Santa Cruz

Tuesday March 10, 1992

Up and on our way to Santa Cruz by 10 a.m. both of us are feeling a big cranky in the morning. Frank gets cranky if I'm cranky. I'm tired and achy and am very hot and sweaty after my shower. By 10 a.m. I'm OK.

It's a pretty and interesting drive. We are checking out campgrounds too. When we get to Santa Cruz we go to see the boardwalk, pier, and the beach. Most of it is closed for winter. It's brightly painted buildings on the boardwalk and rides. We are almost the only ones there. We gather driftwood on the beach for our neighbor Doris. We eat pie only at Bakers Square for lunch. How naughty. Frank's idea.

We arrive back at Laguna Seca to get the trailer at 3 p.m. so it's 10:30 p.m. when we finally get home to Simi Valley. I helped drive about half the way home.

Mom mentioned earlier in her journal that she always had the large overhead fan on after her morning shower to cool her down. I imagine in the trailer there was no such fan and probably poor ventilation for the heat and humidity, so she is hot and cranky. I am wondering if this problem is like hot flashes from menopause. Mom was on hormone replacement therapy (Premarin) after menopause to help ease her hot flashes. I have often wondered if this medication could have brought on her ovarian cancer. It is rare now for women to be on HRT long-term like mom was because it's been found to be linked to heart disease, breast and ovarian cancer. After she was diagnosed with cancer Mom quickly went off her medication and it looks like her hot flashes came back just as quickly.

That drive along Monterey Bay between Monterey and Santa Cruz is one I am very familiar with. It was very pretty and there are many charming communities on that route. The Santa Cruz Boardwalk was founded in 1907. It is California's oldest surviving amusement park and one of the few seaside parks on the West Coast of the United States. The photo above is obviously taken during the summertime when it attracts lots of locals and tourists. In the wintertime, anyone can walk along the Boardwalk, but the rides shut down.