But here are a few pics from our whale watching trip the other day.

These are Common Dolphins swimming right in front of the boat.

This is the tail of one of the Humpback whales we saw - there were three of them swimming together and they got so close to the boat we got sprayed by them!



This is Santa Cruz Island, one of the Channel Islands.

This is a Risso Dolphin. They were much bigger and slower than the Common Dolphins and didn't want to come play with us.





I don’t want to go home!

I have a BIG pout on. I seriously love this place so much. I don’t know why I feel such a connection to it – maybe because it’s so beautiful with the mountains and the ocean and the flowers and the palm trees. Or because I’m always on vacation when I’m here and can leave all the stress and problems of real life at home.

It’s so nice that they celebrated our last day with fireworks – oh, okay, it’s because it’s the Fourth of July. Awesome fireworks on the beach. I've never seen Cabrillo like that! I specially love the ones that look like palm trees. We went to the parade on State Street this afternoon and checked out some of the things going on at the beach – the usual Sunday Arts and Crafts show was on today, and we drank huge pina coladas out of pineapples. Only problem was getting dinner – our favourite pizza restaurant was closed – DAMMIT! We ended up eating hot dogs and curly fries at the beach.

Between the edits on How to Save a Life and this trip, we’ve learned to speak American:
Trash not garbage
Check not bill (In a restaurant)
Soda not pop
Restroom or bathroom not washroom

Napkin not serviette
And many people, when you say thank you, instead of saying “you’re welcome” say “uh-huh”.

I have to remind myself of the good things about going home – sleeping on our own bed, cooking our own food, seeing our dog who we’ve missed so much especially every time we see a dog here. But I know we’ll be back...some day. Hopefully not too far away...

Solvang The winery we went to...outside and inside...

Santa Ynez valley...

Santa Barbara near the Biltmore Hotel

I've lost track. Back to Santa Barbara (that's our hotel above). Had a lazier day around the pool, walked on the beach after dinner. This city is filling up - compared to Monday and Tuesday which were quiet, we had a hard time finding parking this evening. The holiday weekend is heating up. I've never been in the US for the Fourth of July so this will be interesting...

Santa Barbara - 6:30 am - Husband's cell phone goes off. It's Monday morning, 8:00 am at home. Is this going to be one of those vacations where he spends half his time on the phone doing business?

2:30 pm - Yes. It is. This is what happens when you're self-employed and a one man operation. Half the time on the phone, some on the computer and a little time actually with us. I'm not bitter. Seriously, at least we're here.

Walked out on Stearns' Wharf this morning and saw a few dolphins playing in the harbor. We have to see dolphins every trip - my kids have such a special love for dolphins.

Everyone is sunburnt (that hazy cloud really fools you :-) ) Before we came, the kids were checking the forecast and they were annoyed because it was hotter at home than it is here in California (on the coast!! Inland temps are over 100 degrees F!!). It was hard to explain that the sun is stronger but the ocean breezes make it feel cooler. Of course when we were sweating yesterday at Universal Studios I was not listening to ANY complaints about how hot it was.

We watched fishermen unloading sea urchins - thousands of them! - down at the harbor this evening. Then we watched some small crabs playing on the rocks. And I'm driving my family crazy stopping to look at flowers and plants. I want to know what they all are. I recognize some of them that we grow as houseplants or annuals at home - hibiscus, azaleas, bougainvillea, bird of paradise, fig trees - but there are others I need to know what they are! What are those trees with the purple flowers? And the ones with the big white flowers? And those big yellow flowering vines? I'm hoping for a visit to the botanical gardens...

Santa Barbara, CA 9:30 pm
We're here! Packed a lot into today and we all have aching feet and legs. This morning we walked out onto the Santa Monica Pier. Then - because we're here and had to say we did it - we went to Hollywood Boulevard to see Michael Jackson's star. What a circus it was - media parked on the street, security lining people up to take photos of each other in front of the star. The sidewalks were packed with people. Well, now we can say we did it. Then we spent the rest of the day at Universal Studios. Hot! Temps in the 90's and we had to wait 1 1/2 hours to get in because their computer system went down. The afternoon was fun, Universal's very cool, but it was hot and crowded and after walking all day we were pretty burnt out.

Finally we rolled into Santa Barbara around 8:30. When I saw the sign for Cabrillo Boulevard a feeling of such joy swelled up in me - it's been about five years since we've ben back. I love it here so much. It's so familiar, yet still so exotic with the red tile roofs and palm trees and tropical flowers. There were a lot of low clouds as we drove up the coast, obscuring the ocean and shrouding the tops of the hills. Now I'm off to soak my weary bod in the hot tub.