Santa Barbara and Family

Brian and I got to do a little exploring this weekend as we headed up the coast to Santa Barbara.  My Grandma Stanfield was there visiting my great Uncle Earl (Stanfield) who lives in beautiful Santa Barbara.  They were awesome hosts, and showed us around to the arts fair, dinner and lunch at beach side restaurants, a tour of the bell tower at the historical court house, and a quick look at a gorgeous Spanish-style Catholic Church.  We had so much fun hanging out with them and talking to them late into the night. Earl is 90 years old and sharp as tack!  He is full of knowledge and energy, and healthy as anyone could hope to be at his age.  And Grandma Carlene is full of adventure!  She is ready to see the world and feels free as a bird.  It was great fun to be with them both and encouraging to see the fullness they live their lives with. 

The View from Uncle Earl's porch. You can see the ocean out there.

Grandma at the top of the Bell Tower

Santa Barbara is a coastal city about 2.5 hours North of us.  It is flanked by the Santa Ynez Mountain range and the beach, and is nicknamed the "American Riviera" by locals. It is much greener than where we live, with trees and plants all over the rolling hills and mountains.  It is a very expensive place to live, and Montecito, a neighboring town, is home to many celebrities including Oprah, Kirk Douglas, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus.

The Catholic Church they showed us. It was too late to get inside, but the outside was very neat.

On the way home we stopped at a fruit stand we saw on the coast on the way up.  They were advertising 10 avocados for $1. We had to check it out!  We ended up with 20 very small avocados (that are delicious!), fresh strawberries, and some delicious tomatoes.  Yum!  We also got to pick lemons from Uncle Earl's tree, leaving us with a huge bag of lemons to think of something to do with.  At a church event last night a friend of mine also gave me pomegranates from her parent's tree. It is so crazy to have so many fruit trees around, with abundance of harvest that everyone is trying to give away.  I love it! 

Who could pass up 10/$1 avocados?