Natural Bridges

Saturday's destination was The Migration Festival at Natural Bridges State Park. Natural Bridges is right on the coast in Santa Cruz and besides a lovely beach, also boasts a hiking-pathed grove where Monarch butterflies migrate to from Mexico for a few months each year. The park throws them a going away party as they get ready to fly south again at the beginning of March. We wandered around the festival making butterfly crafts, getting butterflies painted on our face and learning about the other local migrating wildlife. We petted newts and salamanders and seal pelts and learned about birds and whales in interactive booths.
.

We hiked the easy loop around the grove and did spot a number of the vibrant Monarchs fluttering around. The girls were on a hunt and were delighted to catch sight of them! We also enjoyed the sights and smells of old pine and cypress trees and the sounds of various birds.

.

After we hit the festival and hiked around the grove, we drove back through Santa Cruz to our lunch destination. This drive wound along the coast and we watched hundreds of surfers in the bay just waiting for their perfect wave. Since Santa Cruz is a beachin' and surfin' town, we were excited to try the popular Pizza My Heart restaurant. Their gimmick is "No shirt? No problem!" When you order a slice of pizza you get a Pizza My Heart surf-board logo T-shirt to go with it!

Driving back to Natural Bridges, we quick parked and hopped out to watch the surfers and pelicans for a while.

Ella borrowed the camera and took a series of pictures of the salt-air flowers. Not bad, huh?

Back at Natural Bridges we finished up the afternoon with some play on the beach. Delia declared this to be her favorite part of the whole weekend.

Though, after we shook off the sand and peeled off the wet outer layers, we all left for home feeling like this after our much needed getaway (drawing by Ella):