Saddle Up

It's not like we have TOTALLY left our boating life behind (although we likely have). We still have a few accoutrements of our former watery life, but if nothing else has convinced us, a three week stay at a dude ranch will. We arrived here at Rancho Oso through the back way, so to speak. In the weeks before our scheduled visit, a wildfire raged in the beautiful town of Santa Barbara and the mountains behind it. The Rancho Oso preserve is nestled on the other side of ridgeline from the major fire lines - helicopter drops of fire retardant were visible by campers in the park. When the danger was past, we made the trip from Ventura Beach the long way round, avoiding the fire-fighting areas that the normal approach through Santa Barbara would expose us to.

The park has 50 or 60 horses corralled, a "western" town complete with storefronts and Conestoga - no, the pictures are not of our "new" RV or tiny cabins for guests. But they do highlight the down home flavor of the park. It's remote - no Verizon phone or or aircard service (eeek!) We have to drive up to "Verizon Point" to make calls and pick up messages.

It may sound like we're complaining, but we aren't. We made new friends and visited new places. That's what it's all about. No wait - maybe we are complaining.

A Little Bit of Denmark

Another cool reason for staying at Rancho Oso is the proximity of some small towns, vineyards, and tourist attractions. Like the pea soup capital of the world in Buellton, or the paparazzi capital of Michael Jackson's Neverland Ranch, which is only a few miles up a mountain road from Los Olivos, or a pretty, fun, town like Solvang. This is a town settled in the 1800's by a group of Scandinavian immigrants. It has all the charm of a small Danish town, and an enjoyable way to spend a few hours, and, of course, eat a great lunch.

Santa Barbara with Shannon and Bill

Santa Barbara, as well as it's smaller neighbor Montecito, has a reputation for being the place where affluent Angelinos move to escape the mundane lifestyle and stress of LA county - well deserved. State Street is one of those shopping districts (like Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills) that drips money, money, money. But we could enjoy it, because (again) we had Bill and Shannon showing the way. Jump on a trolley to take you down to Sterne's Wharf or step into a little Italian restaurant off the street for a terrific lunch. They seem to have a "key to the city" since they know so many of the in-crowd. Our dinner was at the Palace, one of the ultimate inside destinations - great finish to a perfect day. Super way to end our visit.

Shannon at Last

One of the highlights of our RVing lifestyle is the ability to visit each of our children in their far-flung home cities. Last October, we had a great time seeing our youngest son Trace during a one-week stay in Ft Lauderdale. Then in November, we got to spend time with our eldest child David Jr., his pretty wife Yvonne, and their super son, David III (we call him D3) - even got to see him play in one of his middle school basketball games - during a week at a preserve near his home in San Antonio. Now it's our turn to see our daughter, Shannon after nearly a year-and-a-half drought.

After a do-nothing week at one of our preserves in the mountains north of LA we finally arrived at a very nice park (one of those pricey, out-of-network resorts) across the highway from the beautiful blue Pacific in Ventura Beach for our much-anticipated visit. Shannon and our super-host and friend Bill Boro treated us to the sights, sounds, and tastes of their home and stomping grounds in Oxnard and Ventura Beach.

The last day of the visit was Mother's Day (another one of those miracles of careful planning) so we enjoyed a wonderful M D champagne brunch - check out the photo of my beautiful girls - followed by a fun day at the shops and bars at Ventura Beach Marina.