not many out yet.  Hopefully a little more rain and the banks will be covered with them.      

 Along the road to Sunset Beach we spotted this cute little shed that we'll probably be sketching.    

We had planned to go home via Watsonville and Gilroy to stop at the Bosc outlet, but at the last minute we decided to go north up the coast, and stop at Davenport and Pescadero.    The church shown here is in Davenport.    

I had a little camera problem at this point so have no more pics of the trip to share.   It's all okay now though, and I'm ready to roll on again.
We didn't do any sketching or artwork at all. But we cooked and laughed and watched Downton Abbey and some Brit videos of Rosemary and Thyme and Jeeves and Wooster.    It was a fun trip.  The Dogs rode well and enjoyed all the attention.       Now, back to normal life again.    I'm already looking forward to the next trip.