First stop – Channel Islands National Park. I love islands and have suggested this as a destination for years. It’s not that close to Los Angeles though – to get out to the islands, you really have to get to Ventura the night before. Or you have to leave early in the morning. Neither of which I did, of course. There’s a visitor center on the mainland, so I did get a National Parks Passport stamp. And I saw the exhibits about the formation of the islands and the unique wildlife there. There was also a movie – next best thing to seeing it for myself. There was an observation deck upstairs with a good view of the islands; I went up there. I’d still like to take a day trip out there (not only do I love islands, but I love boat rides), but for now, the visitor center alone was worth the trip.
On to Santa Barbara! Martha and I had come this way many moons ago, and it too was a place I’d wanted to go back to. I’d arranged for a night in a little inn; when I told the proprietor where I’d been and what might be next, she said there were several non-profits in Santa Barbara that could use my help – and then said I probably wanted a place with more problems. Actually, Santa Barbara might be kind of nice! I’m still looking – I should check into it. I went to the Mission – I’ve been to a few of the old Spanish missions now, and each one is a little different; this one was small, with a little museum and a garden and that was about it. Then it was up into the mountains to see some cave paintings - this is what you see if you look through a locked gate; it’s too bad, but at least vandals can’t get to it that way. The drive into the mountains was nice, at any rate, with a view from there of Santa Barbara, the ocean, and the Channel Islands beyond. I went downtown to the main shopping/restaurant district and walked around. It was still a little bit of culture shock – I certainly wasn’t ready to buy anything – but it was a pleasant place to window-shop. I was tired – glad I didn’t plan to get any farther on my first day.
This is one of the stories from the Drive that I have told the most often. In the morning, I was parking the car, and I lightly touched the car behind me. That’s what bumpers are for, right? You know when you’ve gotten too close… (no, I don’t touch the car behind me every time I park, and it was pointed out to me that many cars don’t have bumpers any more). Then someone came up to me and screamed, “do you know you just hit my car?” Stunned, I think I said that I just tapped it. He said, “this isn’t France; that’s not all right.” I meekly apologized, but I had two other responses in my head – 1) “I haven’t driven in two years; give me a break” didn’t seem like a winner. And 2) “You live in Santa Barbara; why aren’t you happy?” I walked along the beach, which was quite peaceful, with a great view of the mountains I had been up in the day before. Then I went to the Santa Barbara County Courthouse, a landmark of mission-style architecture. It had a great self-guided tour, and must-see views from its tower.
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