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Halloween at the Santa Cruz KOA

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If you know anything about Santa Cruz County’s reputation, you wouldn’t be surprised to hear that Halloween is a big deal here.  Every Halloween evening in downtown Santa Cruz, there’s a massive street party attended by many thousands of people in costume.  The police are out in force to make sure everyone stays safe amid the chaos.  While some children do go downtown for the festivities, many parents are wary of bringing their kids, especially those of single-digit ages, into that madhouse.

So what is a fun-loving family to do in Santa Cruz county for Halloween?  It turns out, there’s a raging party down by the southern end of the county at the Santa Cruz Monterey KOA.

KOAs are known as squeaky-clean family campgrounds, a Disney-fied camping experience that’s cleaner, better-run and with much superior amenities compared to anything you’d find in a public campground.  So imagine my surprise when I learned that at our amazing KOA they host a Halloween party that is absolutely off the hook.

Each year, for the last three weekends of October, the Santa Cruz Monterey KOA hosts what they call the “Halloween Spooktacular.”  For 2018, the weekends are October 12-14, October 19-21, and October 26-28.  Of course, you’re probably already too late to get a spot for any of these weekends; I understand that they are generally booked up a year in advance – but they could have a cancelation, so it’s worth your time to inquire.

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So what’s this “Spooktacular” all about?  They have a bunch of activities during the day, like a pumpkin carving contest, the spooky train, site decorating contest, Halloween ceramic painting, the KOA Ice Cream Bike, and new this year, the “Haunted Trail” in the evening.  So there’s plenty of activities to keep everyone occupied until the witching hour, which starts at 6:30 PM.

That’s when the real fun begins.  The whole campground turns into a massive trick-or-treat extravaganza, with most cabin and RV sites hosting visitors, sharing candy for the kids and cocktails for the adults.  Many of the sites are decorated very creatively in splendid Halloween adornments, which make great conversation starters with the site tenants and fellow revelers.

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Later in the night, a roving dance party makes its way through the campground, with sound, lights, and dozens (hundreds?) of people bouncing around, with every color and configuration of lights flashing and swaying to the beat.

It’s an amazing thing to experience – a great time for children of all ages (even those who’ve been in their double digits for decades).  If you’re able to grab a spot and you’re looking to have fun this Halloween, you need to look into spending one of the last three weekends in October at the Santa Cruz / Monterey KOA.

Video from Santa Cruz / Monterey KOA Halloween Spooktacular

Photo Gallery for Halloween at the Santa Cruz KOA

Chair of Cabrillo College Journalism Appears on Local Podcast

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Brad Kava, Jouralist

Brad Kava is Chair of the Cabrillo College Journalism Department, and he’s had a career in journalism and media spanning over forty years.  Early in his professional career, he was a stringer for the New York Times, and he went on to write for a number of newspapers including the Kansas City Star, the San Jose Mercury News, the Santa Cruz Good Times, the Patch, and many others.  This week, Kava appears on episode 26 of the Bay to Bay Podcast.

Not only does Kava have the write stuff, anyone who listens to the podcast episode will also appreciate that he has a gift for gab.  He hosted a radio show on KSCO for a number of years, before KSCO decided it would be better to be all conservative, all the time.  But Kava’s voice comes through loud and clear on the Bay to Bay Podcast.

Listen to the Podcast

You can listen to episode 26 of the Bay to Bay Podcast featuring journalist Brad Kava using this link. The episode can be streamed over the web or listened to via a dedicated Podcast player such as Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, and many others.

This year, Kava also purchased Growing Up in Santa Cruz, a hyper-local niche newspaper for young families.  In an era when print journalism is supposed to be moving to the ash heap of history, Kava is putting his money where his heart is and doubling down on print journalism.

It’s an interesting time to be a journalist, given the attacks on the media as “fake news” and journalists being the “enemy of the people.”  It’s a great time to hear from a professional journalist of Kava’s caliber, especially given the recent publication of Bob Woodward’s new book Fear about the Trump administration.

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A Parable: When a Cheerleader Turns Quarterback

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This parable has been provided by an anonymous author who requested it be posted for community discussion.

There once was a Cheerleader. She was nice, outgoing, and a snake charmer to her community. People just adored her. She enters her Senior year and learns there’s a football scholarship up for grabs so she joins the team as the Quarterback. The coach said, she’s been at every single game for the last three years as a Cheerleader, everyone loves her, the team will thrive on her energy.

The whole first quarter, everyone was having a great time. Players were everywhere and trying new plays. By the second quarter, they scored 0 points and their scores continue to gap away. The players asked her for a plan going into half-time. She came back to third quarter with signs and banners. By fourth quarter, not only were their score the fastest losing game ever but players were getting pulled out of the game for serious injuries.

So the community loved this Cheerleader because she was nice and learned every player’s birthday. And from what they saw, she gave the best school rallies. But most folks didn’t see the game or had their child as a player; but they only heard about her great energy and spirit even as a Quarterback. Of course, they all saw the great banners everywhere.

Now the game is over, players are dealing with serious injuries from her lack of competence on the field and causing them to get hurt. Now the game is over, the team was dropped to the bottom of the regional line up based on their games scores. Now the game is over, the stadium seats were left empty from folks who did watch the game and probably don’t want to buy another ticket again.

So how can this happen? How can a Cheerleader be put in a Quarterback position? Do you blame the Coach for putting her in? Do you blame the league for allowing it? Do you blame the players for playing with her? Do you blame the audience for watching the whole game unfold? But more importantly, who’s responsible for the injured players because the Quarterback put them in vulnerable positions?

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Santa Cruz Greenway Looking to Capitola

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Greenway Looks at Capitola

An indication of its popularity and momentum, Santa Cruz County Greenway is looking to Capitola, which is a key section of the Santa Cruz County Branch Line Rail Corridor.  Greenway Capitola, a local transportation advocacy organization, is sponsoring a 2018 City of Capitola ballot initiative which aims to preserve and utilize the rail corridor and trestle for active transportation and recreation in the City of Capitola. The group is currently gathering paper signatures from Capitola registered voters.

To help educate the public about the ballot initiative and the rail corridor, Greenway is inviting the public for a short talk and question-and-answer session on Wednesday, May 2, from 7:00 to 8:30 pm at the Jade St. Community Center (4400 Jade Street, Capitola, California 95010).  Attendees are encouraged to come early to meet near the tracks behind the Jade Street Park baseball field at 6 pm for a brief rail walk prior to the Q&A session at 7.

Greenway would like your help to spread the word – check out and share the event on Facebook.

Not able to make it to the meeting and trail walk on May 72?  Then please join Greenway for a second walk at 10 am on Saturday, May 5th, meeting again behind the Jade Street Park baseball field.

Also, community members who are concerned with the future use of the rail corridor are also encouraged to attend the next SCCRTC (Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission) meeting at 9 AM Thursday, May 3 at Capitola City Hall to share your thoughts in an oral comment at the start of the meeting.  It’s important that everyone on the RTC understand how vital the future use of the rail corridor is to the community.

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Thornton Wilder’s Our Town comes to Santa Cruz

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Our Town comes to Santa Cruz

Thornton Wilder’s Our Town comes to Santa Cruz this month at the Center Sage in downtown Santa Cruz!  OUR TOWN, set in the early 20th century, has been described as “the record of a tiny New Hampshire village as created by the lives of its most humble inhabitants”. It invites reflection on how our country has changed over the past century. Yet the play is less about a particular time than about time itself, and the passing ephemeral quality of all life. Much like the inhabitants of Grover’s Corners, we too make breakfast, go to work, celebrate birthdays, get sick, get drunk, get married, raise children, and endure trouble. And yes, we also die.

Wilder’s play reflects his encounter with the Zen inspired Noh theater of Japan where Buddhist themes were played out on a largely bare stage. OUR TOWN’s staging is likewise spare: 2 ladders, 2 tables, several chairs. Much of the action is mimed and left to the imagination of the audience. It conveys in a Zen-like fashion a sense of the preciousness of human life in the face of cosmic immensity.

Thus the play evokes and celebrates the luminous, extraordinary, even the sacred quality of everyday life in every time and place. As the Stage Manager, whose folksy commentary moves the play along, puts it: “We all know that something is eternal. And it ain’t houses and it ain’t names, and it ain’t even the stars. There’s something way down deep that’s eternal about every human being.”

Now more than ever, amid the fears, turmoil, and toxic divisions of our public life, OUR TOWN lifts up a larger sense of perspective that gives significance and meaning to our individual lives and relationships. For we too dwell, as young Rebecca in the play reminds us, in “the United States of America…the Earth… the Universe, and the Mind of God.”

Tickets and Showtimes

The show runs April 6th through the 22nd on weekends at the Center Stage, 1001 Center Street, Santa Cruz.  Show times are at 8 PM on Fridays and Saturdays, and on Sunday at 2PM.  Tickets can be purchased online at www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3205509 and are $25 general admission and $10 for anyone of limited means.

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Family Trip to McWay Falls in Big Sur

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McWay Falls
McWay Falls 4.5 star rating 129 reviews

A few days back, we decided to take a family trip to McWay Falls in Big Sur.  I’ve been to Big Sur a bunch of times, to go camping, hiking, and of course to the famous Sykes Hot Springs for some epic naked hippie spotting.  But for some reason, I’d never been to check out McWay Falls at Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park .  I’d seen many pictures before, and you may have, too:  the 80′ waterfall that pours onto the sand of the beach below, getting lapped up by the stunning aquamarine sea.

Unfortunately, they don’t actually let you go down and splash around under the falls.  It’s a steep climb down some almost vertical cliffs to get there, and they have yet to put in an elevator.  It may be possible to access it via rubber dingy or something from the ocean, but as a tourist arriving by car, the best you’ll do is to gawk at it from a trail which runs along the northern side of the inlet, a few hundred yards away form the falls themselves.

But that’s OK.  I can’t help but feel that if people were allowed to go tromping around the falls, it wouldn’t maintain its majestic beauty for long.  Certainly the sand wouldn’t look so pristine for picture taking.  Speaking of the sand, I learned something interesting when I was there – not long ago, there wasn’t any sand there whatsoever.  A massive landslide in the 1980’s poured gazillions of tons of dirt, sand, and rock into the water, and a lot of it ended up washing up into the inlet and forming the beach.  The beach we see there today is very new, and they say some other geologic event might cause it to be washed away again one day.  So go check it out while the getting is good!

We had great fun as a family on the trip – that’s one of the great things about Aptos:  if you don’t find what you’re looking for here, you’re sure to find it somewhere close by.  Between Aptos and Big Sur there’s no end of scenic viewpoints and places to stop and gawk, shop, eat, whatever!  I hope you enjoy a selection of photos from our outing.

Big Sur Family Trip Photo Gallery

McWay Falls, Big Sur, CA

Podcast features Guests from Aptos

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The Bay to Bay Podcast shines a spotlight on life in the San Francisco and Monterey Bay region of California. Produced by local REALTOR Sebastian “Seb” Frey, this groundbreaking podcast features guests who hail primarily from the area. Guests on the show share information about matters affecting those of us who live in or visit he area.

Recently, two guests from Aptos appeared on the podcast. The first was Kristina Campbell, a local real estate appraiser and also Aptos resident. Kristina answered all manner of questions about real estate appraisal, and cited many examples of appraisal work in local Aptos neighborhoods. Anyone thinking of buying, re-financing, or selling a home in Aptos would do well to listen to this informative episode.

In the most recent episode of the podcast, Aptos archaeologist Dustin McKenzie of the Cabrillo College anthropology department talked about local archaeology. How long have humans lived in our area? Where did they come from? What was their culture like? Where can we go to see traces of the people who lived in California in ancient times? Anyone interested in our area’s history will find this to be an interesting and entertaining episode to listen to.

What’s a podcast? A podcast is like a radio show, only it doesn’t broadcast over the air. Rather, the audio from each podcast is stored on the Internet and is typically downloaded or streamed to a device such as an iPod (hence the name, Podcast), iPhone, tablet, or other mobile device. Many people enjoy podcasts as they commute to or from work, at the gym, or around the house. There are thousands of podcasts available on every imaginable topic. They can easily be found in on-line directories, such as the iTunes Store, Stitcher Radio, and the Google Play.

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New Year’s Walk at King Tide

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4K Video of Low Tide Walk from New Brighton to Capitola

On January 1, 2018, Santa Cruz county rang in the new year, and Mother Nature provided an incredible way to greet it: with a King Tide. A King
Tide is simply the very highest tide, and the flip side is a very low tide. When the tide is very low, it’s possible to walk from New Brighton Beach to Capitola Beach, right along the base of the cliff, without having to get wet.

My wife and I decided to take the kids for the walk, because this kind of super-low tide doesn’t happen every day. The weather was fine, just a tad under 60 degrees, with scattered high clouds. We started off from New Brighton Beach around 1 PM, with the lowest tide to come at 4:18 PM.

It took us a little more than an hour to make the walk to Capitola Village, exploring the rocks and tide pools exposed by the receding waters. We checked out countless sea anemones and hermit crabs, but were unable to find any starfish. Some folks said they had seen a small red octopus, but it vanished into the rocks.

We made it to Capitola shortly after 2 PM, and headed down for a late lunch at Paradise Beach Grill. By 3:30 we were again on the sand, walking back. On our way home, we ran into a lot of people we knew, so it took closer to two hours for the return trip. Which was fine, because the sunlight was sublime and it was great to be able to spend so much time with Mother Nature and so many members of our community.

We are so thankful that in less than a five minute drive from our house we can get to the beach for an experience as spectacular as the one we enjoyed as a family on New Year’s Day. Before we left, our youngest boy Evan was complaining about another trip to the beach, but he was amazed by all the “discoveries” we made, frolicking in the tide pools. Another priceless family memory, courtesy of our beautiful Monterey Bay. Happy New Year everyone!

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Free Passes to Monterey Bay Aquarium

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Monterey Bay Aquarium

The Santa Cruz Public Library System (SCPL) is proud to partner with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Shelf to Shore Program to provide low income families a free pass to the aquarium during winter and spring.

Intended to provide access to families who would not otherwise be able to afford to go, adults 18 and over with a valid SCPL library card are eligible for 1 pass per year. Typically, families who qualify for Free School Lunch, WIC, SNAP, Meals on Wheels, Medi-Cal, Healthy Families, Healthy Kids, or other similar services are eligible for a pass.

To request a Shelf to Shore Pass, visit the service desk at any SCPL branch library or the Bookmobile. For free admission to the aquarium, you must present the free ticket with your matching library card at the Aquarium’s main entrance. Passes are valid up until May 25, 2018, except for holidays and the Community Open House Week.

Experiences that bring science, nature, and conservation to life are critical in the education of young and mature learners alike. According to Library Director Susan Nemitz, “The library is a natural partner in connecting families to these learning experiences. We hope it inspires kids of all ages to get involved with science and conservation efforts.”

For those families not eligible for the program, you can still visit during the annual Community Open House, which is the first full week of December every year for all residents, regardless of income, from the Tri-County region (Monterey, Santa Cruz, San Benito). Others might want to take advantage of the new Locals Programs with special pricing on admission for locals. For more information, please visit www.montereybayaquarium.org/visit/hours-and-tickets/locals-only.

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Aptos Little League: Life Lessons

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Little League Baseball

Yesterday was opening date for Aptos Little League.  I can’t believe it, but I am now in my fifth year of being a Little League parent.  We started our oldest son Aiden with T-Ball when he wasn’t quite yet four years old.  Our youngest son Evan started when he was four, and now he’s in his second season, still in T-Ball.  Aiden is now in AA, and it’s starting to get real.

All these years, I’ve been an assistant coach on the teams Aiden has been on.  It’s a little ironic, because I’ll be the first to tell anyone that I know diddly-squat about baseball.  Oh, I know the basics – three strikes and you’re out, nine innings, yadda yadda.  But when it comes to the mechanics of playing baseball – how to throw a ball, catch, hit – I’m pretty clueless.  I can do all those things to some degree, but I was never in Little League.  The finer points were never taught in my PE classes in school.

When the kids are really little, coaching didn’t involve a lot of those fine points. Mostly, it was me telling them not to eat the sand and play tag in the outfield. Now that we’re in AA, it’s starting to get serious, which is why this year on Aiden’s team, I’m now a bench coach.  Is that even a real thing?  I just googled it, and it turns out, it is – but I’m no second in command.  My job is to keep the kids focused on the game when they’re seated on the bench, waiting for their turn at bat.  There’s not too many fine points with that job, so I can handle it pretty well.

My kids don’t have the advantage of a dad who’s super into baseball.  Yes, I play catch with them and pitch balls for them to hit now and again, but not as much as I should.  Throwing, catching, batting – they’ve learned almost all of it at Little League practice and games.

It's opening day, and a Royals-Blue Jays love fest. #aptos #littleleague #bluejays #royals

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And it is amazing to watch their progress.  Neither of them came to Little League with a love of the game.  We’ve been to AT&T Park a few times to watch the Giants play, and they’ve had fun – running around, eating ice cream and hot dogs and soaking up the energy – but they weren’t exactly intently focused on the game.  Yet, there at Little League, you can see their skills mature, their confidence increase, and their enthusiasm grow with each day on the field.  They’re learning about the value of practice, persistence, and teamwork – and it is a joy to behold.

But there’s more to it than joy.  It’s a strong reminder to me that we can all get better at anything – with grit, determination, repetition.  Whether it’s being a parent, Real estate broker, or Guardian in the Crucible, practice makes perfect.  Or at least makes it better.

I’m really thankful to Little League for helping my kids with this important life lesson – and of course, also to the other parents and players who really enrich the sport and show what makes our such a special community.