Travelled down to Santa Barbara, Cal. to visit my daughter Erin and her partner Seth for a few days and also to warm up a bit...ya I know, a tough life! The weather cooperated and day time highs were in the 23 range with bright blue skies to match the deep blue waters. Not really complaining, but I do sometimes wish that I lived in a part of the world that was a bit warmer and drier during the winter. I really like where I live and Canada is a special part of this planet, but I'll freely admit that I could happily do without our winter...any winter. Wouldn't give it a moments thought, but Annemarie would so we of course compromise. Maybe one winter away and the next year one winter month home??
A nice visit to the farmer's market indicated a pretty healthy lifestyle in the area. The tomatoes and grapefruit were so fresh and amazing!!
The past few days we walked quite a bit and of course ate well and sampled lots of wines. I mean, this is California! A nice time of the year to visit a very beautiful, dry part of America. Not saying I'd like to live there, but it's a nice place to have an excuse to visit. So, thanks Erin!
You can see from the photos that it is a nice place to visit with good walking beaches, nice flowers and a moderate, warm climate. There are turtles in the parks and even in front of a few restaurants...very laid back turtles!
There are also lots of Brown Pelicans out and about and I had a nice afternoon trying to photograph them dive bombing the fish just outside the foreshore surf.
The price of clothing is half what we spend at home...almost payed for the trip! Well, not quite, but my small carry on contained a few more shirts and pants on the return trip. I needed some proper clothes to get me truly into the retirement "look"...I've been observing old pros at this game for a few months. I day of shopping is about all I can handle and will carry me for a few years...batch shopping.
Travelled out to the university this morning with Erin and Seth, said our goodbyes then I wandered down to walk the foreshore bluffs and beaches outside the inner lagoon. It wasn't a long walk as walks go, but it was beautiful and pretty amazing! Had it all to myself. There were some nice waves and even a few white Egrets walking the beach in search of their breakfast. All in all, a good walk and a peaceful way to spend my last morning before catching the bus for the short ride to the airport.
As I write this I'm sitting in a small cafe in San Fran airport wishing I was outside walking in the sun, but alas, this is not to be. But it sure was nice to have a short break to enjoy the warm blue skies again! Happily, just two more months and my winter will be prematurely over as we travel into the Southern Hemisphere to wander, explore, walk and visit new friends Feb until early May. Looking forward to that!!
Time to have a look around at this airport and get ready to fly to Vancouver for a couple of days where I'm promised dinner tonight!!
