First trip to Santa Barbara area
Jun 22nd, 2012, 10:29 AM
#1
Original Poster
First trip to Santa Barbara area
This trip report will be much shorter than the last.
We (DW and I) got back from the epic trip back east for our daughter's wedding on June 2.
We left on our road trip to Santa Barbara on Friday June 8. I let DW drive the first shift down US 97 to Weed CA. I enjoy the drive down through Dunsmuir to Redding on I-5.
We stopped at a Super WalMart and picked up sandwiches, drinks and a 5 qt. container of oil since the car recently started using oil.
We got to the Oakland Bay bridge toll booth just about 4PM. I was dismayed that they now collect $6 for a car to come into SF. I think I remember going into the city for free a few years ago. The traffic was pretty bad but it looked like the outbound traffic was moving even slower. We crossed over I-380 over to get on I-280 south to Belmont. We had a very interesting drive over the mountains on CA 92 coming out in Half Moon Bay on Rt. 1.
We drove south on Rt. 1 to the turnoff to the small town of Pescadero.
We picked up some groceries and cherries, strawberries and some snap peas.
We had been to the HI hostel at Pigeon Point before so the male and female dorms were no surprise. I cooked up Zatarain's jambalaya with shrimp and sausage we brought from home. The cherries were a good dessert.
We got on the road south the next morning at about 9:30 and we stopped for a leisurely lunch at Marie Callender in Pismo Beach.
We called our DIL and let her know when we would be arriving at the student housing of UCSB which is west of the Santa Barbara airport.
Our motel was 22 miles away in Carpenteria. All of the reservable rooms under $120/night in Santa Barbara and Goleta were taken when I went to reserve.
We stayed at the Sandland Reef motel in the north end of Carpenteria.
The rooms still have analog TV's and have no refrigerators or microwaves.
The bed was comfortable enough and we had no problem with any type of noise.
It was perfectly adequate for the $75/night that we paid. The Motel 6 just down the road posted a price on their signboard on Monday of 51.99. That may have been for 1 person.
In the next installment will be the SB Mission, the zoo and our meal on the Santa Barbara Wharf.
We (DW and I) got back from the epic trip back east for our daughter's wedding on June 2.
We left on our road trip to Santa Barbara on Friday June 8. I let DW drive the first shift down US 97 to Weed CA. I enjoy the drive down through Dunsmuir to Redding on I-5.
We stopped at a Super WalMart and picked up sandwiches, drinks and a 5 qt. container of oil since the car recently started using oil.
We got to the Oakland Bay bridge toll booth just about 4PM. I was dismayed that they now collect $6 for a car to come into SF. I think I remember going into the city for free a few years ago. The traffic was pretty bad but it looked like the outbound traffic was moving even slower. We crossed over I-380 over to get on I-280 south to Belmont. We had a very interesting drive over the mountains on CA 92 coming out in Half Moon Bay on Rt. 1.
We drove south on Rt. 1 to the turnoff to the small town of Pescadero.
We picked up some groceries and cherries, strawberries and some snap peas.
We had been to the HI hostel at Pigeon Point before so the male and female dorms were no surprise. I cooked up Zatarain's jambalaya with shrimp and sausage we brought from home. The cherries were a good dessert.
We got on the road south the next morning at about 9:30 and we stopped for a leisurely lunch at Marie Callender in Pismo Beach.
We called our DIL and let her know when we would be arriving at the student housing of UCSB which is west of the Santa Barbara airport.
Our motel was 22 miles away in Carpenteria. All of the reservable rooms under $120/night in Santa Barbara and Goleta were taken when I went to reserve.
We stayed at the Sandland Reef motel in the north end of Carpenteria.
The rooms still have analog TV's and have no refrigerators or microwaves.
The bed was comfortable enough and we had no problem with any type of noise.
It was perfectly adequate for the $75/night that we paid. The Motel 6 just down the road posted a price on their signboard on Monday of 51.99. That may have been for 1 person.
In the next installment will be the SB Mission, the zoo and our meal on the Santa Barbara Wharf.
Jun 22nd, 2012, 11:34 AM
#2
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Great start, tomfuller! Have always enjoyed your posts!
We were just over Highway 92 twice this last week to Half Moon Bay - once to dine at Phil's and have their lobster roll and once to go and just get a drink (I had their rose wine) and picnic in the back of La Nebbia Winery.
I live too close to Pigeon Point to stay at their hostel but have walked around their grounds. How's staying there? Is it clean (that's always my key concern)?
Welcome to California and looking forward to the rest of your TR!
We were just over Highway 92 twice this last week to Half Moon Bay - once to dine at Phil's and have their lobster roll and once to go and just get a drink (I had their rose wine) and picnic in the back of La Nebbia Winery.
I live too close to Pigeon Point to stay at their hostel but have walked around their grounds. How's staying there? Is it clean (that's always my key concern)?
Welcome to California and looking forward to the rest of your TR!
Jun 22nd, 2012, 02:00 PM
#3
Original Poster
It is my observation that HI hostel beds are as clean as the last person who slept in them. Pigeon Point is no exception.
When you check in, they hand you a fitted sheet, top sheet, pillowcase and 1 towel. The men's shower room has two showerheads with sliding privacy curtains. They expect you to clear the drain if you leave hair on the shower floor and also arrange the curtain as you found it. DW informs me that the women's dorm room has an old bathtub as well as a shower.
My wife was glad that we got to the hostel when we did. She got the last bottom bunk in the Dolphin building.
You are expected to wash your own dishes, silverware and cooking utensils and clean up in the kitchen when you finish your meal. We both love the paths and the old lighthouse next to the hostel. There is another lighthouse hostel at Point Montera closer to SF. We may try that one on some future trip.
To save some money, we considered staying at a yurt at Lake Cachuma but they also seem to be booked months in advance.
Next segment of the TR tomorrow morning.
When you check in, they hand you a fitted sheet, top sheet, pillowcase and 1 towel. The men's shower room has two showerheads with sliding privacy curtains. They expect you to clear the drain if you leave hair on the shower floor and also arrange the curtain as you found it. DW informs me that the women's dorm room has an old bathtub as well as a shower.
My wife was glad that we got to the hostel when we did. She got the last bottom bunk in the Dolphin building.
You are expected to wash your own dishes, silverware and cooking utensils and clean up in the kitchen when you finish your meal. We both love the paths and the old lighthouse next to the hostel. There is another lighthouse hostel at Point Montera closer to SF. We may try that one on some future trip.
To save some money, we considered staying at a yurt at Lake Cachuma but they also seem to be booked months in advance.
Next segment of the TR tomorrow morning.
Jun 23rd, 2012, 04:50 PM
#5
Original Poster
This morning I typed out a lengthy section of the report. It seems not to have been submitted properly.
My wife likes peas much more than I do. She shucked the peas from the pods and ate them raw. We gave a couple of pods to a lady who was in the kitchen when we were there. She said that the pods were very fibrous. She ate them pods and all.
We left Pigeon Point at about 9:30AM and had a leisurely lunch at Marie Callender in Pismo Beach. We called DIL to tell her that we would be arriving within 2 hours. We did manage to find the UCSB family student housing which is just west of the SB airport. We visited about an hour in their very cramped apartment before we went to our motel 22 miles away in Carpenteria. The Sandland Reef was the only area motel I could find for less than $120/night.
On Sunday we went to breakfast at Joe's Cafe on State Street.
We then went up the hill to the Mission for the tour. My DW had to wait for a mass to be over to see the interior of the church section of the SB Mission. We went from the Mission down to the zoo. We met the rest of the family there.
We spent several hours at the zoo seeing many animals large and small. We ended the visit to the zoo with DW, DIL and the Grandsons riding the train around the zoo.
By this time we are all getting hungry so we followed DIL out onto the SB Wharf. It was a very busy Sunday.
We ate at Moby Dick. We sent 2 takeout boxes home with them since we had no refrigerator or microwave at the motel.
Monday was the the oldest GS 12th birthday. Tomorrow I will continue with the Monday birthday and the Tuesday long drive all the way home to Oregon without going through SF.
My wife likes peas much more than I do. She shucked the peas from the pods and ate them raw. We gave a couple of pods to a lady who was in the kitchen when we were there. She said that the pods were very fibrous. She ate them pods and all.
We left Pigeon Point at about 9:30AM and had a leisurely lunch at Marie Callender in Pismo Beach. We called DIL to tell her that we would be arriving within 2 hours. We did manage to find the UCSB family student housing which is just west of the SB airport. We visited about an hour in their very cramped apartment before we went to our motel 22 miles away in Carpenteria. The Sandland Reef was the only area motel I could find for less than $120/night.
On Sunday we went to breakfast at Joe's Cafe on State Street.
We then went up the hill to the Mission for the tour. My DW had to wait for a mass to be over to see the interior of the church section of the SB Mission. We went from the Mission down to the zoo. We met the rest of the family there.
We spent several hours at the zoo seeing many animals large and small. We ended the visit to the zoo with DW, DIL and the Grandsons riding the train around the zoo.
By this time we are all getting hungry so we followed DIL out onto the SB Wharf. It was a very busy Sunday.
We ate at Moby Dick. We sent 2 takeout boxes home with them since we had no refrigerator or microwave at the motel.
Monday was the the oldest GS 12th birthday. Tomorrow I will continue with the Monday birthday and the Tuesday long drive all the way home to Oregon without going through SF.
Jun 24th, 2012, 07:22 AM
#7
Original Poster
My DW loves knitting & yarn stores. She and DIL and the 2 grandsons (now 12 and 3), went out shopping in SB. They were disapointed that Cardigans on State St. was closed on Mondays. They ended up at Knit & Pearl Boutique on Figueroa. St.
After putting up with the knitting stores, the birthday boy got to go to Game Stop.
My DS and I went down to Coal Oil Point which is the SW corner of the UCSB West Campus. At the top of the bluff, we saw a monument to the family who sold/donated the land to the state for the start of the campus. We also met the requirements for logging an Earth Cache down on the beach. At times, oily tar seeps up through the sand and small stones.
We also saw an oil rig offshore and a few surfers. We also found a regular geocache up near the bicycle path that is on the top of the bluff.
We all got together later at the cramped apartment for Costco pizza and the marble birthday cake our DIL made.
Luckily Trent got the game that he had wanted from Game Stop.
Three year old Tiberius had a pretty good day too.
Tuesday we got to the apartment early to say goodby to DIL and the grandsons. DS was on campus doing his 3 hour final in Physics. After we had a little breakfast and packed some cold drinks, he set out toward home.
De drove north on US 101 to Santa Maria and took CA 166. Someone recently mentioned a winding never ending road. This would be it. We finally made it to Maricopa after making a pit stop at a construction zone outhouse on a trailer.
From Maricopawe went north on 33 which is known as the Petroleum Highway. On about 3 square miles, I saw several hundred oil jacks with more wells being drilled. Too bad the only gas pump I saw on 166 was posted at $4.659/gallon
Eventually we got on I-5 near Buttonwillow.
We filled the tank near Los Banos and kept heading north.
We set a goal for our evening meal of the Black Bear Diner in Willows. The place was busy but the food was good.
With plenty of daylight left, we decided to press onward.
It was about sunset when we got to South Weed where we topped off the tank @ 3.959 at the Pilot. It was a long trip up US 97 all the way to Crescent, but we made it home by midnight. The cat was glad to see us.
Questions? Comments?
After putting up with the knitting stores, the birthday boy got to go to Game Stop.
My DS and I went down to Coal Oil Point which is the SW corner of the UCSB West Campus. At the top of the bluff, we saw a monument to the family who sold/donated the land to the state for the start of the campus. We also met the requirements for logging an Earth Cache down on the beach. At times, oily tar seeps up through the sand and small stones.
We also saw an oil rig offshore and a few surfers. We also found a regular geocache up near the bicycle path that is on the top of the bluff.
We all got together later at the cramped apartment for Costco pizza and the marble birthday cake our DIL made.
Luckily Trent got the game that he had wanted from Game Stop.
Three year old Tiberius had a pretty good day too.
Tuesday we got to the apartment early to say goodby to DIL and the grandsons. DS was on campus doing his 3 hour final in Physics. After we had a little breakfast and packed some cold drinks, he set out toward home.
De drove north on US 101 to Santa Maria and took CA 166. Someone recently mentioned a winding never ending road. This would be it. We finally made it to Maricopa after making a pit stop at a construction zone outhouse on a trailer.
From Maricopawe went north on 33 which is known as the Petroleum Highway. On about 3 square miles, I saw several hundred oil jacks with more wells being drilled. Too bad the only gas pump I saw on 166 was posted at $4.659/gallon
Eventually we got on I-5 near Buttonwillow.
We filled the tank near Los Banos and kept heading north.
We set a goal for our evening meal of the Black Bear Diner in Willows. The place was busy but the food was good.
With plenty of daylight left, we decided to press onward.
It was about sunset when we got to South Weed where we topped off the tank @ 3.959 at the Pilot. It was a long trip up US 97 all the way to Crescent, but we made it home by midnight. The cat was glad to see us.
Questions? Comments?
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