Tag Archives: relocating to Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara Wineries – The Best Kind of Weekend Getaway

Santa Barbara wine country

With over 100 Santa Barbara area wineries to choose from, it’s tempting to try to visit four or five of them when you head out to wine country.  But it’s SO much more relaxing to just pick one or two and take your time, rahter than to dash in and out, trying to follow a long itinerary.  So this past Saturday morning, when Santa Barbara dawned not with the usual brilliant blue sky but something that looked more like a cloudy foggy soup, we hopped in the car with some friends and headed out to the San Marcos pass, where the clouds parted and the sun broke out 5 minutes into our drive, making everything right in paradise once again.

Santa Barbara county’s wine region is unique, due to its unusual geography. According to californiawineinfo.com,

“In Santa Barbara County, the north-south coastal range of mountains abruptly turns to run almost east-west for 50 miles, framing the valleys in a unique transit to the Pacific Ocean. This is the only stretch of land from Alaska to Cape Horn constituting an east-west traverse. The unique topography allows the flow of fog and ocean breezes to shape distinct microclimates and makes the region one of the coolest viticultural areas in California. However, warmer daytime temperatures in the inland areas allow a wide variety of winegrapes to be grown. Terrain and climates vary widely, from steep, wind-swept hillsides to rolling inland valley vineyards where summer temperatures often reach the century mark.”

Map of Santa Barbara wine country

Once in wine country, we started our day with a leisurely lunch at Trattoria Grappolo in tiny Santa Ynez (try their thin crust pizza with scampi, shitake mushrooms & garlic – yum!).  Santa Ynez first became famous after the movie Sideways. You can even download the map that traces the movie’s destinations, so you can recreate your very own Jack and Miles roadtrip.

After lunch, we headed for Foley’s winery. Foley’s happened to be having a barrel tasting that day for members, so the place was packed.  We did a tasting inside and then had a ‘real’ glass at the barrel tasting and sat outside in the field to enjoy it with some tasty cheeses.  We met ‘Jeff’ from West Hollywood who wandered our way holding two open bottles of wine and several glasses.  Jeff seemed to have lost his friends from his limo tour.  He joined us for a glass of wine and went stumbling on his way.

Inside Foley's winery

Our last stop was Firestone, and the friends we were traveling with were members of their wine club, so we were able to enjoy a complimentary tasting in the ‘member’s lounge’.  Two buttery Chardonnays and several smooth Pinot Noirs later, we were on our way home.  If you’re going to make a habit of wine touring, joining a wine club (or having friends who are!) is a really good idea.

There are lots of ways to do wine touring.  Having a friend who’s willing to be the designated driver is my personal favorite.  There are also many services that will drive you to and from – some of them offer ‘custom’ tours, while others have a set agenda of wineries that they visit.  You can go by limo, jeep, van or even taxi!   I’d recommend you research the various touring companies on Trip Advisor or Yelp to get reviews and an idea of what the tour is like.

The Santa Barbara lifestyle is full of fun adventures and buying real estate here has never been more affordable.  If you’re thinking of relocating to Santa Barbara and would like more information, contact me anytime.

Karen Blackburn, Realtor

KELLER WILLIAMS REALTY

1435 Anacapa St.

Santa Barbara, CA 93101

805-470-1002

KarenSBrealestate@gmail.com

Triple rainbow

We’re here.  I now live in Santa Barbara.  I’m sorry, but really?  This can’t be true.  But to go back a couple of days…. oh yes, the pouring rain as we entered California, that continued and continued and after San Jose on the last day, it let up for awhile and then continued some more.  Playing tricks with me, but I didn’t care.  Can’t mess with my head.  I know it’ll get sunny soon.  Central California.  Stopped in Pismo Beach for lunch and a pit stop.  Not raining, but still cloudy.  And chilly.  There aren’t many more towns until we’re there. 

Clouds on day 3

Paso Robles – still cloudy.  Billowing clouds.  But then, in the distance, far distance, a bit of blue.  Dare I put the sunglasses back on?

Just as i think it’s going to clear up, it doesn’t.  And I think that maybe it’ll be cloudy or even raining when we arrive, but that’s okay.  it’ll be okay.  It’ll be sunny soon.

more clouds…

And then, when we were only about 30 minutes outside of Santa Barbara and I had accepted my fate, that I would arrive in Santa Barbara in clouds and/or rain, the blue sky started to part the clouds.  It really did.  And it stayed that way and got more so.  And about 15 minutes outside of Santa Barbara, I put on the sunglasses and the flip-flops so as to arrive in style and VOILA!!!

Paradise or what???

Euphoria in Eugene

Day 2 – started with euphoria, which is pretty good.  Started up the van, headed out of Eugene (cute town in southern Oregon – median price of houses is something like $175,000. – note to self in case Santa Barbara doesn’t work out).  Heading out on the highway, the weather is threatening but holding its own. Gorgeous views, actually, as long as you know you’re leaving rain.  So we turn on the XM radio,

Leaving Eugene

with ‘classic vinyl’ radio station on and Santana comes on – oy yay como va (or whatever).  And we’re seat dancing again, and pounding the steering wheel along with the drums and suddenly I feel like those all those years of living in the cold cold north never happened and I’m 25 and in this truck and moving to California.  The next song is ‘Hotel California’, and it’s too perfect and I’m still 25 and the NEXT song is Crosby Stills and Nash ‘almost CUT my hair’ (happened just the other day), and it’s one of those peak moments – again. 

Movin' to California

Singing and driving and just plain blissed out. My music, my dream, it’s all here.I should mention, for Nanci, that then Jackson Browne came on with “load out’ (“stay…. just a little bit longer…”) and I was back at the St. Michelle Winery with that great concert. Miss you, Nanci. Lunch with Isha in Ashland, where it’s so Norman Rockwell that little kids can ride bikes with training wheels on the sidewalks without a parent overlooking to make sure everyone is ‘safe’.
 It’s fall in Ashland, and Ashland does every season perfectly, so there is a wind blowing, and leaves falling and cute little houses with cute little picket fences with acorns on the ground.
So we left Ashland and headed for the California border and it’s hard to believe, but the weather that had been threatening but holding, suddenly dumped incredible amounts of rain for hours and hours after we entered California.  All day, in fact.  All the way to San Jose, where we finally stopped, and the rain stopped and I thought ‘well, this will be it, surely, because we are in California, but maybe northern California is raining but southern California won’t be.

California?

THIS IS IT!! (with apologies to Michael Jackson)

I have wanted to live in California since I was 17.  I have wanted to live there so much that some people think I am from there.  When I was 17, it was the ‘summer of love’ in California and some people I knew went out to California and went to the concerts and I decided – this is my place.  But then life happened.  And first I went to Connecticut to go to school, (north, not west), and then I went to Toronto and married my high school sweetheart (north and a tiny bit west) and then we moved to Vancouver (very west, finally the west coast, but NORTH and RAINY).  Vancouver was a long long pause – a beautiful city – and I loved it there and stayed a really long time.  Then Bob and I met and we moved to Seattle, (south, the right direction but not far enough) and we ‘paused’ for 10+ years but NOW, TODAY, FINALLY, (“Double rainbows” for those of you in the know) I am LEAVING RAIN, but not just rain, not just leaving, I am actually, finally getting to my dream.  Screaming in my seat as we drove away from the house.  You wouldn’t understand unless you’ve wanted something for decades and then you get it.  Holy cow. 

Leaving the last house in Seattle!!!

Bob's all done!

We hit I-5, and Seattle obliged with a sudden downpour.  Loved it.  Leaving rain. 

screaming in my seat...

Screaming in my seat was quickly followed by ‘seat dancing’ to whatever song was on the radio.  Woo hoo. 
Traffic was hideous for now apparent reason, making it take hours to get from Seattle to Tacoma to Olympia.  Friday afternoon in October, but I don’t care.  I know we’re leaving.  Soon the dark evergreens that hover over I-5 opened up to fall colors.

Fall colors somewhere in Oregon

After driving through Portland,  we decided we needed to find somewhere to buy a good lock for the back of the truck, and not far south, like only about 10 minutes south of Portland, we found a Fred Meyer (for those who don’t know, it’s a northwest discount type place) in a place called Burlingame.  WOW.  You don’t have to go far away from the cities of the west coast before you’re back in the … what .. I don’t know what to say.  But this store was built in 1950 and I swear, they NEVER updated it.  NEVER.  Time warp.  Now maybe I’m an urban snob, but their brown bags didn’t even have handles.  I know how that sounds, but really.   The store was SO weird that I had to go back to the truck and get the camera to take pics of the interior.  Here you go.

on the wall in the Burlingame Fred Meyer store

Bought a lock and some cheddar Goldfish and we’re outta here.  Made it to Eugene. 

Not exactly what we had in mind….

First blog comes to you from — get ready — Seattle.  We never even got out of town.  If you’ve ever had a nightmare move, you’ll love this one.  Truck arrives.  Stuff starts loading.  halfway through, everyone looks at the garage, looks at the truck, looks at the garage again – this is not going to fit.  Things get rearranged.  Things get moved out and moved in again.  More stuff keeps vomiting forth from the house – the barbecue, the patio table, and oh yes, we haven’t loaded the washer/dryer yet.  Bob suggests returning the entire kitchen’s worth of cabinets he bought up here for the kitchen down there.  Not looking good.  The day wears on.  Then Bob suggests I call the buyer’s agent and ask if they want to buy the washer and dryer we were going to bring down for ourselves.  At 5pm, we have a pow-wow.  I call movers.  We rent a motel room in Seattle for the night (what?).  I am leaving out all the freak-outs and clusterf****s that accompanied.  By 6pm, we have a driver for the big truck for tomorrow, a room rented, another truck rented that we will drive, and we abandon ship for the evening.  Today is a much better day.  The new truck will only have to carry a small load and is MUCH MORE comfortable than the bench seats on the big truck. 

Today we understand things like the truck we rented was a ‘low boy’ and if we’d known that, we could’ve asked for a ‘high boy’ in which case everything would’ve fit.  More than I ever wanted to know about moving.  Why oh why did we leave the biggest move we’ve ever made in the hands of ourselves?  Never again.

The low boy from hell

Perma Grin – Part 1 of the Move is Complete

Words can’t describe.  I am here.  We are here.  I set up my hammock.  I had to brush away a palm frond to do it.  I don’t really live here, do I? Looking out the kitchen window at tropical plants.  Looking off the back porch at the distant ocean.  I can’t even absorb it.  This is huge. 

perma-grin

View from our back porch - that's the ocean way way out there!

DAY 1

Driving out of Seattle, finally.  I-5 in Washington is lined with evergreens.  Evergreens everywhere.  Way too many evergreens. Leaving Seattle, I watched them go by, waiting for them to fade away.  I’m so done with evergreens. 

I-5. Evergreens.

Mt. Rainier as we head out of Tacoma

So far it’s still unreal, what we’re doing.  It’s still just a drive down I-5, even though we’re in this huge van with a trailer. For so long I’ve wanted to do this.  Can’t believe I’m doing this.  Time to dig into the gorgonzola crackers …