Newport Beach

Not much new today other than the drive to Newport Beach.  Luckily, it's Sunday and the traffic was relatively light for LA.  And, the weather is crisp, clear and windy.  The views were spectacular along the coast, especially in the Malibu area.

Our RV park is only a mile from Fashion Island (large mall) and we went to check it out after squeezing into our assigned space.  Not much room!  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to find a thing I couldn't live without - although the La Brea Bakery looks promising.  But when I'm hungrier and earlier in the day before all the good bread is gone.  We'll be here for 3 nights.

Santa Barbara

We left at 8:45 for Santa Barbara with Bob and Elaine driving.  First stop was the Ty Warner Sea Center where we saw many different varieties of marine life.  My favorites were the decorator crabs.  They actually decorate themselves with "things they find around the house".   Their little habitats had been given several colorful pom poms and they snatched bits and pieces until they, themselves looked like little colored pom poms.  Cam Murray saw another snatch a bit of seaweed and add it to his appendage.  

Once we'd seen everything we wanted to see at the Sea Center, we decided to take a tour of Santa Barbara using public transit.  The shuttle driver took us to the end of State Street for a quarter apiece and let us off.

We headed for the Santa Barbara Civic Center and courthouse.  What a gorgeous old building with many murals adorning its walls and ceilings.  The bell tower gave us a great view of the entire city.  Luckily, the rains decided to leave us alone for awhile.  

By this time we were getting hungry and Bob and Elaine wanted to see the place where their son, Jason, lived while attending Santa Barbara City College.  It was right over a bakery, coincidentally.  Our sandwiches were delicious!  

Continuing down State Street, we stopped at a couple of shops (including Lululemon, Shelby and Roxanne).  

Eventually we got back to the car which was parked along the waterfront and headed for the mission.  We watched the movie and took the self guided tour.  Then it was on to see Santa Barbara City College and after that, UCSB.  Apparently, UCSB used to be located where Santa Barbara City College now is.  UCSB is actually in Goleta and doesn't have quite as beautiful a location, in our opinion.

The drive home was much prettier with all the rain and fog gone.  Tomorrow is a driving day - to Newport Beach, where we'll stay for 3 nights.  

The game players all met in the meeting room for games after our respective dinners.  Don't ask!  Several went off to the casino to try their luck, as the campground gave us each a $50 coupon from the casino.  

Pismo Beach to Buellton

Yesterday I forgot to mention the drive on the beach.  Four-wheeling in the Chevy truck!  Cool.

And, the trip to SLO (San Luis Obispo) and the Farmers Market, which takes place every Thursday night of the year.  Larry and Bob got mochas and we strolled the street fair looking for items of interest.  Harold and Jane Higgins are former residents of SLO and pointed our way to the interesting "Bubblegum Alley".  Quite an interesting place and I'm afraid it reminded me way too much of my teaching days with the desktop undersides coated with dried chewed-up gum!

Today we began with "breakfast in a bag", which I'd heard of but never tried.   Basically, it's a unique way of making an omelet.  You put all the ingredients into a plastic boiling bag, seal it shut,  and then drop it into boiling water until it's cooked.  We also made overnight monkey bread, which was delicious.  

Elaine and I walked down into the shopping district and then a sizable group of us left for La Purisima Mission in Lompoc.  We spent quite a long time there and had an excellent guided tour.  

After that, it was a short drive to Buellton and a most attractive RV Park.  Many of us took a trip to nearby Solvang before Happy Hour and dinner.  Larry and I located the Worldmark resort and gave it a quick once-over and seal of approval.  And, did I mention it rained off and on all day????

Dinner was at the Hitching Post steak restaurant.  It was quite expensive and luckily, very very good.  I had grilled shrimp and Larry had a flat iron steak.  Everyone agreed it was outstanding.

Tomorrow - off to Santa Barbara.