This past weekend I made a solo trip up to the Santa Ynez Valley for our quarterly wine pick up. Laura was too busy to join me but her absence afforded me the option to tour the vineyards by bike. I parked in Los Olivos and from there did a lovely (albeit hot) 32 mile loop. At the end of the day, I portaged back 8 bottles of wine and a box of farm peaches. That evening I drove to a small campground on Figueroa Mountain. The drive was very scenic and I caught great views of valley at sunset. The campground itself, however, was a bit of a let down. Flies and skeeters assaulted my face, ankles, and knees the second I stepped out of the truck and they didn’t ease until the sun was down. The next morning I was all too eager to get out of there. I high tailed it to Santa Barbara where I got some breakfast and enjoyed a walk down a car-free State Street.

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