My mother, both sisters, and one of my brother-in-laws came down yesterday for a 2 1/2 day visit.  They arrived last evening and made dinner for us at our place.  You’ve heard the expression, “Too many cooks spoil the broth.”  Well, the broth was fine, but too many cooks in an RV kitchen was kind of tough!  We sat around and told stories and laughed.  It was wonderful!

This morning Mark and I drove down to their motel and picked Mom and the sisters up to go sight seeing.  They wanted to go to the boardwalk at Santa Cruz.  When Mark was a kid, his family used to take him to the wharf in Santa Cruz, but he never saw the boardwalk.  Mom also wanted to see Cocoanut Grove, where all the stars used to go to be seen.  It has now become an arcade, but we got a picture of Mom in front of it to prove she’d been there!  We drove out onto the wharf too, but didn’t stay long.

Next we drove to Capitola.  It’s a cute town on Half Moon Bay.  We had lunch right next to the bay, and then we went across the street and had some ice cream.

From there, we went up Hwy 9 through Ben Lomond and Boulder Creek.  My younger sister wanted to see the redwoods and go hiking.  We drove through the redwoods and came to a place near the top of the mountain where there was a lookout with a trail leading out onto an open bluff with a long-distance view.  My sister and Mark hiked out for a few minutes to stretch their legs.

Then we picked up my brother-in-law who had stayed at the motel all day.  We went to Saratoga Village for dinner.  My mom and sisters and I walked all through the town looking for a place to eat, and they finally settled on the Blue Rock Shoot; a place Mark and I had gone once before for pizza.  We had a very nice dinner and more story sharing.

Tomorrow is their last day here.  We have all sorts of things left we want to do with them.  This has been such an uplifting visit for me.  I love my family!