Santa Cruz Surfing

JP and I decided we'd had enough of the frigid cold winter weather (a chillin' 40 degrees), so we set out for Santa Cruz, CA.

Surf Spot: Pleasure Point, Santa Cruz, CA
Wind: 2-5 mph
Water Temp: 57-58 degrees, clean
Swell size: 4ft - 5ft barrels at low tide, mushy waves at high tide; several breaks
Weather: partly cloudy
Crowd Factor: 20-30 people
Overall Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Only a short three hours from our Rocklin home, Santa Cruz makes a great weekend surf trip get-away. Although the water is still not exactly bath temperatures (58 degrees this time of year) you won't feel the cold with a standard wetsuit keeping you warm while you hit the lip! The locals are definitely granola, but friendly enough, as long as you stay away from "locals only" spots and refrain from laughing at the women with hairy armpits. *Note: since both the men and women keep their hair in long dreadlocks, it's hard to tell a man from a woman anyway.* And, if you're a surfer, please don't wear anything sporting the name of another surf location, especially if it's in Southern California!

We stayed at the Travel Lodge in town for $60/night. The room smelled funky and the staff looked questionable. The beds were okay, but not great. And the water pressure in the shower made you wonder if you'd get cleaner just standing in the rain. For the price, however, we didn't complain. The next time we come down we'll most-likely choose a nicer hotel that's closer to the beach. It will be worth it.

Lots of great hangout spots to grab a bite to eat or just watch the waves and interesting crowds. Cowell's Surf is a great place for all your surfing gear with their reasonable prices (Wetsuit rental $15/day and surfboard rental $25/day) and the owners are very friendly and knowledgeable.

For more information about Santa Cruz, visit www.santacruz.org.

Sacramento Temple Dedication

The Sacramento California Temple was dedicated on September 3, 2006. James and I had the special priviledge of attending one of the dedication ceremonies. It was wonderful. We heard from President and Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley, Pres. Thomas S. Monson, Elder L. Tom Perry, Temple President Winkel and Temple Matron, Sis. Winkel, Elder Richard G. Hinckley (Pres. Hinckley's son) of the Quorum of the Seventy, and Ronald Rasband of the Quorum of the Seventy.

The Open House was a HUGE success. They originally anticipated 100,000 people going through the 19,000 square foot temple, but the final count was over 168,000. 5,000 tickets had been set aside for local dignitaries and special guests, but they had to double that number due to the popularity of the event. Temple Open House tickets were THE HOT ITEM of the summer here in Sacramento.

It was an amazing event and very spiritual experience. For more information about temples, please visit the SACRAMENTO TEMPLE WEBSITE or LDS.org.