Tag Archives: Santa Barbara

Travel and sickness

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Pretty kitty
Olive hanging out on the guest bed. The bedding was my daughter’s growing up.

Yesterday was my son’s birthday. I was going to repost my son’s birthday story, where he asked to have 50 kids for his second grade birthday party. We had adopted Angus, our yellow lab, from Guide Dogs of the Desert the year before. I wrote about his birthday party in honor of Angus where our son asked for donations to Guide Dogs instead of presents. He raised $1,600. You can read the story HERE.

I remember our family driving to Guide Dogs to meet Angus. I was nervous about the dog and after we had him in the car, I ran back into the office to ask if I could bring him back — if he didn’t work out. The woman looked at me like I was crazy.

Then she said, “Here are his medical records.” I looked at the paperwork and noticed Angus shared the same birthday with my son. I realized that was it. There was no going back.

We loved Angus until after my son went off to college. My daughter was a junior in high school when we had to say good-bye.

When I looked at my posts from last year, I discovered I had COVID this week in 2023. I had traveled to Washington state to spread my mom’s ashes on her birthday and got sick.

Last week, I got sick after my trip to Santa Barbara which I planned for my mom’s birthday. I’m very stuffed up, have a low-grade fever and I’m achy. I can’t stand being sick and this is my second bug since Christmas. Strange that every time I travel, I seem to get sick.

This current bug was because a woman who was on our tour by shuttle bus sneezed and coughed on us. Why she didn’t bow out of activities and stay in the gorgeous hotel was beyond me. I would have.

Actually, I never got sick traveling to Mexico by car. It’s only when I fly somewhere. In Puerto Penasco, our beach get away four hours south, we eat meals outdoors, we stay in a condo and we’re apart from other people. However, I read that last week they found seven bodies outside of town all shot. They were all men, wearing military gear and our government identified them as cartel members. So, no Mexico for me right now.

Do you get sick after traveling? Or is it just me?

What do you think of people who won’t stay home when they’re sick?

Weekend Getaway

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Boat in Santa Barbara
I saw this boat in the parking lot of the Marina in Santa Barbara. It has my name on it!

Friday was my mom’s actual birthday. I posted my memory of spreading her ashes last year — a few days early. Mom was on my mind the past weeks. I was feeling the milestone.

Good thing I thought about how I might be feeling in advance. I had a plan. We scheduled a weekend getaway in one of my favorite places. Santa Barbara. We celebrated Mom’s birthday there. I was with friends, incredible views, a fun hotel, food, food and more food. It was a wonderful way to spend the weekend.

Here are photos from Santa Barbara:

We arrived at the Santa Barbara Airport on a sunny afternoon.

A view from our friends’ backyard.

Views from our hotel’s rooftop pool. It was breathtaking! What a surprise when we walked out on the rooftop. I had no idea it would be spectacular.

Hotel lobby. I loved how the hotel was decorated in a Spanish Colonial Revival mix with Moroccan flair.

Here we are in the mirror, with a courtyard behind us in one of the hotel’s three buildings.

Morning walk on Stearns Wharf.

Looking back at Santa Barbara from the wharf.

Where is your favorite place to go to treat yourself to a special getaway?

I’m reminded of a song by Lenny Kravitz, “Fly Away.”

Good News!

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This is my family with our daughter-in-law’s family during a Christmas week vacation together in Santa Barbara during a prior year. We were only missing one sister, Maggie, who was at grad school at Cambridge.

I’m sharing wonderful news. My son and daughter-in-law called on their way home from the oncologist. Buff had her first scan since her six-months of chemo ended without major problems and side effects.

Buff has a clean bill of health and feels terrific!

She will receive scans every three months for the next two years, then every six months for the following three years.

It’s been a worrisome, stressful time since Buff’s initial diagnosis of Stage 3C colon cancer, surgery and chemo. I feel relief like our entire family has turned the corner — because our daughter-in-law Buff is doing so well. Hopefully, the newlyweds will have clear sailing from now on throughout their future. I wrote about the day of her surgery HERE.

I’d like to hear more good news! What good news do you have to share?

Ave Maria was played Christmas night by two of Buff’s sisters, Allie and Christy, during the vacation in the photo above. They’re both professional musicians. I’m so grateful to have enjoyed their private concerts and I hope there are many more to come!

Time for friends

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Sailing in Santa Barbara on our friends’ boat.

We’re having house guests for the weekend. I’ve been running around, cleaning, planning menus and buying food. Our good friends from Santa Barbara that we met as newlyweds are driving out to see us in Arizona.

Our husbands met each other during training in Princeton at the beginning of their careers with Merrill Lynch. They hit it off and since we all lived in California, they invited us to their apartment in Santa Barbara. We made the four-hour trek from Palm Springs one weekend.

I’ll never forget pulling up to the curb at the place of people I’d never met and my husband’s friend said “Right mates, let go!” (He’s from Australia.) We jumped in his car and headed to the marina where his wife was waiting for us on their boat.

Soon, I learned how to skirt the jib and follow other commands. We were in the midst of a race with the Santa Barbara Yacht Club. They asked if I needed a jumper which I had no idea meant a sweater. Other Aussie phrases I learned that weekend were “G’day mate” and “for sh*ts and giggles.”

That was the beginning of a friendship I treasure. I overheard the friend tell my husband, “The wives are getting along. It doesn’t always work out that way.”

We don’t have anything nearly as exciting planned for their visit as being in a yacht race. But we’ll enjoy each other’s company, hike some trails and check out the water level at our nearby lake.

What are your favorite things to do with friends?

How did you meet your best friends?

Do you have couple friends that both you and your spouse enjoy?

You can barely see my friend’s head over her husband’s back on one of our sailing trips.

Rent is Too Damn High

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Santa Barbara marina
A view of the Marina in Santa Barbara.

During our weekend in Palm Springs, I was shocked several times at prices. I know California is an expensive place to live and that is one of the reasons why we moved. For example, gas is at least a dollar more than in Arizona.

Take the beautiful photo above. Our friends have a sailboat in the marina and when they bought their boat, they had to pay for the slip, too. Then there was city tax to pay and a monthly slip fee. They don’t actually own the slip. They own the right to rent the slip. Often, that right costs more than the boat itself.

So back to our weekend. My husband was hungry on the drive and there aren’t many places to stop once you leave Phoenix. There are a couple little towns like Tonopah (population 23) and Quartzite (population 2,143). We stopped at a Jack in the Box, ordered two breakfast sandwiches and hash browns. The price was more than $20! This was still in Arizona, so it’s not California’s fault. But shocking all the same.

While we were in Palm Springs, we stopped at our favorite pizza place, Bill’s pizza. We ordered a large pizza and one small salad to share. We ordered the large, so we could take home pizza we love and can’t get in our new city. The tab came to almost $70 with tax and tip.

I was at a neighborhood coffee yesterday morning and a woman complained that she went to the dentist. She had her teeth cleaned, x-rays and one small filling. Total? More than $900.

Our biggest shocker was the gas bill. Yes, we’ve used the heat because we had some cold weather for Scottsdale. It was triple any bill we’ve had before. We turned off the heat and are wearing extra layers on cold days. Fortunately, the weather has gotten warmer.

This reminded me of a politician who used to be in the news:

Jimmy McMillan

New York City political activist

James McMillan III is an American political activist and Vietnam War veteran. He was a perennial candidate in New York City. McMillan is best known as the founder of the Rent Is Too Damn High Party, a New York-based political party. McMillan ran for office at least six times since 1993, most notably in the 2010 New York gubernatorial election.  Wikipedia

Wikipedia

Do you remember him? I wonder if he’s still around and what he’d say about current prices?

What prices or costs have shocked you lately?

My favorite beach houses

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My favorite house on the beach where we walk each morning and evening.

Part of the enjoyment of our beach walks is looking at the houses — as well as at waves, dolphins and an occasional seal. I’m sharing some of my favorite homes, from mansions to cottages. I notice workers washing windows and gardeners working in the yards — but I rarely see people who live there.

I like the house above the best because the architectural style is similar to the house I grew up in. Lots of large glass windows, angles and shake shingles — a contemporary style from the 1970s. I also love this house because it’s private and not too showy. Then there is the tree:

The tree makes the house.

This stately home must have stunning views from the multiple decks.

Another magnificent home with lush landscaping.

I love the contemporary look of this home and the expanse of windows. They scalped the lawn yesterday, which I didn’t know was a “thing” in Santa Barbara. In Palm Springs, lawns are scalped each fall to plant Winter Rye. In the heat of late Spring, the Winter Rye dies and Bermuda Grass, which is dormant in the winter, grows back.

I like the simplicity of this A frame.

Look what is and has happened around this sweet cottage below? Last year there was a cottage next to it, but now there’s a huge crane making tons of noise.

When you get near the parking lot, the homes are smaller and closer together. There are still some cottages left, that haven’t been torn down to build modern monstrosities. This is one of my favorite cottages.

I hope you enjoyed my beach home tour!

If you owned a beach house, what style would it be? Beach cottage, White House replica, contemporary or modern?

There’s no place like home

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Sunset at our favorite beach.

As our long-awaited annual beach vacation comes to a close, I’m feeling homesick. Not to be ungrateful, but I’m looking forward to being in my own home. I miss my cat. My friends, who moved from our old neighborhood in Palm Springs to a mile away in Arizona, have texted and asked when we’ll be back with “We miss you!”

All year long, I’ve looked forward to our weeks out of the heat, at the beach. I guess I didn’t feel “vacationy” with all the anxiety of health issues with our family. I spent the first two weeks in a state of constant worry.

Once relief hit us — that our future DIL will be okay — and COVID also had come and gone with our children, we finally relaxed.

But, then four days in a row, once our fear was gone, we accepted invitations with friends. We hadn’t felt like socializing until things settled down. Four days in a row was way too much for introverted me. We said no to friends yesterday and today. We spent evenings until sunset enjoying a beach walk, sitting until the sun set, and being quiet. Just what my soul needed.

If there’s no place like home, I wish I could click my heels three times and be home — without the nine-hour drive!

When you are on vacation, do you look forward to returning home — or do you want vacation to last longer?