Tuesday - The Zoo, The Mission, The Farmer's Market and The James Joyce

I don't think I wrote when in April Aaron and James came to visit - it was April 12-19. These were'n the original dates, but with Skybus going under and some quick changes these were the final dates. And they even had a refund from Master Card credited to their account while out here.

Tuesday morning we spent at the zoo. This zoo seems to have a lot of exotic birds, but with the temperate climate they must be easier to care for than in Toledo Ohio.
I seemed to fall in love with the flamingos. The first picture they were all eating, later we came back to take more pictures, but most of them were taking a nap. There were a few awake and a few fighting for a better sleep spot. Just like kids fighting over who rides by the window. Did you know that what looks like a flamingo's knee is really his ankle.
This is the old mission in Santa Barbara, the grounds are beautiful with a larage rose garden across the street. I must not have taken any pictures of the Farmer's Market or the evening at the James Joyce, but we have written about both enough in this blog. Just think about 2 family members along to share the fun.

Sunday revisit

I did forget one thing about Sunday. The Island Brewing Company. Nice little microbrew, they have no food, but you can order in or bring your own. Some of my favorite beer is made here, and the Diet Coke can on the table is mine - I was on my way to work. Sounds like I worked the whole week Aaron and James were here, but really I only worked one night, the hospital was great about getting me some time off.

Monday - Figueroa Mtn, the beach and the wine bar

The spring flowers were in bloom, so Monday while I slept was a good time for everyone else to drive up the mountain. Although I am much better at heading up narrow mountain roads, with very little berm or guard rails it is still not my favorite thing to do. Usually I close my eyes and have Dale stop the car before enjoying the views. They went to see flowers and took more pictures of the mountain views. They are breath taking.
Low tide was was -0.3 and between noon and 1 PM, so after a brief rest it was off to the beach. We saw some sea stars, but not as many as at other times, but we still had a good time. I wonder if this little octupus made it out to sea again at high tide. He was moving when we saw him. Most of us got wet, some more than others. (the rocks with the best sea life were out into the ocean a little - that along with a few bigger waves - a few deeper holes, and well you get the idea)
Two desserts, 4 spoons and 4 glasses of wine in a nice wine bar. Nothing more to be said. We may have missed the sunset tonight.

Sunday's Art fair

After lunch, I don't remember what we had, but it was probably excellent since I made it. Enough of that, back to the day. After lunch we went to the Santa Barbara beach area for the art fair, a weekly Sunday event where people sell their crafts. Usually there are some really nice things and some funny or interesting things. The day was very warm - I took a picture of the car thermometer reading 97F, but we saw a high of 99F. After that I decided it was too hot and begged off the rest of the day to take a nap, before work. Above is a picture of some of the art and below Dale and the boys, in front of the fountain in front of Sterns Warf. Fun timWhen I went for a nap the rest of the group headed to the beach. What else is there to do in California on a hot day, but watch the ocean, and of course a nice peaceful sunset.

Aaron and James In CA Sunday

Aaron's been after me to get this blog completed, so here's at least a start. I hope Aaron adds comments that way we'll have the whole story from each perspective!

Sunday we went to church - since Dale has choir practice before church, everyone gets to arrive early. Instead of sitting in the car and waiting for 9 AM to arrive Aaron, James and I took a tour of the Avacado orchard. The far right picture is of the orchard in 2006, lots of pretty and huge avacados. Avacados are strange creatures, they do not ripen until after they are picked and will keep longer if a piece of the stem is left on when harvesting. Last year they had a big wind followed by a big freeze (the picture on the left) and lost almost all of the crop. Below is the great comeback, along with Aaron and James. The fuzzy looking things are blossoms and there are small avacados on some of the trees, it'll probably take another year for them to recover completely.

What a week

What a week - Aaron and James flew west to spend a week in sunny California, and they were not disappointed. The weather was great and we spent hours walking. Getting to LAX was not too bad. The clue is to take the Pacific Coast Highway instead of the 405. PCH takes you through Malibu - so this is a sunset from the coast in Malibu! I did take a picture through the window of the van with the sun still up, but it wasn't the best. The curves in the road and traffic kept us from getting a really great picture. Aaron and James flight was early, so we were able to get back to Carpinteria in a timely manner, after a quick stop at an In and Out Burger (the California version of fast food).

Never turn down fresh from the oven chocolate lava cake and port wine ice cream

Dale and I are back in the same time zone for just over a week now. He flew with the now defunct Skybus airline, I thank God he made it back to CA. Aaron and James were going to fly on the same airline out here, arriving on Sat....they are still flying west but now on Spirit Air and out of Detroit to LAX (Burbank airport is much easier to access) So on Sat Dale and I will take a ride on the wild side and try to navigate the LAX area, wish us luck! Oh yeah they think they can get their money back from the credit card company, but the new tickets are more $$$. We are looking forward to showing them some of our favorite hangouts. Of which there is a new one!(The James Joyce is still our Tues hang out) The past few years Dale has enjoyed The Coffee Grinder, last winter he closed shop for a death in the family and never
re-opened :-(. Then early this winter the old coffee shop had a sign that informed us there soon would be a wine bar - just our thing. They finally opened on Mon at 5 PM, guess who was first in line!! You know we were - that's where we were able to try the chocolate lava cake (yes we shared a piece, and probably would have gotten the same wow factor from sharing with a couple more friends - we're still here for a couple more months). So if you can't watch a sunset at the beach (you can share ours) at least share a piece of chocolate lava cake with a nice glass of wine!
PS - There is a baby at our Ohio home church who needs all the prayers she can get - since her family has a blog site I am including the address here: http://elizai.wordpress.com/eliza-irene-bacik/ Please take the time to look at the site and offer some prayers for Eliza and her family.
Love to all Dale and Beth