Another beautiful sunny and clear morning and the 4 of us took off for a long hike on the beach and also on the trails. The photos of the ocean and the scenery I think are really of the "postcard" variety. Please don't ask what or why Stella is picking up what she is picking up!! After a great breakfast the girls had to go to their office and move things over to the new office and as I had volunteered to help, you can see they put me to work. Then it was a late lunch at the Yacht Club, very nice indeed and after that a hot tub at the Tennis and Polo club. This is a hard life I lead.
It has been a great week here and Stella has been a wonderful host and made me feel like family. I have met so many kind and interesting people and explored all the areas close by, this is a very beautiful part of California.
I want to wish you all a very happy Sunday...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a night of rain last night and I am told the first rain since spring, so you can imagine it was a welcome relief and all is green and lush this morning.
My day started out about 7.30am with a walk along the beach front for about 2 miles, the waves were angry and loud and were crashing up against the cliffs. On the return walk it was just amazing and of course you are going to have to take my word for it because I had neglected to bring my camera, it appeared I was being stalked by two dolphins swimming in the same direction as me and they followed me along about 60 yards out into the surf, what a majestic sight to start the day.
On Stella's advice I drove to a small hispanic town called Ojai which is 20 miles away and the drive there is beautiful, that is where all the lake photographs were taken. The town itself is very quaint, clean and the people so friendly. I found the Chamber of Commerce and the kind lady there pointed me in the direction of a foot path that ran the length of the town. That is where the lovely trees and paths were and I think I have put a new meaning to "hearing it straight from the horse's mouth". The down town was pretty and I loved the old wooden door. I spent about 2 hours just walking around and enjoyed the sights and sounds and of course by now it was lovely and sunny

 

 

 

 

Was expecting to wake up today to the forecasted showers but it was bright and sunny so I made the trip to Solvang. The first batch of photos were just interesting sights on the way there. Solvang is about 40 miles from Santa Barbara and was established in 1911 as a Danish-American colony and is now one of the principal tourists attractions in the country.

It was like stepping back in time and reminded me of my visits to Europe as a little kid. The small speciality stores and the smells from the bakeries and the coffee houses were everywhere. Just a very neat little town nestled in the sprawling Rancho San Carlos de Jonata mountain range.

The area around here is quite beautiful and although very expensive a highly desirable place to re-locate, the temperatures are likened to the Mediterranean and all seems clear, clean and bright.

So as the storms seems to be abaiting in the north I am happy to have been in such a lovely place. My plans are to stay here till Monday then move onto Phoenix to make a delivery for a friend and then move in to Mexico. Wish you all a great day..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All these photos are in Solvang.

 

 

 

 

Today was another sunny and warm day but showers are in the forecast for the weekend. Spent a lazy morning looking at maps and planning some routes and in the afternoon Stella and I took a ride out into the hill country the plan was to visit a little Danish town called Solvang but we ran out of time as there was an office party this evening, so I will take a drive out there tomorrow and see the sights. Didn't realize how serious the floods were in the Seattle area and the Interstate is flooded so badly good job I came down before this all started. The waves here have subsided again so the surfers are not happy, wish you all a great day tomorrow...

Just checked out the blog and realized a whole paragraph about my trolley tour was lost in cyber space. The tour was 90 minutes and included the old Mission, one of the oldest on the west coast, the Presidio which was fascinating and the Santa Barbara court house, which is the one with the photos of the clock tower, apparently the court house is the most second photographed building in the USA after the White House. The other photos are just some of the flavours of this lovely town.

Stella and I living it up in down town Santa Barbara!!!