after donner lake, our next stop was lafayette. which is where the only california milosport (the skate shop that nick works at) is. we met the owner of the shop, which was cool because nick knows of him and has talked to him on the phone before and whatnot. plus the kid working there was the coolest! we hung out there for awhile, bought some stuff, went and got some mexican food from a place on their recommendation, then headed to santa cruz.

nick's friend, doug, has been living in santa cruz for awhile now and it was the first chance we've had to go visit him there. we drove around town and the boys skated for a bit while i took a few photos, before i went and laid in the park next to skatepark, and read my book. it was pretty toasty outside, so the boys wanted to go swim in a river nearby afterwards. we walked over there, picking and eating wild berries along the way. the river was one of the prettier ones i have ever seen, but certainly not one of the cleanest or best smelling ones. haha but a little moss and dirt didn't stop us. we still got in and waded around for a bit.

then we made the pretty drive through huge trees and over old bridges back to town for dinner. after some incredible thai food, doug showed us around some santa cruz beaches. they were some of the most beautiful beaches i had ever seen! plus, we saw seals lazing on rocks and otters playing in the water! pluuus, i swear every single person in santa cruz has a huge, adorable dog. i kept telling nicolaus it was like that town was made for me. pretty trees, adorable dogs, and weird healthy food stores on every corner. i loved it.

then we hung out with doug at his house and chatted late into the night before passing out on his couches, just to wake up a few hours later to head down to newbury park.