Saturday, August 4: Santa Cruz

We got up early to go back to campus and help wrap up packing and sending off the Universe participants. Lots of saying good-bye, last minute logistics, many thank-yous, and even some more t-shirts sales. Mark was a great sideline help in that he distracted various people who just wanted to stop by and chat, not exactly something any of us had time for. We were done just before noon, and I was as ready for a nap as I have ever been at the end of the Universe week. We picked up some takeout lunch and ate it at home, then crawled into bed and slept from about 1 to 4 pm. Then we took off to drive up the coast to a little town named Pescadero, stopping at the old lighthouse right before the turnoff for Pescadero to look at the beautiful coastline a little. In Pescadero, we had dinner at this wonderful and rather popular restaurant named Duarte’s, founded in the 1890s, where Rick and Carolyn and JoAnna and I usually have dinner once a year. This time, it was just Mark and me instead; it was very lovely, though. On the way back, we saw the fog roll in over the cost, but there were also some really neat gaps in the fog where it was clear and we could see the sun go down–very pretty. We were home before 9, chatted a bit with Rick and Carolyn upstairs, and went to bed early, ready for more rest!