This is my old stomping grounds and it feels quite natural to be here; that combined with some pretty perfect weather made me reluctant to leave when I’d planned to on Thursday, so I’ll stay an extra night and leave Friday as soon as the tent is dry enough to pack.

Chico and I went downtown this (Thursday) morning and met a past-life colleague for coffee. There was a spot on the garden patio at Cafe Pergolesi, so Chico and I grabbed a table while Randy went to get coffee for us. All this dog-friendly outdoor seating is pretty nifty, Chico and I are in agreement on that, and it’s always a treat to be with someone who can go inside and order for us while I stay with Chico.

Afterward, Randy took some pictures of Chico, who I thought mostly looked nervous and unhappy at having that thing pointed right at him, and wanted to look at me, not the camera. Really, who could blame him? One big eye staring right at him. But surely if Randy as many pictures as I think he did, Chico must look good in one of them. We’ll see what they look like when has had a chance to go through and select a few to send me.

Randy had a meeting to go to, but we’re on vacation, so Chico and I walked through downtown Santa Cruz on the Pacific Garden Mall where a thirty-five year ban on dogs was lifted in the fall of 2011 (see my post My old home town goes (back) to the dogs). Shops were dog friendly, we saw some interesting objects for sale and replaced my worn out shoes, and I found a walk up eatery where I chose what was, either purposefully or accidentally, a gluten free sandwich – lots of greens and smoked tofu, all in a rice paper wrapper. Sort of  Vietnamese summer rolls meet the wrap.

Yum. Very heavy on the veggies, which is, in turn, very Santa Cruz.
And I could order without having to leave Chico alone on the street while I went inside.

Chico could lie in the shade by my table. And there were things for him to (calmly, I’ll point out) watch.

On the way back to the mystery spot I took a spin through the UC Santa Cruz campus to go look at one of my best-remembered view spots. Dogs still are not allowed on campus, so we didn’t get out and walk, but I did snap a few pictures.

Even though Santa Cruz is considerably larger than it was when I lived there, there’s still an considerable amount of green space.

I’ll be packing up the tent in the morning, and moving on to the Bay Area. So many friends here I didn’t even contact, no time to see them. Maybe next winter I’ll come for longer.

Anyhow, I got permission to post a picture of my tent site. The Monterey Bay is out there past the trees and the tent is visible beyond the picnic table.