Carpinteria/Santa Barbara

Ben and I spent a few days in Carpenteria with the family after the harvest while awaiting Amanda's arrival. Lots of swimming, beach walks, and watching dolphins swim by as we played Gin on the deck. We watched a polo match at the Santa Barbara Polo Club and supposedly saw the world's greatest polo player. This is the same polo club that Prince William played at last month. It was an experience to say the least. Good people watching. 

Ben, Blue, and I went for a strenuous 5 mile hike in Santa Barbara on our last day. We hiked to 7 Falls and then on through the creek to 3 Pools. Before getting to the falls and pools we went up a bit higher and saw sweeping views of Santa Barbara and the Channel Islands. The trail to the viewpoints was steep and hot! By the time we finally reached the pools we couldn't have been happier to jump right in. There were four pools big enough for swimming at 7 Falls, all sculpted out of solid rock - it had the feeling of Utah or the Southwest. The falls were natural water slides and we slid from one pool to the next. I'd highly recommend this hike, but would probably skip the strenuous section that brings you to the views - it had us stopping in the shade every chance we got. If we had gone straight to the falls it would have been a pretty easy hike. 

From Carpenteria we drove to LA to get our rental car, a bright red Nissan Versa, which Amanda and I have for the two weeks it will take us to get to Portland. Then it was on to Orange County Airport to pick up Amanda. First stop was for her first In-N-Out Burger! We went to the Ranch for a night, gave her the tour, and were off to Mammoth the next morning.