Heading to Santa Cruz

On 8-8-08, Cynthia's grandfather, Wes Bateman, passed away at the age of 88. He was cremated per his wishes. The family thoughtfully delayed the funeral and memorial services until September so more family members could make arrangements to get to California. Cynthia and I left my father's house on Thursday and headed down to Santa Cruz for the funeral on Friday. We made a few stops on the way so Cynthia could visit some places from her childhood.

This is the house Cynthia grew up in near downtown San Carlos. Would have been nice if the yard guys weren't there...

We then headed up to Mt. Hermon to see the houses that her grandfather (and grandmother) used to live in. Many of Cynthia's wonderful childhood memories happened in and around these houses.After all that driving, we decided to take a nice walk nearby at the Henry Cowell Redwood Forest.

It is very important as a photographer to be an expert when it comes to your equipment and their features. Failure to do so (especially with the shutter delay) could result in pictures like this.We finally headed down to Santa Cruz and checked into our hotel before walking around on the wharf for the rest of the evening.

The sea lions were barking under the pier. I was born in January of '67. Was this guy giving me a message?For those unfamiliar with sea gulls, this is not where you want to be.
My honey admiring the view from the pier."Like birds on a high line, they line up at night time at the bar..." Sorry, Garth Brooks moment there...
Not bad for a shutter speed of 3.2 sec with no tripod...It was great to help my wife relive some of her childhood and visit some places that remind her of her grandfather before the funeral.