Will's Adventure Update: Santa Barbara

So after spending the first week in LA on Craig's couch we took a trip up to Santa Barbara which is about 90 miles north of LA along the coast. The fortuitous catalyst for this little trip was an invitation from Erin Seeds to stay at her working horse ranch for the week.

Erin's aunt and Craig's mother are friends and set them up together out here in California figuring the two would share a bit in common as Texas transplants in the Golden State. Craig had been up there once before and I got lucky enough to tag along for the second trip.

So first a bit about the Ranch. Erin both teaches horse jumping/equestrian lessons to clients and imports, trains, and sells show horses. This business is in addition to managing the whole property and overseeing renovations on her 3 bedroom Spanish style hacienda. Pretty impressive for a 22 year old also finishing up college at University of Santa Barbara.

We got to see a few jumping lessons while at the ranch and Erin even gave Craig and I a basic riding introduction. The whole no saddle horn thing on English style saddles was some what nerve racking. Even the little girls in the riding class were laughing at me as I attempted to stay on the horse as it trotted around the arena.

While the horse saddle was quite and experience, I certainly spent more time that week in the more familiar bike saddle. Erin lived on San Marcos road which was a seven miles straight up incredible bike ride. I did the pass the first day in about an hour and spent 15 harrowing minutes navigating it down at about 30 miles per hour. It was the longest continuous climb I have done to date.

Other highlights from the week were our nightly ritual of vodka cranberries and Balderdash. Yes Balderdash the boardgame of fake definitions, popular for vocabulary building in middle school, was revived as a drinking game for mid-twenty somethings and was actually incredibly fun. We did venture out one night in Santa Barbara to check out the festivities associated with Fiesta 2007 which was a large Spanish themed street party taking place the week we were there. Rumor has it the Fiesta promotion video that was being shot while we were out will feature some of the dance move hits conjured up by Craig and Erin.

Oh yea, the other funny part: we were originally planning on staying to Wednesday and didn't end up leaving till Friday. Nothing like tacking on a few extra days when you are the guest at a gorgeous house with a private pool, your own horse stable, and a bar full of Vodka and Coronas.

Thanks Erin. We had a great time.

Erin's amazing house where Craig and I stayed. She has the best view from the swimming pool ever. Looks out from the foothills over Santa Barbara and then to the ocean.