We just left Paso Robles and are currently in Marina, CA, just above Monterey. We went from 100 degrees to about 60 degrees in a few hundred miles. But I will fill you in on those areas in a future blog. For this time around, let's talk about the Santa Barbara area.
(Just a quick note: Beau has decided he could live in southern/central California. I have to agree that the area is super gorgeous, with soft rolling green and gold hills, picturesque vineyards, a great climate, a fabulous shoreline, and really friendly people. Who knows where we will end up? Maybe out here. If so, you will all have to come visit!!)
But let's go back in time -- a week ago -- and review our visit to Santa Barbara, beginning with our campground -- Ocean Mesa at El Capitan. Another nightmare with children everywhere, but otherwise, a pretty nice park. We were lucky (?) to be there for their Saturday night barbecue with a live band...although Beau later called the experience an "insane asylum for children." I guess being there on the weekend was the "unlucky" part. This really good rock/blues band played in the Canyon, while we ate our dinners at picnic tables, but the 100-plus children (it seemed like thousands) dominated the dance floor and the entire evening. The whole experience ended up being about little kids and babies dancing to Baby Boomer-era music. Kind of weird, actually. And a little annoying when you are old farts without young kids. (Kyle, our grandson, would have loved it.)
 |
| The sign for Ocean Mesa campground. |
 |
| El Capitan Canyon |
 |
| Beau in the Canyon, on the way to the barbecue -- we had to take a pic of these cool metal fish sculptures. |
 |
| The band at the BBQ. I cropped out all the children in front! (The band doesn't look all that happy, actually.) |
 |
| Beau at the barbecue. Note his expression -- he demonstrated amazing patience with the kids' craziness, however. |
The next day or so (I can't remember the sequence of events at this point), we spent some time at El Capitan Beach. It's nice -- but it's no Santa Monica or Redondo!
 |
| We saw seals and dolphins swimming right off shore. I think this shows a dolphin splashing in the background. |
Fabulous Santa Barbara
Let's move on to the prettiest city that I think I have ever seen -- Santa Barbara. As I said in the title, wow wow wow. We were enchanted with its beauty. No wonder they call this town "The American Riviera."
 |
| Stearn's Wharf at Santa Barbara. |
 |
| The entrance to the Four Seasons Santa Barbara. |
 |
| These photos don't come close to showing you how pretty downtown is. |
 |
| An art show along the beach. Wish I had taken a photo of the beach -- it was beautiful, too. |
Anyway, suffice it to say that if we could afford to live in Santa Barbara, we just might!
I'll end this with some shots of the California countryside that help illustrate what I wrote about the beauty of the area:
 |
| Here I think we were traveling through the foothills of the Sierra Madres. Either to Santa Barbara or between Santa Barbara and Paso Robles -- I forget! |
 |
| If it weren't for the road and the cars, you might think these were paintings. And just think -- it is all SO much more beautiful in person. |
 |
| I made Beau turn the car around and go back so I could take this photo. |
Next time, the amazing seashore -- Morro Bay, Pismo Beach, San Luis Obispo -- and the stupefying Hearst Castle at San Simeon. More wow wow wow stuff.
HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY! Especially meaningful to us this year, seeing this beautiful land of ours.
Tanks, Panky
No comments:
Post a Comment