As an adult, what seemingly childish things do you get excited about?
I love bridges. If I see a cool looking bridge, I want to cross it, especially if it goes somewhere that I'm not familiar with. Same with stairs outdoors. They feel like an adventure to me.
Trees! Those big, old giants which make you feel like they are indeed harboring some ancient wisdom, being there, in the same spot years before you, barely brushed by the passing of time. And then if they are evergreen not even season affects them - they just keep on existing, all tall and gracious. How awesome is that.
Lived in Bay Area for some time and been up to the Redwood National park but not to Santa Cruz! Just checked it out and now I have another reason to visit again. Honestly, I would have even stayed there - NorthCal's nature is simply breathtaking - but unfortunatelly so are the living costs around there.
There are many more beautiful places to visit in Santa Cruz, too. Wilder Ranch State Park cliffs, West Cliff Drive at sunset, UCSC campus, Pogonip, and Nisene Marks State Park, just to name a few.
A dirty secret is that Humboldt Redwoods State Park actually has more of the tallest trees than the national park. The reason is that it's the older of the two, though I think it was originally purchased by private citizens who wanted to preserve some of the last remaining groves. Anyhow, the entire Avenue of the Giants is worth a visit.
Yes!! Funny story, I learned about redwood from a boardgame when I was six and thought they are some trees from this magic game world that don't exist in real life. You can imagine how excited I was once I realized they are real and more so when I first saw them! Californian ones are the most impressive, no debate there, but I actually found quite a few across Europe too, often in super random places. So maybe you will also find some around where you live? You never know.