Pictures of Santa Barbara--Part III (And a Facebook Event)

On Tuesday, several of us Lyrical authors are hosting an event on Facebook celebrating the relaunching of our books. Well, it's actually a LAUNCH for me, but hey, I'll take what I can. Anyway, if you join the event (link HERE), you could win some stuff. Big prize: $50 Amazon Gift Card. We're only holding it from 7-10pm EDT, so it's not like a whole-day event. Hope to see you there!





Well, since no one said I posted too MANY pictures, here are some more of my trip to Santa Barbara. Oh, and by the way, when we left SB, it was in the mid to high seventies. When we arrived in Dayton, it was 21 and windy. Dang!! At least there wasn't any snow!

 This is Goleta Beach.

During low tide.

View of beach from pier.

Pigeons? Where's the sea gulls? :)

This is Cachuma Lake. It's man-made and 52 feet below normal levels. See all those steps? They should be under water!

Here's one of the few floating porta potties. Kind of neat. And of course our little cruise had to stop at one because one of the little girls couldn't hold it in any longer!

The lake was originally the Santa Ynez River. This road (the old Route 154) used to follow it. Yep, it should be under water!

This is where the water is pumped from the lake and sent to Santa Barbara. It is anticipated the lake will run dry if it doesn't rain in the next two years. Luckily, El Nino is expected to hit in the fall, which calls for...rain. Our guide said one good  rain storm will raise the lake by 32 feet.

I caught a white pelican taking off!

After our Nature Cruise on the lake, we went to Solvang and had dinner. Solvang is a danish town. Unfortunately, I didn't get to the bakery in time. I wanted some dessert, but it closed just as we got there. Figures!

Here's a view from the back of my parents' house. Used to be able to see the ocean from this point, but the houses and trees across the street get in the way of the view.

Here's the front of their house. This is where I lived from 1968-1976 (and then in 1987, when my husband was stationed in Korea). It's such a nice and quiet neighborhood. Pretty, too.

I hope you enjoyed my photos. Makes me warm just seeing them again!

So, you got any plans this Saint Patrick's Day? I'm wearing green and that's about it! Have a good one!

Stacy

Pictures of Santa Barbara--Part II (And my 600th Post!)

600 posts. Who knew I'd last this long? Not me. I'm the person who burns out easily. Loses interest half-way through a project and quits. So the fact I'm still blogging and wrote 5 more books after that first one, is really a shocker to me. I guess it just took the right project to stick with it!

Now on with my pictures, and I know, they're not all of Santa Barbara. Most are of our trip down to LA.

 This is the Santa Barbara Zoo. It's really pretty and the weather was great (again)!!

 And what trip to the zoo isn't complete without seeing a giraffe pee! I just wish I hadn't been standing downwind. PU!

On Tuesday we traveled down to Los Angeles. This is a view of the LaBrea tar pits. Doesn't look all that special, does it?

This is what most of the tar pits look like. Surprisingly, the tar is not hot. But it sure is stinky. And it's actually asphalt that is seeping upward.

Those bubbles are caused from the seepage of tar. The workers there go through a lot of the tar and discover fossils (some many years old--talking 10,000 years, here). The fossils are on display in the museum, which we didn't go through.

Next, we drove up to the Griffith Observatory.

Here's a panoramic shot of LA from the observatory. Kind of a hazy (okay, smoggy) day. But hey, I've seen worse!

Yep, you can see the Hollywood sign from the observatory. We really lucked out with the weather, let me tell you. Sometimes you can't even SEE the mountains!

After the observatory, we drove down to Torrance so my daughter could see Torrance High School (which, bad me, I didn't take a picture of). What's so special about that school? Well...it's the school used on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and my daughter is a huge fan of the show. We made her day!

Our final stop was at the Santa Monica Pier (which is apparently also the end of Route 66).

And this is where we had dinner. I got my magnet, too! Oh, okay, not an actual magnet. They were out (figures). But I bought the keychain that is the same as the magnets. I'll remove the ring and attach a magnet to the back. TaaDaa!

Yesterday we went out to Goleta Beach and today we will go up to Lake Cachuma. I'll get those pictures posted Monday.

Can't believe my vacation is almost over. Boo hoo. I'm not looking forward to the long flight or the cold weather waiting for us. Man, if only I could make a million dollars with my books... Yeah, I know, I better start writing more books!

Hope you enjoy the photos! Am I showing too many, not enough, or just the right amount?

Stacy

Pictures of Santa Barbara-Part I

I put Part I in the title, because I'm sure I'll have more pictures to post.

But before I post the pictures I took yesterday, let me show you what it was like at home (as always, if you click on the photo, it will enlarge).

This is a picture of my street on Feb 16. Pretty dreary, huh?

This was a picture of my backyard on March 6th. This portion doesn't get much sunlight, and the temps haven't been very high. I know, it's not as bad as some, but man, I'm just sick of snow!

Yesterday, on Stearns Wharf! Look, no snow!!!

Walk/bike path. I could get used to coming here everyday!

The beach. Yes, that's still California there in the distance (Santa Barbara beaches face south). And that cliff off to the left, just a little downways is the Santa Barbara cemetery (Well, the cemetery is on TOP of the cliff!). My grandmother is buried there.

Here's a panoramic view. Stearns Wharf is from center to right.

I got a little bit of sun. Well, we all did. We planned on going to the Santa Barbara Zoo today, but now we're rethinking that. Might hold off. On Tuesday we plan on going to Santa Monica and Los Angeles. I want to see the LaBrea Tar Pits!!

It's not a given I'll have access to the internet during the day (you know, because I don't have one of THOSE phones--haha!), but I'll check in when I can. 

Where do you wish you could be right now? I'm where I wish! In fact, I think it's going to be real hard leaving this place.

 

Stacy