So I left cousin Ann (who does not want her photo taken and suggests Bob and Ruth come and visit her instead to see what she looks like), picked up a snazzy blue car at the airport and drove down Highway 1 to Santa Cruz. Stopped at Half Moon Bay for a second breakfast (oops) with a load of fishermen, went for a paddle with some dogs somewhere else and then arrived in Santa Cruz. Nice seaside town with a massive funfair on the front and an old pier / quay which they let cars drive on. Incidentally, on the way, there were several farms with massive crops of pumpkins for sale. Now I know that, if they are ripe they will want to sell them and, if people want to buy them – in September – they’re going to have them for sale, but it seems a bit previous to me.
Cousin Ann (‘big’ Ann to the family, despite being about 1/3 my size)’s house.
Half Moon Bay
Boats and sea lions on the quay, Santa Cruz
The Retirement Travels 
They do cook quite a lot with pumpkin, quite apart from the traditional Thanksgiving pumpkin pie. In the MidWest, it seemed to be a common ‘base’ or bulking agent for other flavours, so maybe it’s the same further West. My roommates in Illinois were very fond of the little squashes, halved with the seeds scooped out, a knob of butter and some grated nutmeg added and then roasted in the oven until they were soft and like butter…actually tasted pretty good.
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You can smell them before you see them… (the sea lions, not the pumpkins!
Enjoy! x
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Looks gorgeous – the seals are beautiful enjoying the sunshine. Ann
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