It feels like many moons ago that we went on a Californian adventure. Really it's only been 2 months (which for this blog, makes it recent news), but life has changed a lot since the morning we hopped on a plane to LAX for our big desert holiday.
The first 24 hours of our trip were a whirlwind tour of Santa Barbara. We stopped for lunch at
Malibu Farm Café on the way up the coast from the airport. I'd dreamed of eating here for at least three years, and sitting on the roof, overlooking the ocean, the sun beating down, digging into a bright salad, sipping on fresh watermelon juice, and stealing mum's pancakes, was like the happiest dance for joy. Escaping New York and the stress of the previous weeks for this slice of paradise led to big, wide smiles.
M&D then gave B & I a glimpse of Santa Barbara life, which as far as I can see looks pretty perfect. The beaches were stunning, the mountains just behind majestic (if scary to drive up), the sunsets mesmerizing,
the ice cream delicious, and the people we spent the evening with kind and warm. Everyone made us feel right at home.
The next morning we all headed down from the mountains for a run along the beach (is it actually people's reality that they wake up every morning and run along the beach? is that actually possible?), followed by a dream breakfast at
Helena Avenue Bakery—Green Breakfast Bowls, freshly-baked bagels, toast, and cookies for the road... We weren't really ready to leave Santa B. In just 1 day I'd fallen in love. But more adventures awaited, and we weren't going to fall prisoner to that LA traffic. We needed to get to Joshua Tree. Next chapter coming soon.
