Checking Things Out

We've begun to explore the area.  As I mentioned before, Mountain View is filled to the brim with apartment complexes and shopping centers.  The average home price here is 900k, which blows my mind because I haven't seen anything that remotely seems to fit into that category.  By the bay, there is a dog park, which Penny loves, and some sort of large recreational area that I have not checked out yet.

Palo Alto is adorable.  The real estate there is ridiculous as well, and the downtown area reminds me a lot of West Chester, PA.  The people in CA in general are so incredibly nice and happy.  Of course, I think I would be happy all the time if I lived in an area where the weather was this nice year round.  I even find myself smiling at people and saying things like, "good morning!!" and "happy new year!!" It's very strange...

Dirk and I headed to Mystery Spot yesterday, which is just outside of Santa Cruz.  It is an area amongst the redwoods where the laws of physics and gravity do not seem to exist.  As soon as we stepped into the Mystery Spot, Dirk and I were instantly lightheaded.  The guide showed us many different experiments to show how unique this spot is.  For example, billiard balls seemed to roll uphill and it was impossible to stand upright.  Here are some pictures to show what I am talking about:  (Warning:  I look really, really hot in these pictures.)

See how far I am leaning forward?  But I wasn't leaning with effort.  I was just standing.  Notice how I seem to shrink when Dirk and I trade places on this level surface:

Weird, right?  How do people shrink?  It doesn't make any sense!  I'm hoping those who are interested in learning more will do a google search about the Mystery Spot.  I don't want to spoil the secrets myself!

After that, we went into Santa Cruz.  Wow.  What a gorgeous little town.  The sun was shining and people were walking and biking along the cliffs.  I think it was in the 60s there yesterday.  Again, I can see how people in CA are in such a good mood.  Could you imagine seeing this every day?

I would be downright chipper, dammit.  After we checked out Santa Cruz and had some delicious fish tacos, we followed Route 1 back to Mountain View.

Oh, we also came across a T-Rex:

And, since I know everyone was on the edge of their seat, we switched the stupid little car for an Altima, which has remote keyless entry.  All is right with the world.