Day’s distance – 70 miles

Total trip distance so far – 999 miles

I arrived in Santa Cruz today at 10am. Because I left early, my ride over Hwy 17 was uneventful and the roads were not crowded. Hwy 9 was an option, mentioned by a friend yesterday. I will be taking Hwy 9 north to begin my ride back to Seattle, stopping at Alice’s Restaurant on Hwy 35 before rejoining Hwy 1 at Half Moon Bay.

I’m staying at my friend Scott’s house, a house I lived in back in the day. He arranged a picnic at a local park where the entire gang showed up, making me feel very welcome to be back in town for a visit.

Scott took the first photo and then Fran took the next photo, so everyone is in one or the other 🙂

A quick car ride to the downtown core and along West Cliff Drive found many familiar landmarks …

and a lot of very large buildings changing the Santa Cruz skyline 😦

Over the next two days, I’ll be hanging out with many of the friends who came out today in smaller groups, and I’ll get an opportunity to walk along the shore as I’m staying two blocks off West Cliff Drive. I will also finalize my route back to Seattle and make necessary lodging reservations.