Leaving Solvang and Heading North to Monterey

Day 312 on the road.

Starbucks, Del Monte Center, Monterey

My last update was from Solvang. I left there over a week ago to take the scenic California Hwy. 1 along the coast to Carmel and Monterey. I'm glad I did. I found Paradise.

Scenic Hwy. 1 is famous for a reason: the unbelievable beauty of the coastline and mountains. After leaving San Luis Obispo, I passed the small beachside communities of Oceano, Grover Beach, and Pismo Beach. I stopped for a while in Cayucos because of the enormous pier that stretched out into the ocean. I walked the boards along the pier and took advantage of the cool breeze.

(Photo left: downtown Cayucos looking east from the pier.)

(Photo right: looking northward from the pier at Cayucos.)

(Photo right: the beach at Cayucos, looking southward.)

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.