Day 303 on the road.

Bulldog Cafe, downtown Solvang

I spent most of yesterday at the Bulldog Cafe in Solvang writing and trying to get caught up on things. I have been driving around the area so much the last few days, I needed a day to just sit and rest for a while.

Late in the afternoon, a side street was closed off and locals began to show up for the regular market that takes place here. Fresh fruits and vegetables were being sold by a dozen or so farmers from the area who had set up tents.

I took a few photos and then walked across the street to eat dinner at the Mustard Seed Restaurant. I won't be back to this tourist trap disguised as a restaurant! The prices were outrageous for the food you received, plus the meal was not that great. I paid $19 for a meal that wasn't worth $4.99. I kept telling myself I was paying for the location and the few of the nice park across the street.

Tomorrow I'll be leaving Solvang. I'm not sure yet where I'll be going from here. I do know I'll be back to the Santa Ynez Valley again. It'a wonderful place to spend a few days.

The Ojai Valley and Hwy.150 Heaven on Earth

After leaving Palmdale last Sunday, I drove the scenic route back toward Santa Barbara on Hwy. 150 going through small towns and the Los Padres National Forest and the wonderful mountains in that area.

The Ojai Valley is paradise, one of those areas that truly could be described as "heaven on earth." The small town of Ojai was ending a musical festival that had been ongoing all weekend. I walked around in downtown Ojai and Libbey Park, where the festival was winding down.

Below are some photos I took while driving west through the mountains to Ojai. To enjoy this beautiful drive, take Hwy. 150 west from Santa Paula and drive the 50 miles or so to Carpinteria.

Lake Casitas, west of Ojai

Downtown Ojai

The Ojai Valley

Current Location: Solvang, California

Solvang is a nice hamlet, or should I say "gehucht." This Dutch community is growing on me. I'm seriously thinking about settling down here.

I'm staying at the Kronborg Inn, just west of downtown. The Kronborg is nice enough, but my room is located upstairs where access is a little difficult. I must climb stairs near the office, then walk through an enclosed balcony of sorts, before reaching an upstairs deck. Then it's a nice walk along the deck, making one turn down another path, before I can enter my room. The patio door leads to a small deck outside my room, and it actually would provide a shorter trip back to my car. But I'm a little afraid of leaving the patio door unlocked while I'm gone.

Ice? To get ice I walk out my patio door (leaving it unlocked, but at least I can see it from the vending area near the pool so I'm not too worried about it) and walk down the stairs near the office. Then I follow a trail along the swimming pool to a narrow path along a wall outside some lower level rooms. I take the narrow path for a short distance before arriving on the far side of the pool where the vending area and ice machine is located. I fill my ice bucket up and return the same way. I feel like a mouse, making my way through a maze to retrieve some cheese.

All of this traversing the paths and narrow walkways of the Kronborg is just another way of reminding me that living in motels can be a bitch sometimes.

Bulldog Cafe in Solvang and Art in Los Olivos

Day 302 on the road.
Bulldog Cafe, Solvang

The Santa Ynez Valley is a charming place. How could you not love this place? The small communities of Santa Ynez, Buellton, Los Olivos, Ballard, and Solvang each paint their own picture of charm and beauty.

As I sat outside a small coffee shop in Santa Ynez yesterday (photo at left), an American flag was blowing in the cool breeze and a young local girl was arguing with her boyfriend on her cellphone. My newspaper was folded just right so the breeze wouldn't toss it on the ground along with the leaves gathered around my feet from the nearby garden. I was drinking a Hawaiian smoothie concoction of coconut, milk, and pineapple juice that I had purchased in the coffee shop. I sat for a while just observing downtown Santa Ynez, which consists of a few aged buildings that are home to a local news journal and other businesses. It's a country town, a western scene from a movie like Shane or El Dorado. I expected a Wells Fargo stagecoach to rumble by at any minute. In fact, this area was a regular stop for the historic Wells Fargo stagecoaches in the late 1800s.

As a Texan, with probably some cowboy, rustler, and certainly gambler, in my DNA, I felt at home.

After leaving Santa Ynez I drove north about 4 miles to Los Olivos. Los Olivos has numerous wine-tasting shops, art galleries, and the "Fess Parker Wine Country Inn" (remember Fess in the old shows Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone?). A fellow Texan, Fess Parker has been in the wine business for years in this area. His winery now encompasses four vineyards on almost 700 acres in the Santa Ynez Valley.

(Photo right: the "Fess Parker Country Inn")

I walked around the downtown area of Los Olivos and visited a couple of the art galleries. I spent most of my time inside the "Judith Hale Fine Art Gallery" just a block north of the "Fess Parker Inn." The gallery is located inside an old building on the southeast corner of the town square. The gallery features sculptures, water colors, oils, jewelry, and ceramics from a wide variety of artists. I also passed a sculpture garden featuring metal works and large sculptures suitable for your patio or home garden.



(Photo left: window view, outside garden, in front of art gallery and frame shop.)















A few miles further north I found the community of Ballard. In Ballard I found a historic landmark, the old Ballard School built in 1882, that has been "in daily use since 1883." (See photo below.)

After leaving Ballard I made my way back to downtown Solvang. I've got a new hangout there, the Bulldog Cafe.

The Bulldog has good coffee and free internet access, so you know I'm going to be there on a regular basis while I'm in town. This morning I noticed a sign near the counter that I had not seen on my previous visits. I had to laugh. It's a bumper sticker of sorts: "Friends Don't Let Friends Drink Starbucks!"

Back to Solvang

Day 301 on the road.
Bulldog Cafe, downtown, Solvang

I'm sitting outside the Bulldog Cafe in Solvang enjoying the beautiful weather. The breeze is keeping me cool on this warm day.

I left Palmdale on Sunday afternoon and drove to Buellton, just a couple of miles from Solvang, to spend the night. Yesterday, Monday, I returned to the Kronborg Inn in Solvang to stay a few days. I'm trying to figure out where I go from here.

I spent time in Solvang yesterday and took some photos (below).

Traveling Can Be Hard Work

Well, let's see. I've been on the road now 300 days. That seems like a milestone to me--a nice even number. Though my original intention was to travel for a year, I may not make it that long. I want to settle down. Traveling is fun and I love it. I will always be a traveler. But having no homebase, no headquarters, nowhere to call "home" is tiresome.

Traveling is hard work.

I find myself today in the small hamlet of Solvang, just north of Santa Barbara, California. Solvang is a Dutch community founded in 1911. Back in those days the town's economy was based on farming, of course. Today, it's tourism. I've read that more than 2 million tourists a year come here to see the Dutch architecture, taste the Dutch pastries and food, and sample the wine that is abundant in these parts. Vineyards and orchards are everywhere. So wine-tasting is a major attraction. I'm being tempted to live here.

My writing schedule has been in a mess since I've been traveling. I have a number of projects I'd like to finish, or maybe start, but have been too busy seeing and experiencing places on the road. Most of my writing has been done on my travel blog at http://www.myroadart.com/.

However, time has probably come for me to leave the road for while, catch my breath, settle down, and do some serious writing. I need a home. I need a place I can retreat to once I leave the road. I need to make some money, too. I'm not a rich man.

A Day Tour: The PCH, Malibu, LA, Hollywood, Burbank

Day 299 on the road.
Starbucks, downtown Palmdale, California

How did I end up in Palmdale, just north of Los Angeles? Well, it's the end result of taking a "day tour" of the Pacific Coast Highway (commonly called the PCH around here). When I awoke yesterday in Lompoc, I had not decided where I was driving my old SUV next. After looking at my trusty Rand McNally Road Atlas, I made the decision to drive south along Hwy. 101 and the Scenic Route Hwy. 1. The PCH follows the coastline and you can take the scenic road California Hwy. 1 to access all the beaches and towns along the way.

From Lompoc I drove south on U.S. 101/Cal. Hwy. 1 toward Santa Barbara. I toured Santa Barbara, visiting the downtown area and then driving to the harbor and pier on the west coastline of the city. The Santa Barbara Harbor is quite amazing and beautiful. Of course, thousands of people were spending the day at the beach so traffic was horrible. Santa Barbara is a great place, however, and it was worth the effort. The downtown area is a tourist mecca with shopping and local eateries a big attraction. Then the beach and local harbor are a must-see for anyone in town.

(Above and below: downtown Santa Barbara)

(Below: Santa Barbara public beach area and Santa Barbara Harbor)

Leaving Santa Barbara, I stayed on the scenic route and followed the coastline to Ventura. I ate lunch at the Ventura Harbor and Marina, an enormous shopping development and marina with hundreds of boats and yachts. Ventura also has plenty of beach access, of course, but I spent my time at the marina looking at the sailboats, fishing rigs, speed boats, and yachts. I ate BBQ (not very good) at a small cafe on the boardwalk overlooking the harbor. The patio on which I ate had a dozen tables or so and had nice view of the marina. The weather was perfect: a cool breeze and 73 degrees with a bright sun and blue sky. I sat for a long time just soaking up the wonderful scene as sea gulls flew overhead.

(Below: Ventura Harbor and Marina, and shops.)

Once I left Ventura, it was just a few minutes to Oxnard, the home of training camp for the Dallas Cowboys later on this summer in July. (Maybe I can come back and meet Pacman Jones.) The scenic road along the coastline takes a detour in Oxnard and I had drive north through town before entering the Santa Monica Mountains National Park and Recreation Area.

I must say the drive north from Oxnard toward Santa Monica on the PCH is quite an event. To the right was the Pacific Ocean; to the left were the cliffs of the Santa Monica Mountains. All along the drive through this area hundreds of cars were parked at access points along the beaches. Thousands of people were enjoying the beautiful weather, many swimming and surfing the waves breaking toward the coastline.

The scene was wonderful and it was an amazing drive, but I was not prepared for Malibu. Once I arrived in Malibu, the circus began. I have never seen so many people. I saw a sign that said "Malibu, 27 Miles of Scenic Beauty." As I drove that 27 miles along the beaches of Malibu, I was amazed at the number of surfers, swimmers, sunbathers, and people just hanging out and enjoying the wonderful scenes along the PCH. It was a Saturday afternoon, so I should have expected it. However, it was still an amazing drive.

After making it through Malibu, I arrived in Santa Monica just south of Los Angeles. The Santa Monica Harbor and Pier is a carnival of sorts, with Ferris Wheel, roller coaster, and all kinds of tourist attractions. I drove just past the pier and headed toward Los Angeles, with the idea of visiting Hollywood and Burbank before leaving the area.

I drove around Paramount Studios (just a bunch of white buildings with no signs or anything to see but a bunch of fences and security guards) and then visited Hollywood Blvd. and Universal City in Burbank. As I drove up and down Hollywood Blvd. on a late Saturday afternoon, all I could think was, "This is a zoo." I saw street venders, local musicians, local entertainers, and an assortment of costumed creatures advertising various movies that were showing in nearby theaters. It was a very weird scene. One group of Japanese tourists were standing around a guy in blue jeans playing his guitar and dancing to a song he probably wrote himself. Can stardom be far behind for this guy? I saw four pirates, all dressed up and looking for a ship to capture, outside a movie theater.

It was approaching 6 p.m. when I left Universal City and Burbank, so I drove north toward Santa Clarita to find a motel. Palmdale was 20 miles north of Los Angeles and so I decided to drive there for the night.

So, here I am, in Palmdale. after yesterday's "day tour" of the PCH and west Los Angeles. And to think I'm only an hour's drive away from Solvang and all those vineyards.

Today I'm heading back to Solvang. I'm going to stay there until Thursday of next week. For some reason, I can't leave this area yet. Who knows. I may never leave.

(Below: more photos of the PCH and Malibu.)