Day 70: Deer Park Cafe and a Sun “Downer” on Beta Beach

Today was Saturday, and one of the most beautiful days we’ve had yet.

We enjoyed an easy morning at home doing school, then went up the hill to Deer Park Cafe for lunch. It’s a place we’d heard was super kid-friendly, and we weren’t disappointed.

One of the goals of this year was to not only hit up the tourist must-sees in cities, but also find the locals’ spots where people like us would be spending time with their kids on a regular day. Deer Park def falls in that category. Locals having brunch outside with friends while kids played in the adjacent playground. Lovely.

At one funny moment we looked over and saw James smacking a stick against a fallen tree over and over determinedly. Willa goes: “Look at James, doin what he does best. Just bangin a stick on a log.” Ha! And true!

The rest of the day was very chill. We lingered at the playground after late lunch and then ran to the grocery store.

At home, James made up a game involving a frisbee and a tennis ball. Complicated rules. Lots of bouncing and catching involved. Chaotic. When Willa started playing it with him and wasn’t catching and throwing the way he wanted, we overheard him say, “Willa! You have to manage your EYES!” hahhaha.

Around 5:30 we said, it’s gorgeous out — let’s grab some food and drinks and head down to Beta Beach — the site of our first gorgeous night here with friends Luke and Meg — and enjoy the sunset! We packed up some beers and snacks and Uber’d over the mountain and down to sea level.

As we descended, though, we were engulfed in a thick white fog-machine mist. We realized a simple internet weather search might have prevented this misstep, but it was too late now. We had to carry on out of principle and pride. So we walked out to boulders, which were not warm nor sunny, drank a single beer, and Uber’d back home to the sunshine. Willa actually called it a sun “downer.” Ha again!

This was the view out our Uber window when we re-emerged from the cloud layer: