September

Yesterday, Stacey and I celebrated the end of the summer with a trip to Santa Cruz.  Our first stop was Bonny Doon Winery.  We have been buying their excellent wines for a while, so we were excited to finally make it to their tasting room in the mountains above Santa Cruz.  We tasted, among other things, a very interesting dry Orange Muscat and an amazing dessert wine called Le Vol des Anges.  Our visit might have been perfect had a bus full of screaming drunk winery-hoppers not arrived while we were there.  One woman stumbled across the floor, lost her shoe, and then ran out of the tasting room, stealing a bottle of Viognier Doux on the way.  Classy.

Next stop: Santa Cruz Boardwalk, which just celebrated its 100th birthday.  Santa Cruz has plenty to offer, including some great beaches and the beautiful campus of the University of California at Santa Cruz, but my wife is from the Jersey Shore, after all, so she does enjoy a good boardwalk.  We had fun riding the Logger's Revenge and playing pinball.  We also thought it would be fun to ride the Sky Gliders, below.  They moved slowly and looked tame.  Too bad we are both afraid of heights!  I think we hyperventilated the whole way.  They're higher than they look.

We also attempted a round of mini golf in the pirate-themed Neptune's Kingdom, which is delightfully tacky (see below.  That volcano "erupts" periodically, and cannons shoot smoke rings into the course).  But it was incredibly busy, and after waiting...and waiting...after the first two holes, we finally cut our losses and went to dinner.  Aaarrr!

Two weeks ago, I helped Loa, my cousin Jeff's wife, throw a baby shower for Jessica, my cousin Rick's wife.  Their daughter is due on October 20th.  I'm looking forward to meeting her!

At work, we are participating in a department-wide photo journal this month.  Since we work in seven different offices across the country, it gives us a chance to see what everyone else's work life looks like.  I thought I'd include a picture of the view from our library, below.  That's the Ferry Building and the Bay Bridge in the distance.