Santa Cruz CA

Nick: Morning time. Did you guess correctly? Let's find out: I felt like a million bucks. Not sore at all from sleeping on the hard earth. Certainly not freezing cold from the persistent moisture in the air. And definintely not hung over in anyway. Brian, Tyler? How did you guys feel?

Brian: Great in the, "I must be an alcoholic because there are 30 empty bottles and an empty box of wine strewn about the campsite and I also feel perfectly fine this morning," kind of way.

Tyler: Yeah, that campsite got a little messy, oh well the adventure of the road never cease to amaze. I was only hung over briefly, no boxed wine made for a slightly better situation than the one Nick found himself in.

Brian: So today's plans are pretty simple: The Colts are in the playoffs so Nick has an obligation to represent at the local sports bar. Tyler and I are going to watch some of the games but mostly spend the day exploring Santa Cruz which is a cool mid-sized town with an eclectic downtown and waterfront. As a result, we probably will describe how the events of the day transpired independently.

Nick: Colts time. Historically, we've had wretched luck when we've got the bye week due to a superb regular season. Like, 0-3. Does that make sense? No. Also, we've lost the last two games, the only losses of the season, because we rested all of our starters. Does that make sense? No. Needless to say, there is a lot of pressure on the boys in blue to preform well against a team that they should generally be able to obliterate. Fast forward: they did it! We're moving on! Additionally, while Tyler and Brian were off on their little hike through town, I befriended a traveling jazz musician from Spain whose opinions of Rumi and Sufism in general I found fascinating, a group of fellow Hoosiers who were themselves on a kick ass road trip, and, most importantly a very cute waitress from Poland who expressed an interest in giving me a heads up about the hot spots in Santa Cruz while suggesting that she herself would be in said hot spots later after work and that, in her adorable Polish accent "you should look for me out there." It just confirms that I look good in my Dallas Clark jersey. But I already knew that.

Tyler: Brian and I didn't do a whole lot, walked around the town, stopping in the occasional record store, coffee shop or used book store, walking out along the boardwalk that sort of thing. Both of us were fairly exhausted from the previous couple of nights and were content to take it easy around town. The night ended with us going to Borders and reading, with Pinto passing out in his chair book still in hand.

Brian: Yeah, the highlight of the night was checking out the massive arcade on the boardwalk and walking down the pier (it has to be at least half a mile long). Tyler played some Time Crisis which is an FPS he finds irresistible, and on the way back we walked by a very angry woman on the bridge who threatened to stab, shoot, kill, murder, and butcher anyone that rides their bike too fast. Dare I say crazy? Lucky we were on foot.

Tyler: I think specifically she didn't like the blinking lights that most responsible bikers place on their bikes while they ride. Maybe it gave her flash backs to a time when she could understand that not everyone needs to be stabbed and yelling in the street by yourself at passersby, while fun, is not always appropriate.

Brian: After reconnecting with Nick he expressed desire to meet up with his flirty waitress friend, but due to housing logistics and exhaustion it didn't happen. I will admit that there were an insane number of beautiful girls walking around and I do hope I find myself in Santa Cruz on a future Saturday but it wasn't in the cards this week. Nick responded to my (justifiable) San Francisco fussiness with his own quieter (also justifiable) brand and we made it an early, fireless night at the same campsite.

Nick: At least it wasn't raining. It was supposed to be raining. That would have really been the pits. Fingers crossed for no more rain. Over the rainbow and out.