Vacation Part One, Two, Three
Since childhood, I've seen TV shows as a very 'life far away" type fantasy. Because most of Canada's channels are American programs, the classic & common visions of dream moments & perfect first dates seem like something this Canadian girl wouldn't encounter. It never even occured to me that I'd someday visit a huge Boardwalk Carnival that never comes down, eat a "funnel cake", walk on a pier with seals and be up on a ferris wheel next to the ocean! That was what happened on TV to Americans.
Violet had said we were going to the beach in Santa Cruz with a fair (& I didn't know what Santa Cruz was)-- it didn't even occur to that I was about to have my #1 TV moment! On one of the last days of our visit, we drove a few hours from San Fran to Santa Cruz and parked the Vanager (Dustin's Manager Van). Walking through the entrance to the boardwalk, I thought it would be something like "Fun Mountain" in Winnipeg (ie. a local waterpark that is underwhelming and needs some mega maintenance). Now picture this...
I have my camera around my neck following Violet and Dustin while holding hands with Keith, just excited that there's going to be an ocean and I look left:
Woah shit! Color! Rainbow! Vintage Carnival City!! I'm gonna die! Yes, I swore. It took my breath away and I could seriously not believe we were there! It was huge, it was perfect, I was on color overload and we were IN TV!!!!
We ate so much carnival food, it was in-sane! The roasted corn was my favorite, never tasted corn like that before. But I also like the Hot Dog, Burrito, Garlic Fries, Slushies and Funnel Cake. Lots of sharing means you can have variety!
This face says, "Can I have the corn back now Leigh-Ann??"
We called this place the Jersey Shore t-shirt store... cause it looked just like it :) I was wearing my contacts so I bought ray bans for the day. Keith bought 3 t-shirts and sunglasses that said "Santa Cruz" on the arms ;)
[Lol. Keith always jumps into photos, classic]
Next we walked down to the ocean and stood in the water-- it was reallly cold! Dustin's so cute carrying Violet down so she didn't have to hop.
I went nuts with all the lights and rides... the boardwalk went on forever with rides and dings, hyper songs and people everywhere... and food ;)
Keith wanted to get a high score on the Measure your Strength game. He got two consilation prizes (and recently tried the game again at a Winnipeg Carnival... we've got 4 blow-up hammers now, lol!). He was cute!
Dreams come true! Here we are at the top of the Ferris Wheel beside the ocean, a date I've always wanted :) At that moment, I was especially glad that Keith came to SF!
Keith was probably less in the moment though-- I didn't know he was this afraid of heights and everytime we hit the top, he clenched my waist ;) This is not an exagerated face on him:
We went on the pier (or Warf?) and saw Seals sunning themselves... there were sailboats, ocean colors, the smell of warf food, and seals honking! Giddy city!
The four of us had so much fun together and it was the perfect way to end our vacation! I love Santa Cruz so much and will never forget it... hope to go back someday too :)
Thanks for enjoying my 3 week vacation with me!! Love Leigh-Ann
