Then what happened?

After Santa Monica, I traveled up to Santa Barbara. I took the 'PCH,' (as the trannies had warmly referred to it), and it was just gorgeous. I left at a stupid time. It was a little after 4. So there was some pretty bad traffic for the first hours. BUT, it was also a great time, because I got to see yet another spectacular sunset over the Santa Monica Mountains and wide Pacific shores.

I caught this picture, and I simply love it; it looks like a mistake, but it illustrates very nicely how I feel about California:

California is beautiful, that's for sure; the only thing that detracts from said beauty?
All the damn people:

People are everywhere. Wall-to-wall. I know it's a sweeping generalization of the few areas I've traveled through - and let us not forget the desert - but it was incredible.

Although, to their credit, California is home to some of the nicest drivers I've ever been priviledged to drive alongside. The streeets are terrifying, sure, waaaaay too narrow for two lanes; but the people were great! How surprising! Everyone is waving me in, giving me room, giving others room; it was a nice change from the rest of the country.

So, I had a contact in Santa Barbara - yay! But the first day-in I couldn't handle anymore damned cities, so I drove straight through downtown and headed into the mountains. Played guitar all night. That was wonderful. The next morning I went to check out downtown - even entered my first outdoor mall; and promptly exited. Some thrift shopping aside (and a late start to begin with!) I go to meet my friend at her apartment, around 4:30/5:00 PM.

Parking on the street, I notice lots of people looking above and beyond me into the Montecito hills. Well, I'm sure you've heard the rest. Oprah's neighbors and all that. I know I should have busted out the tri-pod, but it was all so exciting. Here's the best I came up with:


You could see the flames licking up the sides of the mountain - and off camera, above and to the right, the moon glowed orange behind the smokey clouds.

• Glown orange? Glowed? That's some crappy English, someone please correct it for me...

My contact in Santa Barbara, nice lady by the name of Laurel, was great for me to find. A fellow traveler, she'd seen many sights in her days abroad, and had some wonderful recommendations. By the end of my stay, she had basically wrote me out an essay of places to go, things to see, and hot springs to dip in on my way up California. Unfortunately for me, I was not inclined to travel 4 hours to Yosemite when there was still so much left to see of the coast - but I did follow a couple of her leads with magnificent results!!!

Back to the fires - oh, wow, was the air terrible the next day! I had to get the hell out, and actually headed south to recapture some of the areas I overlooked on the nighttime ride up. Ventura and Oxnard, mostly. Just to go thrift shopping, really. There's this great place called the Buffalo Exchange, dotted across the West Coast, so I've been scouring the Goodwills on my ride to find some awesome items to trade in for even awesomer items. Spellcheck doesn't seem to mind that one...

Anyhow, something powerful is driving my heel, and I'm constantly feeling the need to up-and-out. I want to love California - it's everything I ever thought it'd be - but there's just too much going on. I am categorically not a city person. I guess. But I'll keep trying. Meanwhile, Santa Barbara is not the place for me. So I've got to go check out some of Laurel's recommendations...


Thanks, Laurel! That was a helluvalotof fun!

Oh, and let's not forget wine country! She took me out-and-about the Santa Barbara countryside to see the vineyards and communities found in the movie Sideways. These photos are dedicated to my buddy Dietrich, who had to cross the Atlantic Ocean to feel grapes between his toes.