Write My Life

The Cadette Girl Scout troop chose to use their cookie earning to go kayaking and to stay overnight in Santa Cruz.

We started Saturday by kayaking in Elkhorn Slough through Kayak Connection. Elkhorn Slough is the largest tidal salt marsh in California outside of San Francisco Bay provides habitat for hundreds of plants and animals, including more than 340 types of birds. Kayak Connection did a great job outfitting us and leading us through a tour (about 2 hours) of the slough.

Jackie and I kayaking together with her in front and me in the rear. These kayaks have foot petals that control a rudder so they are very easy to maneuver. Along the way we saw small jelly fish, harbor seals, sea otters, birds and sea lions. We cruised by a large group of harbor seals laying on the small beach on this overcast day.

One harbor seal was sitting on the bank along one of the thinner side passages of the slough. We got a real good look at him.

At other times we saw sea otters popping up out of the water. One sea otter we saw pretty close and he was resting on his back cracking open some food. We could hear his pounding!

The girls all did really well kayaking. We were wet when it was done, but everyone had a great time – even the girls who were apprehensive at first.

From there we drove to the hostel in Santa Cruz where we had one of the cabins to ourselves. We cooked a taco dinner and did some scrapbooking. Before sunset we walked down to the beach boardwalk, which was only a few blocks from the hostel.

After breakfast the next morning, we packed lunches and headed to Natural Bridges State Beach. The girls played on the beach, exploring and playing games. I am amazed that some of these girls (12-14 years old) still play “pretend” games. It is fun to watch them laughing and using their imaginations!

More typical for their age, we left the beach and went shopping! We walked down main shopping road in Santa Cruz. They stopped at a shoe store, the bookstore (many items purchased here) and the ice cream shop.