Santa Cruz Boardwalk

Work took the Mountain View engineers to an off-site (team building) at the Santa Cruz boardwalk, about an hours drive south. The boardwalk arcade was booked out for free games from 11 until 1pm, including arcade machines, pinball machines and air hockey table. We were all given wristbands which provided access to the roller coasters and other amusement rides. There was a section of private beach and a barbeque as well. The older roller coaster (pictured), which started construction in 1937, has a wooden frame. We rode most of the rides through the day.

Last years engineering offsite was at the same place, but the engineers were each given a plastic bucket and spade. I'm told that there were some really impressive sand castles that year.

Some people rode their bikes down from MTV or San Francisco. I considered joining them, but it has been a while since I've ridden that kind of distance (about 80km). The riders took about 5 hours and were ready for a rest by the time they arrived.

Louise, Andrew, Sarah, Dan, Tanya and I ended the day with a trip to Frankie, Johnnie and Luigi Too for a quality Italian feed.