Wow. It’s September already! How’d that happen? Time has certainly flown by this year. I guess that just proves that we’ve been having fun. Except this past 3-day weekend… while most folks were out having fun, I got clobbered by a nasty head cold. At least it was me that caught the brunt of it and not the kids.
Speaking of the kiddos, they’ve been enjoying their new teachers at school this year and have been exceptionally motivated about their homework. Not sure what the teachers are doing, but something is working well that’s for sure. They’ve also been pleased with the kids who ended up in their classes. Both continue to enjoy their Taekwondo and piano lessons, and are doing very well with them. The problem now, about piano lessons, is that it is rather tough to practice without a piano at home… hmm??
Brad and I have slipped back into our regular routines too, back to work for Brad, and for me, getting the house back on track for the school year. I’ve managed to re-stock the freezer and pantry to pre-R&R levels – I like a full larder – and am working my way through the kids’ closets and drawers trying to weed out what they’ve grown out of this summer. (a lot…) You know, normal mom-stuff.
So, it is September, and why am I still blogging about summer? For one thing, it’s my blog and I’ll blog what I want to ;) ! Another more relative and non-selfish reason is that we had a ton of fun this summer on our road trip and I hope to share some ideas. I’m not a native Oregonian or Californian so I’m still learning what’s fun to do in these states. I want to share what I’ve learned.
The second ‘Mystery’ of our road trip, was a place Brad and I discovered long, long ago when we were still dating. We had fun there, and thought the kids would too. They did. It’s The Mystery Spot outside of Santa Cruz.
From their website:
The Mystery Spot is a gravitational anomaly located in the redwood forests just outside of Santa Cruz, California. It is a circular area of effect around 150 feet or 46 meters in diameter. Within the Mystery Spot you will be stunned as your perceptions of the laws of physics and gravity are questioned. But don't take our word for it, come and decide for yourself!
The Mystery Spot was discovered in 1939 by a group of surveyors and opened to the public in 1940. The Mystery Spot has amazed and perplexed hundreds of thousands of visitors from all over the world, and many return time and time again to experience these puzzling variations of gravity, perspective, and height.
Some speculate that cones of metal were secretly brought here and buried in our earth as guidance systems for their spacecraft. Some think that it is in fact the spacecraft itself buried deep within the ground. Other theories include carbon dioxide permeating from the earth, a hole in the ozone layer, a magma vortex, the highest dielectric biocosmic radiation known anywhere in the world, and radiesthesia. Whatever the cause is, it remains a mystery.
RIght from the start, we had our perceptions of height confused. Brian and another boy stood on opposite ends of a strip on concrete that measured as level.
When they switched ends, their heights seemed… ‘off’ compared to the first position.
We proceeded up a very steep hill, to a funny little cabin up on the side of the hill. We had a demonstration of a ball rolling uphill, a weight on a rope swinging in a manner that did not seem natural, and we had a group of about 5 of us line up, tallest to shortest, then switched, shortest to tallest, and again, our perceptions of height were really confused! (no photo, I was in the demo group) I have to admit that I was a bit dizzy by the time we were through the tour!
Up the steep hill.
Brad and Honor practice walking up walls.
Brian just tries to walk across the floor. (By the way, flip flops or other slippery shoes are not recommended).
I had fun standing in a safe corner and watching other people stumble around.
This stop was also an excuse to enjoy the pretty woods surrounding us… although the guide did point out that the tree tops in the area tended to grow inward, towards the center of the site. It was unusual.
We enjoyed pretty flowers.
And some amazing ferns.
For some reason, this place reminded me of Spook Hill in Florida. The whole thing may only be an optical illusion, but it’s a fun one! Definitely worth the stop, small entry fee, and possible long wait for a spot on the tour… we had to wait for about an hour.
1 comment:
Looks like good corny fun.
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