Weekend Wowzers

Well, I survived my first week of work! Two days of online orientation and I have no idea how people work from home. It’s really nice in the morning but the rest of the day sucks. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday saw me enjoying my backroad commute in my new ride I picked up Tuesday evening with the pleasantry of a heated steering wheel…I didn’t even know such a thing existed! I’m typically one to ask for a decent car that won’t break down and forego fun things I’d love to have like a sunroom. Well, I went big this time. I got the hybrid AWD with sunroof and heated seats and heated steering wheel and mud mats…who am I?! I always said if I ever got the opportunity to move back out west I’d get an appropriate car and I guess I did. When I lived in Nevada there were a lot of places I couldn’t get to because I always have little dinky cars and I’ve been known to have to flag down strangers in the middle of nowhere to get towed out in order to avoid the long trek to the next nearest town with a signal. So safety-wise, I’m happy with this decision. They also took back my leased little car that had a dent in the side, multiple cracks in the windshield, a dirty inside, the original tires which have been patched multiple times, and a 1+ year expired registration no questions asked. So thankful I don’t have to deal with that Allstate lady in Alabama anymore, so thankful. So, I packed my cooler with vittles and set out on the first adventure with my new ride to Valles Caldera National Preserve.

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What a wonderful place! Taken from a postcard I purchased: About 1.25 million years ago, a spectacular volcanic eruption created the 13-mile wide circular depression now known as the Valles Caldera My coworker recommended it but didn’t mention it was a National Preserve which was great to check another one off the list, get my souvenir coin, and get my friend her Passport stamp. The drive up there through the Jemez Mountains was a nonstop, jaw dropping adventure.

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The volunteer ranger at the park was top notch; she knew every in and out of the park and was so friendly. She told me about Abiquiu which is going on a soon to-do list; what a stunner from a quick internet search!

I decided to do the South Mountain Trail as it was 8 miles and lead to a summit. Naturally, I wasn’t sure I was on the trail which is usually OK but since I’m still acclimating I didn’t really have miles to spare. The service road I was running down didn’t seem right based on the elevation gain of the trail so I turned around at a mile…turns out the service road goes for 1.75miles and I was on the right track but now I know for next time!

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I saw the most beautiful blue birds on the trail and when I got back to the car decided to grab my camera and head back out .5mile but of course the birds did not reveal themselves. 3 miles total on this section and I then headed to the Coyote Calls trail because another ranger heard me ask about wildlife/birds and said that yesterday someone saw a nuthatch (…nuthatch…nutcracker…I don’t remember) on the trail which he has never seen in the park.

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I trudged along the trail still frustrated from this acclimation thing and at 1.5 miles had 450ft of elevation logged. Good lord. But then there were birds and a squirrel (above because i put those photos in the wrong spot🤷‍♀️). Of course they were all in the pine trees so I couldn’t get a good photo but I like to think the birds were the nuthatch/cracker the ranger spoke of.

Eventually the trail leveled out and there were two trails. It was marked but obviously I went on the trail without the blaze and ended up in Bandalier which was pretty fun. I went just for .3miles before turning around…maybe it was all the grass that seemed like the donald’s hair and I had visions of millions of him sprouting from the ground like little oompah loompahs. Yikes.

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3.30 more miles on this trail and while I feel like I can go further and faster, my recovery time is still not ideal so I ended my adventures and headed back in my ride who still needs to be named. Any ideas?!

And after that amazing day I came home to this amazing sunset. Land of Enchantment indeed😍

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The 135 Mile Orgasm

Thursday I had planned to drive up from Lompoc to Santa Clara. I didn’t know much about the drive. I just looked on google maps when planning my trip and saw it wasn’t too long of a drive north and a road ran by the coast. Can’t beat that, I thought to myself.

I left around 10am and found an amazing juice and smoothie bar on the way. I got the ‘perfect skin’ which had cucumber, spinach, lemon, and parsnip in it. I got it because I’ve never juiced parsnip. As they were making it, the aroma was heavenly. I saw something I couldn’t identify and figured that was the parsnip and that was the smell I was smelling. I was pleasantly surprised by the amazing taste which I attributed to the parsnip. How have I never had parsnip?! I’m assuming that gave the juice its orange color. Holy moly it was good. I snagged a menu to use to try to make their concoctions so hopefully I won’t be too off on the ratio. I live for the day when juice bars are as common as fast food joints. Dream Big!

I continue on and get to the stretch of road that I will be on for the majority of the time. For about ten minutes the view sucks…and by sucks I mean there’s no water like I thought but there are still lots of mountains for my porn collection, of course. Going along the coast takes longer so I’m hoping it’ll be worth it. I figure I will keep going and if it’s not worth it I will get off to the faster route.

Finally I see water! The views begin to get amazing. I’m loving it. I see a little beach town, Cayucos, and get off the exit to check it out. it’s a super cute little town with a few shops and restaurants. I stop in the Brown Butter Cookie Company and have a sample which melts in my mouth. I bought a mixed bag of small cookies for $3 that had an original brown butter sea salt, a cocoa brown butter sea salt, and citrus brown butter sea salt. This was the cutest cookie shop ever. The cookie makers were sitting there chatting and rolling away. They had small baking ovens to heat the cookies and then package them up. If you’re driving through I’d recommend to get off the exit to get a cookie. You won’t regret it.

There were a few shops and what looked like local tasty beach restaurants and a little beach. It was just cute.

Onward I went ready for more amazing sights. I didn’t know much about the Coastal Highway until I actually went to do it. My friend had done the Big Sur half marathon many years ago and I remember looking up to see where that was but I guess it didn’t register where the location actually was or what it was. I had no idea that I would actually be driving Big Sur today until I stopped and got some postcards and read that it was a 90mile stretch along the route I was going. Holy Moly! What a nice surprise for my day! The photos of the postcards got me pumped up.

The sights I began seeing were ridiculously awesome and thus began my 135 mile orgasm…at least I’m sure that’s what it sounded like. A lot of ‘oh my god’, ‘seriously?!’, ‘wtf’, ‘holy crap’, ‘uuuhhh’, etc came out of my mouth for the remainder of the trip with just about every turn I made. I just stared in awe at the sights of the Pacific and the mountains. After a jaw-dropping 30minute ride I pulled over to get some photos and have a picnic of clementines. It was the best picnic ever.

The drive took you right along the coast and through the mountains at points, winding around and spitting you out on top with a breath taking view of waves crashing against the cliffs. The most amazing views were the ones that I couldn’t capture; the ones that you see for a few seconds before the mountains swallows them up.

I had no idea that the area was populated with many state parks and camping areas. There were some trails you could hike as well. You could easily spend a few days camping in the area. At one point I stopped at a cafe and enjoyed a lemonade on the deck while reading my book and enjoying this once in a lifetime view while doing so. I know the lemonade was delicious but I don’t know if it was because they are masters of lemonade or because the views made my taste buds water in ways they never knew they could.

I stopped countless times to get out and enjoy the scenes and realized at one lookout that was pretty populated with travelers that I was still amazingly relaxed. People were quiet because everyone seemed to be in the same state of awe. It was a calm and tranquil 135 miles. There were no malls, no shops, no bright lights, no loud noises, no one trying to sell you things, no major developments…just peace, quiet, and beauty; all a gift from Mother Nature. It was more than I ever could have asked for from the day.

Santa Barbara’s Pulled Pork Is Better Than Yours

Wednesday was for exploring Santa Barbara. As usual, I had no idea what to expect. I was pleased with this super cute city.

First we needed to feed our faces so we went to the shopping area with its well known State Street. It’s a stretch of any type of store and any type of restaurant you could want. We ended up at the Santa Barbara Brewing Company. Holy smokes, do they do amazing things with food!!!

I ordered the pulled pork sandwhich. Normally if I see a pulled pork on a menu I might order it if I don’t want to keep reading menus because I love it and it never disappoints…some menus are just hella long; I’m looking at you Cheesecake factory. I saw the pulled pork on this menu but thought I should be more daring while in California. That is, until I read the description. It wasn’t just your standard bbq pork. It was some sort of honey orange marmalade bbq glaze with onion straws and carmelized onions on top. It was amazingggg. I got the veggie of the day as my side which I was told was broccoli AND green beans. Normally I have to choose! I was already excited with that but when they brought out the food there was also asparagus thrown in the mix! And it was lightly sprinkled with parmesan cheese! It was amazing. Everyone’s food was amazing. They do amazing things with tater tots as well. I didn’t try any beer but if it’s anything like their food it won’t disappoint.

The views around the shopping area are fabulous. I love the mountains!

Also, someone had this awesome fence that consisted of nailing twigs to the beams.

After dinner we walked around but not being much of shoppers (helloooo minimalism) we went to the beach. Once again I was in awe of the mountains by the water. My photo album is starting to resemble something close to mountain porn…assuming porn like that exists. It does now, I suppose.

They even had a sand sculpture and I may or may not have feasted on more cactus.

They have a nice dock you can walk down with a few more restaurants and, more importantly, candy and ice cream stores.

The view was amazing especially as it was a full moon. There were also some pelicans hanging out.

I give Santa Barbara two thumbs up. It was super laid back and didn’t seem too touristy. People were going about their daily lives; there were softball games and volleyball tournaments happening amongst the homeless folk. My only regret was being too full to try the juice place across the street from the Brewery. Next time, Santa Barbara, next time.

Oh, and here’s me with my friend. I swear, I do have friends on this trip! They graciously stop walking when I’m  photo-ing the mountains.