Friday, May 12, 2017

2017 CROSS-COUNTRY ROAD TRIP - APRIL 24TH, 2017 - SANTA BARBARA

MONDAY, APRIL 24TH, 2017

Leaving Victorville, California with an odometer reading of 52250.  It was 8.57 a.m. when we left the hotel.


We didn't get that far because at 9.19 a.m. we are in Richie's Diner next door to the hotel, eating Pecan Pancakes (me)..... 


and eggs, hash browns, sausage and biscuits (Gregg).  


It was a great stop.  


Gorgeous views of snow on the mountains and a cloud bank from the freeway. We're pretty high up still in the high plains desert. 


10.05 a.m. We are driving through those clouds. We have come downhill to 3,000 feet. We must have been up at 5,000 to 6,000 feet in Victorville. 


 11.29 a.m. and we just passed a sign for the college of hypnotherapy.  Gregg is now acting like a chicken for no apparent reason, a little difficult while driving. That was his joke.  Now you know his sense of humor, and I am still laughing at his corny jokes even after all these years. 



In each state we have been fascinated how the scenery changes.  By this time the skies have cleared, and we are going through very pretty hill country.







We are driving over the Santa Monica Mountains, and have about 60 miles to go before we get to Santa Barbara.  

 

If the video won't open, you can see it here.


 This is our first sight of the Pacific Ocean.


12.15 p.m. we stopped for lunch at Neptune's Net on Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu. 


Gregg found the place on Yelp and it had great reviews.


I had scallops, fries and coleslaw.


Gregg had fried clam strips with his.  


Funky, fun and their food was good.  On their website at the home page, if you scroll down below where it says blog posts, you can read how it has been shown in a few movies and also as I saw later, has appeared in one video game.  


I liked the place, different to anything I have been in.  The only thing that gave me pause was that they had a line of porta potties for restrooms?  Okay so I can be a prissy girl at times and didn't touch them with a barge pole.  No port in a storm was needed, thank you very much. I read a review here which I found interesting, I guess I'm a square.  But it was a very, very popular place at the foot of high cliffs. 


There was a cute almost white Golden Retriever tied up near the entrance, ready for a bit of fussing. Such a cutie!  And that was our experience at Neptune's Net.  Would I go again?  You betcha!

Spotted this lizard as we were leaving.




And we are on our way again.Another video driving along the Pacific Coast Highway.

 

1.16 p.m. we stopped just south of Point Magu. Watched the ocean splash over the rocks for a while. 











Further along there were strawberry fields all around.  We saw many workers out in the fields.  We also saw people selling strawberries out of trucks, blueberries also.  I remember how fresh our produce was when we lived in California all those years ago.



Lemon orchards on our left, large business buildings on our right.

2.02 pm stopped off at a very nice shopping area in Oxnard. We bought a few things from Target. It had a second floor and a special escalator on the outside just to carry your shopping carts, one side up, the other side down, while you used the people escalator next to them. I haven't seen that before, but then we don't have any two-story targets near us. 



We are still on the Pacific Coast Highway. The hillsides are blooming.  



3.53 pm and Gregg and I are in our hotel room at the Hotel Indigo in Santa Barbara.  It is right downtown, so you don't need your car to get around.  Also not too long a walk from the Pier, where we found ourselves in the evening and in the morning.


The rooms are small but modern, and frankly we don't need much.  All we wanted was a comfortable bed for the night.


The bathroom reminds me of ones I have seen in Europe, in that it has a shower with no step in, no tub.  Everything you need in a compact space.


There are no elevators, except for a very small one just for luggage. There is one wide staircase to get up to the second floor, where all the rooms are. 


As it is downtown it is on a busy street. There is also a railway line across from the hotel, and I heard the train go by when we were booking in. Right next door is where we dropped off our car, where a young man took our keys and parked it for us.  



We went for a great walk along the pier. It was on the brisk side, very breezy but I loved it. I was very tired again today, we both were, but the walk did us good. There were cars driving on and off the pier. New one to me. There were restaurants with parking spots outside them.  


Gregg was doing his best Captain Ahab impression, and Moby Dick was nearby.




We stopped for an ice-cream. Butter Pecan for me and pistachio for Gregg. They came in a nice crispy waffle cone.  No pictures but here's the place we got them from.


We saw grebes swimming just off the pier, there were pelicans flying overhead and also gulls. 



We sat for a spell and enjoyed them.



The sun was getting lower.



We took side streets on the way back to our hotel. It was quieter than the main street.  Several strands of palm fronds slapped me in the face at one point. A man walking by said now that was not very nice was it?  Bits were blowing off the palm trees because of the wind.  The flowers, however, were welcome companions along our walk.






Back in our hotel room and tucked up in bed now, I can hear cars going up and down outside.  Tourists voices are heard from the street below our room - we are on the main road.  The train rolls through at intervals and I find its whistle oddly soothing.

Gregg is already asleep.   Here is a quote from Moby Dick, "I turned in and never slept better in my life."  






42 comments:

  1. All lovely - but those blooming hillsides took my breath away. Thank you so much for taking us along.

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    1. They were gorgeous to see EC, glad you enjoyed the photos of them. You are very welcome, and thank you :)

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  2. Beautiful Calla Lily! And I have never seen a white retriever before, he is beautiful! I love the first diner, it is gorgeous, especially with those colors! Your first driving video is sure scary, parts of the road have a drop-off and NO guard rails!! I am with you on the porta potties. Never been in one and will try my best to never be! Gorgeous red flowers up against a whit wall! I love those clouds actually on the ground, and the beautiful ocean.

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    1. Thank you Ginny, the drive was a bit hair-raising in parts :) The dog was so friendly. I liked the colors in the diner too, love those back-in-time places. Yes, pretty flowers, porta potties - nuff said, lol. Driving through the clouds was interesting and always love looking out at the ocean.

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  3. What a fun post, Denise! The food looks delicious, and I absolutely love the 50's diner look with the turquoise booths and checkered floors. Beautiful photos and very enjoyable tour! Thank you so much for sharing.

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  4. Driving through cloud must feel a bit eerie. Re food: I guess you and I are alike, Denise, I like food that you like rather than Greg's choices. I was going to humorous comment on the picture of Greg in the bedroom but decided against it!

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    1. Eerie but interesting. No, I am not a fan of fried clam strips but I have tried foods on this holiday that surprised even me, and I am curious about your humorous comment Valerie :)

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  5. Thanks for the road videos, Denise, but I will confess to feeling dizzy just watching the drive on those winding riads. The colors were so vibrant on the ocean views and hillsides! Thanks too for sharing the meal photos, which made me a but hungry so early in the morning!

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    1. Thanks Beatrice and you are very welcome. We drove on a lot of windy roads on that trip :) Yes, come to think of it, I am ready for breakfast again :)

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  6. Very nice pictures, I have to say that golden retriever looked like a happy fellow, and the hotel in Santa Barbara looked like the perfect stop.

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  7. Great pics! I love it. Missing my trip to Calif. this yr. and your pics make me want to go even more. Great places to visit. I loved the pancakes, they looked totally yummy!Thank you for sharing.

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    1. I am happy Pam, thank you. It was the same for us last year. Others photos of the southwest kept us going. Those pancakes, oh my :)

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  8. Thanks so much for taking us along, thoroughly enjoyed this trip. Sadly our connection is too slow to watch videos bit loved the photos. Have a good weekend Diane

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    1. You are very welcome Diane, and thank you. I hope your weekend was a good one. A bit late catching up with you :)

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  9. I have only seen that coastal road in movies.. so beautiful and I love the REAL diner which I can tell by the sign it is not a FAKE diner. LOL.. the inside is beautiful and that is my style.... you know I love that dog...

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    1. Thanks Sandra, it is a beautiful road with lots of pull-offs to look at the ocean. The dog I knew you would take to and yes, the old diners are great :)

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  10. California is so beautiful (especially when you get out of the big cities) -- and Santa Barbara is amazing...we used to wish we could afford to move there (just daydreaming).... and you are so right about the fresh produce.

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    1. I agree Sallie, I thoroughly enjoyed Santa Barbara and oh my goodness, that fresh produce was incredible, like it was picked straight from our garden.

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  11. That diner is a grrrreat old diner!!!!!!!!

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  12. Gorgeous views of the Pacific Coast Highway, Denise! Loved seeing the videos. Such beautiful ocean scenes, and the flowers too! What a great trip!

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    1. Thank you Marie, so glad you enjoyed this post :)

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  13. Thanks for sharing your trip with us...I love tagging along and seeing new sights!

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    1. You are very welcome Terri, and thanks for coming along.

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  14. The number of miles you two have travelled, the wonderful views, scenery, food and much, much more you have shared. It's been a fantastic trip, I've enjoyed it to.
    Thank you.

    I went back to see your reply!
    So pleased you got the laundry done ...

    All the best Jan

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    1. Thank you Jan, I am so happy you are enjoying it :)

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  15. Lots of scenery I'm familiar with on this part of your trip. Dear and I lived in Camarillo for a few years and I'd drive to Pt. Magu to enjoy the waves. I enjoyed thrift shopping in Oxnard. You really made great ground. That freeway shot looks so clear as in not a lot of cars on the road! What an amazing amount of scenery you drove through on this trip!

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    1. That's very interesting Ellen, The scenery indeed was amazing :)

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  16. Enjoyed the videos, Denise...and the pics, as usual.

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  17. Wow! What a trip! I have just ben scrolling through all your posts of your trip. You sure did see a lot, stayed at interesting places and sampled a wide variety of food. Good for you. Keep going while you can. Bill and I are slowing down on our long trips and only do one a year now. I enjoyed going along with you though.

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    1. Good advice Diane, after this one I wondered if there would be another out there quite as long as this :)

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  18. Love the sweet doggie - I would have taken a picture of him too! I am saving all your posts because when my husband retires (3 years) we want to take a trip like this. Jackie

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    1. I am happy you are saving my posts Jacqueline. I always enjoy others travels and they have helped me with my own when we go away. That is how I found out a lot of places we visited ourselves this time.

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  19. You guys have such a fun time. And you are eating really well also!!

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  20. The Pacific Ocean is a magnificent sight. I've never seen it. I've been out to the East Coast on several occasions, but never that far west.

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    1. I remember seeing the Pacific for the first time when we lived in San Diego, but it was so COLD! That was a shock. Still beautiful though. Thank you William :)

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  21. you always take the BEST trips - we are due for a get-a-way and you have inspired me to plan something!!!!

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    1. Thank you Debbie, I shall look forward to hearing about yours :)

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