From Google Maps:
Mileage: 88 miles
Drive Time: 1:40
- Mission Buenaventura
- Casa de Herra Gardens
- Go on a hike
- Chumash State Park caves
- Visit some falls
The list above is what we thought we would be doing today, or at least hoping we would do. Did we? Well, we did get a visit to a waterfall at the tail end of today. But we had a good day together. It is like I tell Sherri, you plan so that you can do something else. Here was our day.
I got up at 7:15-Sherri got up within a few minutes. We took a shower and then went down to have breakfast. Sherri thought the breakfast selection was about average. The line for the waffle machine was never ending, so I had a bowl of Frosted Flakes-that was a mistake. Then I had some granola. The mistake was that my blood sugars soared. We then spent an hour and a half trying to figure out where to stay tonight and what to do today.
Fortunately our packing is not
very extensive, so we are able to take stuff down in one load. We got
out by 10:45. Our first stop was to be Mission Buenaventura. But the
local state assemblyman was having a rally and we could not find any
parking. Sherri had called up Casa del Herrero to see if we could get
in on our Atlanta
Botanical Gardens
membership we got last March. The answer is a quasi-yes. We can use
it to gain access, but all of their slots to allow admittance are
filled up. So we got put on a waiting list. We will know by 1:30 if
we can get in.
I suggested we visit the Ventura Botanical Gardens and see what that is like. The Santa Barbara Botanic Gardens is closed for replanting. That sounds like a good idea. So up we go. The Ventura Gardens is set on a steep hillside. It is laid out with different areas of the world: Chile, California, South Africa, and Australia. While the hillside is steep, the paths which are laid out cut across the hillside, so the incline is never terrible. But you still do climb.
We spent most of the time in the Chile area, mostly because it is the first one we came to. There are all kinds of vibrant flower colors which we don’t see out here in California in this section. It took us about an hour to go through this section. At the top of it is an overlook put up by the Rotary. There we rested for a few minutes.
There is a road, Summit Drive, which divides the upper and lower parts of the gardens. When we cross the road, we continue our wander through the California Ramble. A lot of these plants are ones we are familiar with, or at least some of their cousins. The trail is similar to the Chile section in that it gradually ascends. When we get close to the top, we cross over into the South African section. There is more color here. At one point we reach a plateau which allows us to see south to Oxnard and west to Ventura. A grand sight, it is.
We are getting pretty tired,
so we start wandering back down to the entrance. It still takes us
about 45 minutes to make the descent. We make it back to the car
after 1:30-with no call from Casa del Herrero. Doing the Ventura
Gardens was a good call. We did a shady spot and had our lunch in
Ventura before heading out.
Santa Barbara Courthouse
We decided that our next stop would be to walk around Santa Barbara. I had pulled some places off of GPSMyCity and will use that as a basis. We park in a public parking area which gives us 75 minutes of free parking. We had seen the Santa Barbara Courthouse coming in and went back to see it. It is worth gawking at. Right across from the Courthouse is the library. We decided that since we are there, we might as well see if we can get a card. Bingo! Plus we had a pleasant conversation with the librarian. That makes our eighth card, if you include our expired Library of Congress card.
Going to the library did disrupt our touring plans as the librarian told us that a local ice cream shop is giving a free scoop of ice cream to all Santa Barbara library card holders. This is a good day. We find Rori's and they give us each a gigantic scoop. That will send my blood sugar skyward. But it was really good tasting-we will be putting Rori’s on our tour de ice cream route.
Then it is back to the car.
During our time at the Ventura Gardens, I got reservations at another
Quality Inn in Buellton.
So we head in that direction.While this was a pretty satisfactory
day, there was an element missing. We had not done a waterfall hike.
I think we were too tired to do a real hike, plus it is a bit late.
When we went to Solvang before, we had done a mile hike to Nojoqui
Falls.
It is only a ten minute drive off of 101, so this would check several
boxes.
Rori's Ice Cream
On the way to the Falls, there
were a couple women on horseback on the road. Interesting what you
find out here. We slowly went around them so as not to run over their
dog or spook the horses. Then we came to the County Park and did our
walk. We realized what made this a difficult walk for Sherri’s
cousins awhile back. While it is short and not very much uphill, the
trail surface is uneven and there is a constant grind uphill. Still
we make it. The Falls are fuller than we have ever seen. Well worth
the trip up.
Nojoqui Falls
Then it is back to the car and on to Buellton. We check into the hotel after 6. I am still not too hungry, but Sherri wants to eat. We decided on fast food. There is a Habit Burger just a little ways away, so off we go. Sherri gets her Sante Fe while I have a kid’s charburger. That is enough for me. We get back to the hotel room and I am content just to type on the tablet for the rest of the evening.
Background
The Atlanta Botanic Gardens is a member of the American Horticultural Society. There is reciprocating admittance for each member garden. In this area, the San Luis Obispo, Casa del Herrero, Santa Barbara Gardens and the Ventura Gardens are all members.
Trip Advisor Review:
- Quality Inn-Camarillo. After a good drive, we were looking for someplace to spend the night and get a good night’s sleep. This hotel is right off of the highway and our concern was how noisy would it be? It was not-we did not hear any traffic. The bed was comfortable and the room was clean. The check-in woman was friendly and helpful. The only thing which we would improve was breakfast. The servings were bland and it could really have used a second waffle maker.
- Ventura Botanical Gardens. We entered on an AHS reciprocal pass. Frankly, we were not expecting much after all it is Winter time. These Gardens were very pleasantly surprised. We walked three of the gardens: Chile, California Ramble and South America, spending a total of four hours. Each area was pleasant and colorful for those of us who are not botanically inclined. The Gardens are on a steep hillside. The trails through the gardens have only a gentle slope as they weave their way through each garden. If we are in the area, we would definitely go again.
Extra Photo's
Animals
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