Varied Skies

It may seem that we are on a carefully planned trip. I’ve been labelled a planner on more than one occasion. There is a lot of planning involved as we move around the country. But we are well beyond the advance planning we did before departure. For some time, we have been working off a few guiding principles: (1) visit National Parks, Monuments, and great cities; (2) avoid winter weather; (3) limit travel to 4-5 hours at most; and (4) stay at each destination at least three nights. Usually our next desired destination is fairly obvious, though determining a suitable place to camp can require considerable work, as I made clear in my last post Six Months of Secrets.*

After leaving Monterey Bay, we wanted to make our way to the Los Angeles area. That’s a longer trip than we like to make in one day. But where to stay en route? We ended up choosing Santa Barbara County. The Flying Flags RV Resort in Buellton received favorable reviews. The Reagan Ranch and Michael Jackson’s former “Neverland Ranch” are close by. If these dudes liked the area, maybe we would too. We did.

Unbeknownst to us, the 2004 movie Sideways popularized tourism in the Santa Ynez Valley where we stayed. Wineries dot the landscape. Solvang, the “Danish Capital of America,” provides an international flair. With Santa Barbara and the beach nearby, the area has much to offer.

The promise of “world-famous” Danish pancakes lured us to Solvang on our first full day. Mmm Mmm good.

I expected a Helen like experience. But Solvang is a thriving community that feels more authentic than the Bavarian town nestled in the North Georgia mountains.

Maybe it is the Danish cookie high I’m on.

From Solvang, we decided to make our way over the mountains and down the coast to Ventura where the Channel Islands National Park Visitor Center is located.

I originally thought we would do this park from a base in Los Angeles. Turned out it was just as (in)convenient to make the trek from here.

We decided against the $59/person boat ride to the islands. Fortunately, the Visitor Center afforded a nice view of the islands and provided great information and exhibits about the islands and their native plant and animal species.

They even had a garden filled with plants and trees found on the islands.

I think the guy that named these plants had a promising night go south.

After the kids completed the Junior Ranger program, we enjoyed watching the sea lions play on the dock.

For our second day, we wanted to do a winery tour. We chose the Firestone Winery before learning that some scenes from Sideways were filmed there. Turns out, this was also the winery run by Andrew Firestone, the third bachelor on ABC’s The Bachelor. What, you never watched The Bachelor in its heyday? I know you did, fess up.

A nice young lady treated us to a personal tour of the vineyard and winery. It was quite educational. Even the kids, who had no prospect of a tasting at the conclusion of the tour, enjoyed it.

After a tasting, we headed to the quaint town of Los Olivos for dinner. If you ever have a chance to eat at Sides Hardware & Shoes, do it. Ask for the secret burger menu and order something that includes a “bacon steak.” My Kobe Bacon Steak burger did not last long enough for me to get a picture, but here is one that a fellow traveler uploaded to Tripadvisor.

See that quarter inch thick bacon steak? Probably the best burger I have ever had.

The City of Angels awaits…

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