On Sunday we had a bit of a sleep in before heading off to Los Olivos, north of Santa Barbara in wine country. Rachel drove the way there so I got to take some photos. LA freeways are interesting. And terrifying at times!
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| Californian ice-cream truck? |
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| Bike gang day out |
We dove around LA and up the coast towards Santa Barbara before heading inland into the hills.
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| Mountains |
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| Distance beach and ocean |
I loved reading the signs as we drove past. It was cool seeing the signs to Hollywood and Universal City. But this was my favorite by far!
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| I want to live on Santa Claus lane. |
The views over the bay were really pretty. (I was glad I wasn't driving this time.)
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| Ocean views |
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| Los Padres National Forest |
Our first stop was at Firestone vineyard which we had been recommended by some friends in LA. Unfortunately I drew the short straw as was the designated driver. :-( But I got to try some tiny sips of the wines. I brought a really nice Cab Sav and Rachel got an amazing Bordeaux blend (and a huge discount as it was originally $75 a bottle!). There are already plans to split them and have cheese and wine evening!
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| Enjoying their wine |
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| Deep contemplation |
The second stop was at Lincourt vineyard. We had originally planned to head elsewhere but then we fond out Lincourt had live music and stone baked pizza. Has to be done!
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| Vineyards over lunch |
The wines were ok but not great so we didn't buy any. But they did have honey comb which I couldn't resist! And some other interesting food selection. Which I could!
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| Pickled brussel sprouts? Yum? |
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| A little too much win maybe? |
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| Waiting (impatiently) for lunch |
Before finishing in Los Olivos, we found a little chocolate shop. The whole shop was in a tiny windmill! But the chocolates were amazing so we got some for the beach.
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| Rachel, outside the chocolate shop. |
After a little bit of trial and error (and interesting road maneuvers), we found Santa Barbara beach (harder than we thought it would be). The beach was huge and not as busy as I expected thankfully. I paddled but it was too cold for me. Next time!
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| Sanata Barbara boardwalk |
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| The beach |
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| beach flower |
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| Beach selfie |
The drive home was a bit stressful with a lot of traffic and a few people trying to run us off the road. Got to love LA traffic. Not!
We had 1/2 hr to change before heading out to a "dive" bar for the night with Duncan and some of his friends here. I am not sure on my taste in bars though, because I thought it was actually a rather posh bar. Oops! But a good night out. :-)
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