Santa Barbara Vibes

We had a wonderful time in California visiting our son and his family. I understand why people love the weather there. We flew back to a “turtle-paced” spring in Minnesota, and it has been difficult to readjust to the cold.

During our flight to Santa Barbara, I was captivated by the cloud formations outside the plane windows. I wanted to jump out of the plane and fall into their puffy softness.

On our first day, there were some lingering, beautiful clouds at sunset, but they eventually blew away and we had sunshine and blue skies for the rest of our trip. So much for more cloud pictures.

Our days were full of activity, and our evenings were relaxing. Some evenings we sat around the firepit gazing at the stars,

and other evenings we walked along the ocean to watch the harbor light up. The reflections of the boat lights on the still, calm water were truly enchanting. I enjoyed taking pictures of the harbor.

One day we went on a whale-watching excursion hoping to see, and take pictures of, migrating Gray and Humpback whales, but alas – we did not see any.

Much to our surprise, Condor Express gave us a “whale-check” coupon for a future excursion. We will plan to use it the next time we’re in Santa Barbara. 

Although we didn’t see any whales, we really enjoyed our three-hour cruise on the water.

We enjoyed seeing flowers blooming everywhere, but I didn’t focus on taking pictures of them. The fun, diving pelicans and iconic seagulls were everywhere too, but I only took these three bird pictures below:

The week flew by while we soaked up the sunshine and enjoyed quality time with family amidst the delightful charm of Santa Barbara.