Coastal Trip Episode I: The Santa Barbara Menace

So two weekends ago, I decided to take a big trip up the coast. There were a few reasons for this: I realized the Monday morning prior that this would be my last weekend in California to explore and take a trip (the following weekends were booked with trips to Yosemite and Colorado, and one for my family to come and visit), my future roomie Shannon had extended an invitation to visit her in Carmel Valley, and John had just sent me a photo of Big Sur -- a stretch of gorgeous coastline between here and Carmel. All the stars were aligned, so I did a quick planning job, packed up, and took off early Saturday morning.

I knew that I would have loads of time to chat (turned out to be not so much as I didn't get reception most of the way!), so I purchased a brand new Bluetooth headset since my old one had stopped working well. I felt so futuristic!

I was out the door by 6:30 am on Saturday to beat traffic. The first stop was one of my favorite places around here -- Santa Barbara. How gorgeous are those mountains coming down to meet the ocean?

I arrived to a sleepy Santa Barbara around 8:30 and felt like I had the town pretty much to myself. I drove around trying to find the Mission and ended up pulling over to look at the map next to the judiciary complex. It was gorgeous, especially with the sun rising just over the building.

Then I found my way to the mission at the top of the town. It was really pretty, but unfortunately I was there too early to get into the mission and couldn't stick around for it to open. (Hardly ever happens that I am there too early for something!)

This large fountain was outside the mission with lilies floating on it.

So after a few quick pictures and a stretch of the legs, I had to be on my way in order to make it to Hearst Castle on time!