The power of the written word is unmistaken. The pen is mightier than the sword … without Googling, I can guarantee was written by an Englishmen. Or if you are an SNL fan, “I’ll take Penis Mightier for $200 Alex” ~ Fake Sean O’Connor.

Well, this is not one of those moments … The Big Dipper Life lesson #46 – life has its ups and downs … enjoy them both!

Are people still saying “Staycation?” Well, that’s what my wife and I did today. A day trip to our favorite spot, Santa Cruz, California and the world-famous beach boardwalk. How could one not love this place? Beach – check! Roller coasters – check! Beach 20 yards from the roller coaster – check! Let’s go eat and ride, but definitely not in that order. I don’t have the teenager stomach any longer!

Morning weight 171.5. Let’s see what a day at the boardwalk will do at tomorrow’s weigh-in!

Today’s Meals:

• 8:15am – Herbalife Formula 1 French Vanilla Protein Shake. 5 oz of Healthy Balance Apple Juice, 1 cup of raw cabbage, 1/2 cup of Costco Organic Frozen Blueberries, 4 large Costco strawberries, and 1/2 frozen banana. 2 scoops of Formula 1 and 2 scoops of Herbalife Personalized Protein Powder. Herbalife supplements:
  • Formula 2 Multivitamin
  • Formula 3 Cell Activator
  • Herbalifeline
  • Xtra-Cal Advanced
  • Mega Garlic Plus
• 12:20pm – Our nomination for Triple D (Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives) and our favorite spot. All vegetarian all the time! Saturn Cafe.
  • 1 BBQ Ranch Chicken Burger with house dressing and jack cheese
  • 1/2 order of onion strings. I order these to make it my equivalent to one of my childhood favorites, the Carl’s Jr Western Bacon Cheeseburger.
  • 1/4 of my wife’s chicken and bacon club sandwich. She wins the ordering — don’t say anything, but I secretly wanted the remaining 3/4!
  • 1/4 of a pancake with house butter and syrup
  • 1 cup of fresh fruit
• 3:45pm – Self-proclaimed “Best Corndogs in the Country” at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Right in front of the bumper cars. I asked the “Jake” at the counter if they were the frozen kind. He said, they are the only one on the boardwalk that uses fresh and they dip using their own batter. He never tried one, but people like’em!
  • Veggie corndog. Ate 3/4th and my wife sacrificed and only ate the 1/4th. Both agree — they earned the title of Best Corndog in the County!
  • Small fries. 1/2 order
• 6:45pm – Pacific Thai Restaurant. Drove Pacific Avenue and car-window browsed to look for a spot to eat. This was the winner! They actually had “mock chicken” for an extra buck and we’ve never tried mock chicken in Thai food, so that streak ended today. Free parking on the street after 7pm, but even if you have to pay, forgo the parking garage and stay streetside. 1 quarter = 1 hour! Can’t beat that!
  • Yellow tofu curry
  • Hot and sour rice noodle soup with mock chicken. Stick with tofu. It was good, but not the best. It’s the mock chicken out of the can. Old Vegheads know what I’m talking about … newer vegetarians just trust me.
  • 1/4 cup of rice
• The Penny Ice Creamery. Times are good for this small business as they have now opened a second location. You may know the name from President Obama’s 2010 State of the Union Address.
  • 1 Tahitian Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Sandwich. Homemade, but not what I was expecting. The ice cream was very tasty. Rich, creamy … all that stuff. But I was expecting a a soft, chewy sandwich and it was quite the opposite. Wife had the Whiskey Bourbon and she seemed to enjoy it quite a lot.

Meal 2

Meal 2.1

Meal 3

Meal 3.1

Food and fun

Today’s Activities:

• Roller coasting, bumper-carring, merry-go-rounding, retro-arcading, and hand holding through the boardwalk! Thoughts of David Hasselhoff came to mind, but didn’t do the Bay Watch beach run.
• The Boardwalk comes equipped with an arcade full of newer and 80s games that I grew up on. Of course, I was drawn directly to Tron, Gorf, and Millepede. If you’re there, don’t play Tron … there was a reason the Hi-Score was only about 6,000. It was impossible to even finish Stage 1 Light Cycles because the joystick was broken in that direction. That wasn’t the case with Gorf though! Space General … not too bad for at least a 25 year weekend furlough.

Gorf Hi-Score / Honorable Mention Millepede