I almost called this blog "He loved me enough to stop at Starbucks." For the coffee-drinker, no big deal; but for a non-coffee drinker husband to make a coffee stop for his poor headachy and addicted wife--well, let's just say that is definitely my love language! Along with all the pit stops to snap photos, Kel definitely made our 38th anniversary jaunt to the ocean a pleasant day!
We stopped by the cabin which is not a cabin. Kel's grandfather had built a cabin in the 1930s and added on a few rooms in bits and pieces over the years, in addition to planting fruit trees out front. I remember the wonderful stone fireplace--the only heat. Kel's mom has childhood memories there as does Kel, but we didn't go inside because it is now much changed with other attached buildings, and the trees are gone. It was so different, we didn't want pictures. I did snap these flowers out front, though.
Near the cabin is the park where in 1974 we spread the ashes of Noelle, our first child--stillborn. In my memory, the park was small, rustic, and wooded. This one is now much bigger with RV access at $125 a night. The trees are original, and the ashes of her wee body are part of the top of the mountain. But again--no pictures, except for some trees who witnessed all. It's better looking up. Things change.
We circled Casitas Lake, stopping for pictures. Okay, I know it is a man-made lake, and it probably ticked off some environmentalists at the time, as well as some wooded creatures, but it is very pretty, nonetheless.
Onward to Santa Barbara and the ocean. We had our anniversary lunch at IHOP--big spenders! :-) But for healthfood nuts, if you're going to eat something unhealthful and non-organic, IHOP's not a bad place to sin. Tasty and cheap! (But no pictures!)
No picture of the Starbucks, though that was indeed momentous! :-) But one last stop in the farmlands to capture fall pumpkins in all their orange and ochre glory.
