Hiking San Ysidro Trail

My last day at my current company was this past Wednesday! WOO HOO!I am taking a few extra days to relax before starting my new job on Monday :)

On Wednesday afternoon, I went on a hike with Maya. We went on the San Ysidro Trail in Montecito. This is one of my favorite hikes because of the 60 foot waterfall at the end...unfortunately, I did not have enough motivation to go all the way.

. We went half way and turned around. Despite all the bugs, it was still really beautiful.

Fiesta Days!

This week marks the 84th Old Spanish Days Fiesta!

"Old Spanish Days in Santa Barbara is dedicated to honoring and preserving Santa Barbara’s history, spirit, culture, heritage and traditions. This 84-year-old organization produces an annual eight day festival -- Fiesta -- that is widely regarded as Santa Barbara’s premier festival."

The festival is all about the history, customs, and traditions of the American Indian, Spanish, Mexican, and early American settlers that make up the rich cultural heritage of SB. I read that Fiesta has grown to become one of the five best regional festivals in the United States and Fiesta performers come from around the states and Mexico to participate!

Typical Weekend

It was another amazing weekend in Santa Barbara! I love going to the beach whenever I am in town and that is exactly what I did this Saturday. Here are some pics of me and Maya at Summerland Beach.

The Happiest Dog in the World

The Classic Picture

Central Coast Weekend

Francis had his first Cat4 Race this past weekend in Santa Maria! He got a horrible hamstring cramp halfway through the race and had to pull out but I was able to get a few pictures.

George and Paty were able to join us for the weekend (yay!) and we all headed up to Montana de Oro State Park afterwards the race. We saw a rattlesnake, gophers, huge spiders and a bobcat!

The men getting wood...

I don't know what is better...the Gator chairs (George's team) or the Dodger koozie:

Last but not least - here are the boys getting ready for a game of Cranium (Team Girls gave the smack down to Team Boys!)

Upgrade!

Francis just received confirmation that his category upgrade has been approved by USA Cycling! In just under a year, he has already upgraded from Cat 5 to Cat 4!!! CONGRATS FRANCIS!

And for those of you who haven't seen him in his "stretchy pants" - here is a visual. (He's the one on the far right.) This picture was taken after he finished 5th in the Golden Empire Classic & SCNCA RR Championships.


And... here is a crazy video of the 2003 Tour de France... Crashes and Shortcuts.

Feeling The Heat

Almost a year to the day that last year's never-ending Zaca Fire, Santa Barbara is fighting yet another blaze. The Gap Fire began almost a week ago, on July 1st and has burned 9600 acres to date. The good news is that the fire threat to most of Goleta has been pretty much contained. (Officials listed the fire as 35% contained.) Residents who had been ordered out of their homes late last week have been allowed to return home. However, some evacuation orders ares still in effect for residents of the smaller mountain communities nearby.

Thankfully, our home is not threatened. We only have to deal with the falling ash and power outages (which happened last night - a few minutes before the season finale of The Bachelorette! Talk about bad timing...)

I have to share this amazing picture...

The latest price tag for efforts to fight the Gap Fire is $9.3 million...and growing.