From Santa Cruz we drove to Monterrey and spent a couple hours at the Monterrey Bay Aquarium. The jellyfish and sea dragon exhibits are amazing. They come in all the shapes, sizes and colors. Halfway through the exhibit we ducked outside for a quick clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl. It was delicious.
We were already two days late and still 700 miles away from home. Instead of driving straight through my dad said we could camp on the beach or go visit my cousins. I love the beach, but I chose the cousins because they are so fun and adorable. We have the best family, I wished I could see them more (hint, hint J-Fly). We took a scenic route down through Santa Barbara and the wine country and stopped at my Uncle Mitch’s house for the night. We got there late so we camped out in his front yard. In the morning we got locked out of the house and I had to go pee! So I ended up tree peeing in his yard! Think of it as fertilizer Mitch.
Then 2 hours later super Dane (my cousin) came to my rescue. We waited for Laci to wake up and watched 101 Dalmatians. Q-Daddy woke up and after finishing the movie we went swimming.
Laci, Rangel and Dane
We showered up and then met J-Fly (my other uncle) and his posse for lunch.
Dane, Laci, Rangel, Caroline, David & Jack
We went to Red Robbin and had a great burger. After lunch we played Rock-Paper-Sissors and said our goodbyes, despite all my efforts to convince my dad to stay one more day. Now we are heading home! 
Mixed emotions!
I collected key chains from the areas we visted and am going to attach them to my backpack to remind me of the fun we had. Here they are: