Felton

On our final day in Santa Cruz, besides stocking up on groceries (because we'll never see another grocery store), we drove to the tiny town of Felton.

My primary purpose was to get a picture of the narrow gauge stream engine that departs from Roaring Camp and makes a scenic run through the redwood trees.  We did a drive by and saw the stream engine warming up for its 11 o'clock run.  For awhile, the track parallels the road, so I picked a spot and settled in to wait.

I call this the train that never came.

I don't know what happened, but he never showed.  My guess is that the trip was canceled due to lack of riders.  After all, it was the day after Memorial Day.  I should have tried then.  Happily, they have a picture on the website that they invite you to download.  (I wouldn't want to do anything illegal.)

Isn't it cute?

Obviously I wasn't exactly in the perfect spot since I didn't have any redwoods in my picture.

How about a pea-type flower instead.

And Ron spotted the sign for Covered Bridge Road, so we took it and found the Felton Covered Bridge.  Built in 1892-1893, it was the only entrance into Felton for 45 years.  It was retired and became a pedestrian bridge in 1937.  After suffering severe winter storm damage in 1982, it was restored in 1987 using native materials and talent.

Here's what confused us, the sign said it's believed to be the tallest covered bridge in the country.  Well, it doesn't look that high above the water to me!  Finally, we realized they must mean the interior clearance.

You could drive a motorhome through it.