“You are one bike ride away from a good mood [and a great day].”
—Sarah Bentley
Someone one once told me if you smile when you see a butterfly, you have happiness in your soul.
It has been a long stretch since Bill and I had been to Santa Cruz. Our first stop after off-loading our bikes was a ride to the Monarch Butterfly Nature Preserve at Natural Bridges State Beach. We walked our bikes down the boardwalk ramp before it winds into a tree-filled canyon where thousands of monarch butterflies seek sanctuary along the branches of eucalyptus trees. We found ourselves in a community of others including an adorable young girl with her mother wearing a monarch butterfly cape. We also spotted a large owl sleeping on a tree limb. We continued our ride to the Seymour Marine Discovery Center located at UC Santa Cruz to see the outdoor Gray whale skeletan exhibit (photo), and circled back to hook up on a dirt trail to Wilder Ranch State Park north of Santa Cruz. After going through some brushy areas and agricultural fields, we came to the beginning of a series of some magnificent coastal bluffs with awesome ocean views heading north towards Bonny Dune. We saw pelicans, cormorants, seagulls, harbor seals, and sea lions lounging on the rocks and beach for about 10 miles round trip out of our 18-mile journey. Except for a few couples, friends, and families hiking and a few bicyclists on the trail, we had this mixed mellow terrain all to ourselves. Upon our return we I met a horse named Bo taking a stroll with its' handler, and then made our way to Steamer Lane for a late outdoor lunch. While we waited for our order, we went to see another monarch butterfly refuge in eucalyptus trees in the back of Steamer Lane located in Lighthouse Field across from the surfing museum. I’ll let the photos and short video clips of the ocean crashing into the bluffs tell the rest of the story.
