2017 Pacific Coast Trip - Santa Barbara, California

Photo link:
https://goo.gl/photos/mguT2yCRPmG4sRDY9

Tuesday, April 18^th – Sunday, April 23^rd

Cachuma Lake County Park – Santa Barbara, California

The next destination of Santa Barbara brought us back to the west coast of California. We drove the back highways and stayed north of the Los Angeles area. The highways took us through a huge valley north of the Angeles National Forest, through the Santa Clarita area, then to the coast. Another amazing, scenic drive. At this point the coast runs east and west along Santa Barbara County. After driving through part of Santa Barbara, the highway headed over the Santa Ynez Mountains to Cachuma Lake. This huge lake is a Santa Barbara County Park. There were over 400 campsites, cabins and yurts.

The next day we headed down to the shore to check out the city and beaches. The drive was on a small mountain road, winding down along huge estates, vineyards and hillsides filled with tree groves. What a beautiful city! We noticed right away that this is a very upscale area. Palm Beach has nothing on this town. Also, we noticed that no buildings were higher than three stories! It was wonderful to not see high rise buildings anywhere.  The Spanish/Mediterranean architecture of almost all buildings was a nice touch. The beaches were beautiful and they are all dog friendly. There was a paved bike/walk trail all along the beach, which we rode one day. There were parks and cafes along the beachside also. There was an area on the west beach that rose up to craggy cliffs, it was a great view.

Offshore of Santa Barbara there are several islands, The Channel Islands National Park. There are ferries to a couple of the larger islands. These are all preserved, even fishing within a few miles of the shores is not allowed. It’s so strange to look out over the Pacific and see mountains! We also noticed the haze along the coast and the islands. We were told that this is due to smog from the California cities and even from across the ocean.

Another thing we noticed were the oil rigs offshore. These are now not operational, as they were shut down many years ago. The huge city marina there is home to a large commercial fishing fleet. The Steams Wharf is a huge pier where one can drive their vehicle. There are numerous shops and restaurants. We rode our bikes onto the wharf and saw amazing views back toward the city and mountains.

Another day we took the dogs down to Goleta Beach State Park, where we could let them run off leash. It was a gorgeous day and we all had a nice time.

At the lake found the Sweetwater Trail, a nice mountain biking/hiking trail along the lakeshore. It turned out to be a challenging, 2.5 mile trail with steep, rocky ascents and descents. This trail was our activity for two days. The views were amazing with mountains to the north and south. Kurt hiked a trail in the Santa Ynez Mountains, near the campground. The Tequepis Trail follows ridges up to the peak of Tower Mountain, where there were 360 degree views. He took some great photos up there.

We truly enjoyed the Santa Barbara area and the valley where we camped. It was one of the most gorgeous places we have been so far. It certainly is a great place to visit, but I don’t think I could live here. We thought taxes were high in Palm Beach County, everything is so expensive to live here. Again, we hated to leave so soon, but we were heading to see more of the coast. Next stop, Morro Bay.