After spending the day before in Monterey and the day in Big Sur, we decided to try another coastal city.  Santa Cruz was intriguing because of the surf and skate culture.  Our initial thoughts were of a west coast Myrtle Beach when arriving at the boardwalk.  Since we were there, we saw a sky ride that seemed like it could give us a good view of the area.  We went to buy six tickets, enough for the ride, and were informed that it was 1907 night and every ride was one ticket ($1).  The sky glider was not too exciting but gave us a nice view and idea to ride the roller coaster, the giant dipper.  The line was long, but while waiting we learned its historic significance and that it was the 5th oldest wooden coaster in the US.  The ride was also featured in movies, one being the Lost Boys.  Luckily, the line moved quickly and we were on the ride in about 15 minutes.  The ride started with a dip into pitch dark before shooting up and down hills and around curves.  The rickety wooden coaster was quick, but so much fun we immediately jumped back in line.

The next morning we headed to the West Cliff Drive to watch some of the surfers.  It was neat to watch the young surf school on the smaller waves, then a short distance away we saw the surfers in the famous steamer lane across from the surf museum.  West Cliff was a fun, short drive along the Santa Cruz coast.  After a leisurely morning, we headed to Berkley for lunch before ending up at Sonoma.