Our Little Escape, Part 1

We left for California Friday afternoon. We were planning on leaving earlier, but the fact that I hadn't even packed kind of slowed us down! The week before was super crazy with school and I was trying to get the house in order since a friend was staying here with Roxi while we were gone. I felt like I had to have a whole different cleanliness than when people just come over to hangout! I had to have the shower cleaned, the sheets washed, the floors mopped, etc. I'm sure the guy didn't actually care or notice, but that's what I needed for my peace of mind.

On the drive there we stopped and one of my favorite places to eat, In & Out! A lot of people says it's overrated, but I think it's amazing. Their fries are chopped up fresh and they make the best gluten free burger ever...I barely notice there isn't a bun!

When we stopped for gas, the family next to us had some scooters on top of their car and Vince thought it was hilarious. This was also the moment we realized my debit card had a hold put on it! I didn't know of a new rule my bank put in place that says I need to inform them anytime I go out of the state or they would put a hold on it. Luckily I had my credit card or we wouldn't have had any money! Since it was after normal business hours there was no number to call. So annoying.

After 6 or 7 hours of driving we arrived at Vince's mom and aunts in Redlands, CA and we went to another one of my favorite places to eat: P.F. Chang's! Sara shares my love of PFC and while some people may say this place is also overrated, I love it! Maybe it's just the fact that I know I can get a good gluten free meal that won't make me sick that tastes amazing.

We went back to Sharon and Sandra's house to stay the night before we headed to Santa Barbara in the morning. After another 3 hour drive we were in Santa Barbara and we went to the main 'strip' of downtown on State Street. We were looking for a place to eat and when we went into a Mexican restaurant I asked a lady if they have a gluten free menu. She looked at me oddly and told me that I should be able to eat everything! Um, no. They had burritos, which I definitely can't eat! Needless to say, we quickly left that place.

We settled on a little organic restaurant that I can't remember the name of. I for sure thought I was safe to eat there because they had a gluten free menu and the meal I chose was normally gluten free and they didn't have to change anything about it. Unfortunately, I ended up getting sick later in the day, I'm guessing from cross contamination. Let me tell ya, being glutened while camping pretty much sucks!

When we finished with lunch we walked down to the pier and then Sandra and Sharon went to their hotel and Vince and I walked around a little more.

To get to the pier we had to walk under a bridge that was covered in vines and so pretty! I wonder what it looks like when all the flowers are in bloom!

One place we went was a skate shop that was in an old church called the Church of Skatan. I LOVE the name of it! Vince got a new shirt and hat and I got some new kicks.

Before too long we headed to our campsite at El Capitan State Beach, about 15 miles from Santa Barbara.

The campsite was hidden way back in the trees and there weren't any signs leading to it!

The only camping signs we saw led to a resort that was 70 bucks a night FOR A TENT. Outrageous! Luckily our friends told us how to get to El Capitan and we paid $35 a night and were right near beach!

These things were part of the trees...I wonder what kind it was.

Saturday night was our first camping night there and it was somewhat busy. They only had half the sites open because it was winter so even though there weren't many of us, we weren't able to spread out too much. The site next to us was open for most of the time, but late at night a guy pulled up in his truck, set up a few things, went to sleep, and then woke up in the middle of the night and left! Scared the crap out of me when he started loading up.

Alright, I feel like this post is pretty long so I'll finish up the end of the trip in another post!