Santa Barbara and Solvang

"We used to play outside when we were young and full of life and full of love." - Of Monsters and Men, Little Talks

After running the OC half marathon, Sean and I took a couple days off to head out of town and spend some time together, just the two of us! It feels like we plan so much with family and friends (not to say we don’t appreciate and love time with them) but we haven’t gone on a trip alone...ever! He needed some time away too after a really hectic last 3 months at work. We decided on Santa Barbara and Solvang for a little get away. I've never been to Solvang and he has never been wine tasting so it worked out as new experiences for both of us.

Gasin up for our first vacation together

We stayed in Carpinteria the first night and woke up and explored the 2 mile stretch of beach between Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve to Carpinteria State Beach. (Yes, I did this all after running my fastest half marathon the day before! Ugh.) It was sooo gorgeous though. I am so thankful we went at the beginning of spring while all of the delicate wildflowers are in full bloom. In just a few weeks they will be burnt to a crisp from the hot summer sun. The air was fresh, the sun was warm, but the breeze felt great. We couldn’t ask for a better day. We took these rad pictures as we explored. I soaked up a little too much sun (ouch!).

The trail

Sean getting a picture of some bird

Bird shot

Flock of Seagulls

Fork in the road that lead to down the cliff side to the ocean.

Explorers

Views

Views

Me and Sean in this little beach cove we found

Sean checking out the beach cove

Of course I did!

 Us 

Love love love

I love this shot of us

Isn't this a rad tree?

Now you can kind of gauge how big it is with me standing next to it.

Portraits of Sean...I was playing with the speed on this one.

Panoramic shot

Me in the wildflowers

My two favorite shots

Us.

This pic makes me LOL. "I see you!"

Zen

Soaring high with the birds

I love this pic of Sean

Nature girl!

Old dinosaur head looking at us. haha!

After getting some lunch in SB (my appetite is ridiculous after a half marathon and eating is my one and only priority for the days the follow) we happened upon the Santa Barbara Mission. We were looking for a nice place to relax in the shade and I yelped nearby parks and alas, The Mission!

ARg!

He is so handsome

HAHA yup!

After a little down time we rolled out to Solvang. The drive there was sooo pretty and reminded me of the ranch. More on Lake Cachuma later...

Solvang was cool. The town closes down at about 7pm so don’t go and think you are going to have fun sipping wine after dinner. We found ONE spot that stayed open a little later called Tastes of the Valleys and enjoyed a nice flight after dinner. The guy that worked there was so awesome and we really enjoyed what he had to share. We left with a couple bottles. One, a super blend called M5 was delicious and then a Merlot by Babcock that I loved. Yes, I found a merlot that I love! Crazy right? Sean and I sipped by the fire place and really enjoyed the ambiance and the guy who helped us. It was a great little spot.

Arrived!

Tastes of the Valleys http://www.tastesofthevalleys.com/

Our tasting spot.

The next morning we strolled the town, ate waffles, and gelato. I bought a pair of socks. “I went to Solvang and bought a pair of socks.” LOL but these looked amazing! I had to have them.

My awesome Solvang socks!

It was really hot there (90 degrees) so we were kind of melting and my sun burn was roasting. We dipped early afternoon to make our way back.

The sights

One of my favorite buildings.

I saw this shot from afar as the flowers were being watered by the sprinklers and made a mental note to come back and shoot them with water droplets on the petals. It was worth the wait because I love these two pictures.

Along the way, we stopped at every vista point we could find along Lake Cachuma. It was beautiful and we enjoyed taking in the beauty of the countryside.

…And then I fell out of a tree…

I was trying to get these awesome

shots of the two of us up in this gorgeous old oak tree, when my flip flop slipped and down I went. Yes, do not attempt to climb a tree in Guess flips…it doesn’t work.

Anyways, I was a little scrapped up but it made for a good story and a good laugh, and the pics did come out rad.

See, the tree has a heart shape! We are soooooo gay!

Kissing spot!

Me with Lake Cachuma in the background

This picture totally reminds me of The Ranch

Vista #1

The view from Vista #2

Tourists at Vista #2

We made our way home but stopped off at the Santa Barbara street farmers market, ate dinner, ate strawberries, and eventually arrived home safe and sound around 9:30pm.

I love this shot. Sean is sooooo kewl!

Our first trip away just the two of us went pretty smooth without any hiccups. I wish I wasn’t sun burnt, sore, had a scrapped up arm after falling out of the tree, and constantly hungry, but Sean and I did very well given the circumstances. We learned a lot about each other like, sometimes I just need him to take control make the decisions because I can’t! Or, that I should always carry snacks (which I did a pretty good job of doing!). And especially, and most importantly, how much fun it is to go with the flow, fly by the seat of your pants, stop at every vista point, and take the long way home.

This turns out to be something that Sean and I both enjoy and are very, very good at.