Santa Barbara part 1

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Good evening everyone! Once again, the internet is hit or miss for us. I'm sitting at the vanity countertop in Nick's bathroom (which is huge) to get a connection. The router is in his room and for some reason the rest of the house can't get it. I believe everyone is asleep, we had another big day……..but this time at the beach!

We made good time yesterday and arrived at our house in Santa Barbara at 4pm. As you will see in the pictures, there is a hammock between 2 giant palm trees in the back yard and our view is pretty amazing. The house is on the side of a hill that is about 4 miles from the ocean, which we can see part of. Our rental is very spacious, which is important at this point in the trip 😉 6 adults need their space! Last night we made a big meal with chicken, steak, sweet corn, potatoes, and salad and sat around the table like the family that we are. Still laughing. And not fake laughing either. Karla has taken it to the next level with her humor.

Throughout the days we have "family meetings" to make decisions and I'm impressed with our productivity! And can I just say, Nick is amazing…… wow, now I'm thinking of so much more to write about. In Boulder City, Nick befriended our neighbor, Jim, at the hotel (which as most of you know, is a special skill of his). Jim is a helicopter pilot for a LA news station and Jim's brother-in-law designs/makes cars for movies (Fast & Furious, Batman, etc) and has promised to send some Hollywood merch in the next few weeks. Oh, and before we parted ways, Jim donated $400 to our trip 😊 I would have to say that these kind of happenings have been the best part of this trip. Nick brings out the best in everyone.

Back to today……we made it to the beach! See the pics, they say it all. Nick attracted all sorts of people to him there as well, including a couple homeless guys who talked to us for minutes about who knows what. Bless their hearts…….

Tonight we went out to dinner at a place called Opal (laugh it up St Paul), where we experienced another happening that went in our favor. When we showed up, Nick noticed that his CPAP machine was almost dead, so he needed to sit by a plug in. The restaurant was slammed and they had us sitting at a table by the front door. Crowded, noisy, no electrical outlet. When we first asked where we could plug in, they just said sorry, they didn't have an outlet there. I thought about leaving and finding another restaurant. Mamma Rita said we need to ask someone in the side room (she's full of wisdom). Well, a group of 7 had just called in and said they would be 4, so we got their big table in the bigger, nicer, quieter room with an outlet. Food was delicious. The ride home was non-stop laughter about jokes that have to do with bodily functions. I didn't know they all shared an interest in one of my favorite pastimes! Eyerusalem was crying, which made it even funnier 😊

Tomorrow we will drive 35 miles south to Ventura to hop on a ferry that will take us on a cruise around the Channel Islands. Our waitress tonight told us that this is the perfect time of year to go and that we have a good chance of seeing some whales. Wish us luck!

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