Inspiration Point hike

On the last day of 2019, we hiked 4 miles up to Inspiration Point, where we had stunning views overlooking Santa Barbara, the Channel Islands, and the Pacific. The hike wound around an exposed hillside before heading into a forest, where we followed a stream and eventually came out at the viewpoint. Mom was not sure she would be able to make it the whole way, but she kept walking, and walking, and made it! (She reached the top and told us her legs felt like jello, which made Carl and me a little nervous for the descent! But Kim found a fabulous walking stick on the way down and it steadied her balance.)

We once again enjoyed an enormous late lunch in SB, picked up some fresh fish and shrimp from a wharf market (and pretty, but less fresh, cupcakes from a bakery) and then retreated back to our house, content to have dinner at home, to enjoy the beach at sunset, and to toast the New Year with some sparkling stuff at 9 pm.

Botanical Garden and Star Wars

On Monday morning we drove back into Santa Barbara to check out the Botanical Garden, a gorgeous natural area set in a canyon. We enjoyed investigating the casitas - children's playhouses - that were constructed in the garden, as well as seeing the redwoods and poppies and other CA plants.

The woodrat house - full of shiny objects - made me think of Liesl and her collections. Below, we were exploring a maze, with fairies and gnomes.

After the garden we had a fabulous lunch in town (one of many! we really enjoyed the food scene in SB) and then everyone other than me and Seb headed to an afternoon showing of Star Wars. We weren't sure how Liesl would handle it, but she watched the whole thing and was very happy. Sebastian and I rented some bikes and biked along the waterfront, enjoying the sun, the views of the ocean, the palm trees, and being together.

After we returned the bikes we headed to a book store to curl up and await the rest of the family, but I was distracted by the gorgeous courthouse. There was a clock tower, five stories tall, that you could climb up, and the gardens and building were just beautiful.

Lizards Mouth

On Sunday we went to a local bouldering area known as Lizards Mouth, up in the hills outside Santa Barbara. Carl and Kim wanted to check out a cave formation there that is known for boulder problems. So we parked and walked half a mile up and over some huge rocks to get to the area. Mom and Dad took it a little slow, but made it just fine.

The actual Lizards Mouth was a sandstone cave, with a traverse across while hanging upside down. Danica and Kim and Carl were fairly successful, but the rest of us either didn't try or were not really able to stay up there for long.

 Liesl was a trooper and did her best to boulder across. She got a little discouraged - climbing on real rock is pretty different than gym climbing - and it was her first attempt.

We soon wandered off from the bouldering cave and began exploring all the other fun rocks in the area, climbing them, jumping from one to another, hiding in them, and taking turns picking a destination rock and racing to get to it. Sebastian loved it, and even Popo got into the adventure.

Steve was trying to get from point A to B, but found himself trapped in a thicket of manzanita trees and coyote brush, and ended up crawling under the bushes (to my great amusement).