It is going to be another hot weekend. Time to head for the beach. This weekend there will be more than just hanging out at the Boardwalk for entertainment. There is the Pro-Am Beach Soccer Championship Saturday and Sunday in Santa Cruz.

Wait a minute; soccer on the beach? The ball will just sit there stuck in the sand! Nope, the ball is kept in the air and not dribbled on the sand. The “field” is much small than a regular soccer grass field and there are five players per team.

Next thing you know there will be sand fields popping up everywhere; in backyards, at work, and in parks.

Pro-Am Beach Soccer Championship
Main beach below the Boardwalk and Seabright Beach, Santa Cruz

Saturday and Sunday, June 21 – 22
Beginning 8:00 am

Schedule, field map, parking, and more information here.

Cyclists from all over will be convening on the Cow Palace in San Francisco for the start of AIDS/Lifecycle 7. This ride will take cyclists 545-miles between San Francisco and Los Angeles in 7 days to raise money benefiting the San Francisco AIDS Foundation and the Gay and Lesbian Center in Los Angeles.

The first leg of the ride will take cyclists to Santa Cruz, then to King City, Paso Robles, Santa Maria, Lompoc, Ventura and then Los Angeles for the closing ceremony.

Wondering why this is in San Jose Metblogs? It’s simple! I’m one of the 2500 cyclists who have raised a minimum of $2500 to raise over $11 million dollars for such an incredible cause.

Thanks to all who have contributed and supported me on this incredible journey. I couldn’t have done it without you.

As the Santa Cruz fire rages on, animal services wants to remind everyone who needs to evacuate to bring along their animals. Anyone who needs help with evacuating their pets or needs a place to keep their animals can call 831-454-7303. Animal shelters are also stepping up and accepting any small animal (cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, etc.) that needs a temporary home.

Donations, supplies, volunteers, and fosters are greatly appreciated at this time.

Find more information here.

It optimistically will be cooler this weekend. If it still isn’t cool enough then head on over to Santa Cruz, where it will be a bit cooler than here. The weather forecasters have San Jose in the upper 80’s and Santa Cruz in the low 80’s this weekend.

The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk will be having its 101st Season Kick Off this weekend. Saturday and Sunday from noon there will be champion high divers descending from an 80-foot tower and performances by the Amazing Chinese Acrobats, shows alternate every hour.

In addition, this weekend is the River Arts Festival presented by the Santa Cruz Education Foundation. The River Arts Festival is a fundraiser to celebrate and support art in the area’s local public schools. Schools and environmental groups are represented at information booths.

Artists will give insight into various artistic processes including Glass Blowing, Metal Working, Painting, Ceramics and more.

The Festival will feature Sand Painting, Sun Prints, and more for children and adults, lead by professional artists; musical performances; strolling troubadours; food court.

On Sunday 11:00 am the Festival will include the first Santa Cruz Kinetic Sculpture Race. Artists build sculptures on wheels to be raced that are pushed, pulled or pedaled by the artist.

River Arts Festival
San Lorenzo Park, Santa Cruz

Saturday and Sunday, May 17 - 18
11:00 am - 5:00 pm

Located in Aptos, near Santa Cruz, is the Forest of Nisene Marks. The special thing about this place is that it’s a product of afforestation. What was once depleted by the Loma Prieta Mill is now back as a forest! While serving as living proof of what we can do to make the earth greener, it also offers the regular hiking and camping opportunities.

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The MSN travel site has Santa Cruz listed as one of the top 10 great places in the world to spend Christmas. Santa Cruz a December destination city? Thoughts of Santa Cruz are usually of warm summer days spent wearing T-shirts and cut-offs on the Beach Boardwalk, not of Christmas.

The site suggests the Pleasure Point Inn and the Harbor Inn as two uppity places to sleep over, and they say the chef at Casablanca is said to turn out some fine cuisine. Me thinkist they had a wee bit too much nog in their Eggnog.

Visiting Santa Cruz is like taking a trip back in time to the hippie/surfer lifestyle of your, or your parents’, youth. It is the kind of village-by-the-sea where comfortable is staying over at a motel with a chair pushed up against the door and ‘good eats’ is fishie finds out on the wharf.

Beach Boardwalk
Santa’s Kingdom & the Holiday Lights Train

US News and World Report magazine recently looked at more than 18,000 public high schools in the United States to arrive at their ranking of America’s Best High Schools.

Using a formula that measured how each school’s students performed on state tests, how well each school’s disadvantaged students did, and whether the school was successful in providing college-level coursework, they determined the top 100 schools.

These top 100 schools earned gold medals, the next 405 schools earned silver medals, and an additional 1,086 schools earned bronze medals.

As with most rankings the order depends on the data used and how it is interpreted. Data from the 2005-2006 school year was used for these rankings. There were 10 states that were not included in the rankings for providing insufficient or no data.

Santa Clara County/Santa Cruz County schools in top 100:

2. Pacific Collegiate Charter, Santa Cruz

59. Monta Vista High, Cupertino

66. Henry M. Gunn High, Palo Alto

72. Saratoga High, Saratoga

73. Lynbrook High, San Jose

85. Palo Alto High, Palo Alto

List of the top 100 Gold Medal schools here.

List of Santa Clara County schools here.

To the world, California is more known for Hollywood and Silicon Valley. However, when you come here, you hear of “redwoods”. You might drop in at Muir Woods on your sight-seeing trip to San Francisco or you might go as far as Mendocino. But how about checking them out next door? Getting to the redwood trees at the Big Basin Redwoods State Park is less than an hour’s drive from the South Bay.

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Bay Area animals need your help. From now to the end of July* select locations are collecting pet food, treats, toys, and other supplies for dogs, cats, and rabbits that will be donated to local pet shelters and rescue organizations. These non-profit rescue groups and shelters operate on very limited budgets. Your donation helps free up monies in their budget so they can afford to spay/neuter more cats, provide for more vaccinations, help pay for emergency bills, general overhead, etc.

Drop-off locations include South Bay Pet Food Express, Whole Foods in Campbell, and For Other Living Things in Sunnyvale.

Some of the shelters/rescue groups include Humane Society of Silicon Valley, Purrfect Cat Rescue, Smiley Dog Rescue, Maine Coon Adoptions, Rabbit Haven, among others.

For drop-off locations, needed supplies, and more information check here.

* The rescue groups and shelters need help year round including volunteers, food, supplies, etc.

Amazing Greys Retired Racer

Humane Society of Silicon Valley

Smiley Dog Rescue

Maine Coon Adoptions

Rabbit Haven

Purrfect Cat Rescue

Between San Jose and Santa Cruz, along Highway 9 is a place called Brookdale. We were christening my wife’s new car with a quick roadtrip to Santa Cruz. Though our original destination was The Mystery Spot, we got there to be greeted with no parking and a really long wait. We decided to visit on a less busy time of day, so instead we drove around. My wife wanted to show us the famous Brookdale Lodge. Haven’t heard of it? ….
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