Santa Barbara!

We arrived as expected on Sunday and spent a few great days here before heading to LA, where we had another several wonderful days. The best part of the trip so far was that my mom and her new partner, Elaine, surprised us on Wednesday at a local SB Mexican eatery. Don said he hadn't seen me so happy in a long time...

There is the Goleta (aka The Gap) fire burning nearby, but it's 25 miles to the north of us and other than increased air traffic, you'd never know.

While in LA, we did visit our old haunt, the Baja Cantina (whom after our Baja is named) although we did not partake of Jager's namesake. What a great place to people-watch -- especially on the 4th of July. A bunch of land-lubbers heading toward surf and sand only to return sunburned. And the outfits!!! I was very snarky, but funny (at least to me) about what people were wearing. Trust me, white men should not wear baseball caps sideways or over-sized sunglasses. And "diamond grills" don't work any anyone other than rap stars.

Now my main goal is to try and read as many books as possible while getting a bit of vitamin D. Oh, and trying to eat as much good Mexican food as possible, even if that means El Pollo Loco!.