What A Day!

I don't get out much. Sunday we went to church and had people over in the evening. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday we stayed home. Didn't need anything, didn't want to spend the money on gas, etc. Thursday, Jessica called her Papa at 8am and said, "Do you want to go to the beach with us?" How could he say no? So he changed out of his work clothes and put on some shorts and came down the hill. We grabbed a change of clothes and some frozen water bottles and headed out by about 9:30am. We drove out on Hwy 126 through all the orchards and groves (this is a huge agricultural area because of the climate) and as we approached Ventura, we started talking about how long it had been since we had been to Buellton and Solvang and how nice it would be to take a trip up there. Well, we kept going. Had lunch at Pea Soup Anderson's. Dad treated for lunch, so I didn't want to spend a lot. I had the "All-You-Can-Eat" Soup Lunch and the girls had macaroni and cheese and spaghetti. Dad had soup and Chinese Chicken Salad. With our tummies full, we took off. We drove to Solvang and Dad was looking for a place to park. He ended up going through town and we found the Santa Inez Mission, so we stopped to take a look around. They have very beautiful grounds and it was nice and peaceful. Over on one side of the grounds there was a path that had crosses and on each cross was one of the Stations of the Cross, numbered and with a description of what each picture was. It was very nicely done. Jessica stopped to read and look at each of the pictures. We also walked through the rose garden. Beautiful!

Next we were off to wander around the town a bit, so we parked on a side street and got out to look around. We stopped at a wine and cheese shop. I noticed that they had Silver Oak and I asked if they had something similar in taste to the '93 Silver Oak we had just had. He said he didn't have that, but he had the '03 Silver Oak, which was $100 per bottle. Said if he could get it, the '93 would be $240! I told him we didn't have that much money, but was there something for less that would be nice? He suggested the Arnold Palmer Cabernet. $14/bottle. That's better. Dad bought two bottles. Then we went on to a bakery and got the obligatory tub of Solvang butter cookies.

We decided to head back so we would have time to spend at the beach. The girls got to have a little taste of Solvang and the mission and so we had to move on.

Next, on the way back toward Santa Barbara, we stopped at a U-Pick Blueberry Stand. Who knew there was such a thing? They had rows and rows of blueberries and they were good! We didn't pick too many. I think they were affected by the heat waves of the past week and a lot of them were wrinkled. We will have to try again another time. But it was cool! And they were delicious! On we went...

To the beach! There is a little alcove beach next to a park off of Seaward Avenue in Ventura and it is awesome. The grass park has swings and a playground, clean restrooms and a sand beach. There is also a big "ship" parked in the sand and it has a rope thing attached to a cable that you can hold on to and it carries you down to the sand. Really fun! Rebekah was too scared to go on it the last time we were there, but yesterday she did and she loved it! She went on it three times, though the second time she fell off. She didn't get hurt, she just fell in the sand, and she got on it after that, so I guess she was okay. Jess loves it and goes on as much as possible. They also enjoyed getting their feet wet in the ocean and the water was COLD!!! I got my feet wet, too! Then we went to Andria's Seafood Restaurant which has, by far, the best food around there! Best fish and chips I have ever had and then we also tried the onion rings. They were phenomenal. The only bad thing was that we had to split the order four ways and there wasn't enough! So yummy! They also have a fresh fish market at the place and everything is fresh!

We stopped for gas (Dad's little Saturn got 35mpg!) and then we hit a veg./fruit stand on the way home. Got oranges, grapefruit, tomatoes, bananas, strawberries, cucumbers, plums and zucchini. And peanuts in the shell for Jessica. She loves those. And then, we headed for home. After the delay because of an accident on the 126, we got home at about 8:45pm. The girls were ready for bed! Kissed and hugged Papa goodbye and kissed and hugged Daddy goodnight and they were off to bed. What a fun day! I took the disposable camera, so when I get the pics developed, I will post some.

So, we have this wine...

I know very, very little about wine. Like, some are red, some are white, some are sweet and some are not. That about covers it. Well, last night we had some people over from church. So our priest's wife and I go into the family room to see if we have any wines that look appealing. I start reading off names to her and she says, "No, that's sweet...no, that's sweet." I said, "Silver Oak". She says, "That is an expensive wine!" Apparently they had this particular wine at the home of some people that know wine and it was good. And expensive. We picked it up at a winery in Las Vegas, I believe it was the wine cellar at the Rio (where we got married) when we were there several years ago. Not knowing what was good, we asked them for a recommendation and that is what we ended up with. Two bottles. I doubt that it cost more than $20 per bottle. We would not have spent that much. Like I said, I don't know much about wine. So, we opened it last night and I sent her home with the little bit that was left. It was good. Very good. No bitterness, no wierd flavors. I don't usually like wines that are not sweet, but this was very good. So, for fun, I just now pulled it up on the internet. 1993 Silver Oak Cabarnet. Okay, the three prices I found were $115, $150 and $169.99. One place had it for $266.99!!! I about fell on the floor. I think that is funny. I am glad that someone who really enjoys red wine got to enjoy it. We will have to save the other bottle for some special occasion. Funny. Cheers, my friend!