Travels with haRVy

We did not plan to spend our entire winter in SoCal, but we can’t think of a single reason to leave the spectacular weather we’ve been experiencing. Accommodating family members and friends in the area are making it even more enjoyable!

Santa Barbara coastline

We spent a couple of days and nights with my brother Jeff and his wife Paula where they live in Camarillo, CA before visiting another high school friend of mine, Diane, at her lovely home in Santa Barbara, CA. Jeff and Paula joined us on a fabulous day trip out to Santa Cruz Island, part of the Channel Islands National Park. We joined members of Paula’s family at Carpinteria Beach State Park for a cookout, where I also met up with Karen, a friend who moved out here from Rhode Island, for a great walk (and talk) overlooking a seal rookery.

Quite the social whirl indeed (for us anyway)…fun, fun, fun!

Here are a couple of photos of the succulent gardens that surround Diane’s house.

Here I am with Diane inside this lovely beach side cafe.

And isn’t she just hilariously original?!?

While we were unofficially “camped” at Ventura Harbor, before and after our Santa Cruz Island outing, a youth surfing championship took place. It was quite a scene, so of course I couldn’t resist taking a few photographs of the adorable little surfkins and their proud parents. The waves were quite large (not represented well in photos) with quite a serious riptide present, so the excitement and anxiety was palpable.

Stay tuned for lots of photos from Santa Cruz Island in my next post. We’re still going through them. In the meantime, here’s another beautiful SoCal sunset taken from the beach in Carpinteria.