Santa Barbara Road Trip Summer 2018

Two weeks ago the kids and I headed to Santa Barbara for the week.

One of my childhood best friends lives in Santa Barbara with her 3 kids. 

The last time we visited them was Spring Break last year when we did the first part of our California Missions Road Trip. Our kids had a blast together & she insisted that we come stay with them this summer, so we did! 

Santa Barbara is only a 5 hour drive for us, so that's nothing compared to the 12+ hours of our Oregon Road trip. 

We left mid-morning so that we could stop for a late lunch at one of my very favorite lunch spots that is 3 hours into the trip....San Luis Obispo....Firestone Grill!

They have THE BBQ BEST TRI TIP Sandwhich. It is the stuff dreams are made of :)

I get the Tri Tip & my kids get hamburgers (and fries!) 

A couple hours later we were in Santa Barbara! 

We did dinner at a park that night so the kids could get some energy out.

A park with a beautiful ocean view & sunset. Love it!

We spent the next day at the beach. 

My kids love the beach! I had to literally drag them off the beach.

We spent the day at Butterfly Beach.

After we left, the fog lifted and we walked around the Wharf & State Street.

After dinner, we had Ice Cream at McConnell's.

If you ever go to Santa Barbara, you must go there!

The next morning, we went to breakfast at Sambo's. 

This is one of our favorite breakfast spots in Santa Barbara.

I always get the California Eggs Benedict....SO GOOD!

After our breakfast we headed about 30 miles south to go to  Ventura for the afternoon. 

We headed to Ventura because we had to go see Mission San Buenaventura!

This was Mission #20 out of 21!!!! 

Woo-hoo!

One more to go after this!

Love all the flowers.

There is still a daily Mass that happens at this Mission.

The chapel was small, but pretty.

It’s a smaller Mission and the landscaping in the courtyard is beautifully done.

This Mission still has daily Mass services.

There was also a fountain in the courtyard.

After we checked out the Mission we went to the Ventura Pier & checked out downtown Ventura.

Drove back to Santa Barbara to enjoy rest of the day there.

Played on the beach.

Had dinner at one of our favorite spots on the beach....Shoreline Cafe.

The fish tacos are amazing!

Ended our time at the beach with a beautiful sunset.

The next morning we packed up and started our drive home and I knew I wanted to stop in Pismo Beach for Cinnamon Rolls! It's a little over an hour into the drive.

If you are ever in Pismo Beach or passing through (like we were) do yourself a favor and go to Old West Cinnamon Rolls. 

 The line was out the door. 

But when we got inside, we got to watch them make Cinnamon Rolls. 

 Cinnamon Rolls are our favorite.

We got here later than I planned, so this was lunch...gotta love road trips

Hands down, the best cinnamon rolls we’ve ever had.

We each had one and then I ordered 6 to go so we could have some at home. 

YUM!!!

Then we hit the road again and headed towards our next stop....the Carmel Mission!!!

In March of 2017 Kate was in 4th grade and came home from her field trip to Mission San Juan Bautista and told me it was the best field trip ever and that she wanted to visit all 21 California Missions. I’m always up for an adventure, so I said “Let’s do it!” 

I changed our Spring Break plans that year and 2 weeks later we went on a road trip to Santa Barbara and checked off 10 missions that week. Throughout the year we would go on day trips to and would squeeze in a Mission visit here and there. This Spring Break we drove to San Diego and saw more missions. We went to Harry Potter World & Disneyland in May and of course had to check off more Missions. 

So, when went to Santa Barbara on this trip, I made sure we went to Ventura since we didn’t do that one yet. That left us with 1 more Mission....one of the closest ones to our house...the Carmel Mission. 

I guess you could say we saved the one of the best for last. 

Kevin’s brother Jeff & our sister in law Cindy got married here 20 years ago. 

It didn’t disappoint, it’s absolutely stunning. And, there was a wedding rehearsal going on while we were there!

The perfect one to end on. 21 out of 21 California Missions for Kate. 

They even let her in for free because they were so impressed she had seen them all. 

Claire, Luke and I haven’t been to Mission San Juan Bautista yet. It’s a 4th grade field trip and Claire wants to wait to see it for her field trip, so even though we drove by it, we haven’t gone through it.

I’ve never been on one of their field trips because I’m teaching, but you better believe I’m volunteering to go on that one.

I can’t believe our Larson California Mission Adventures have come to an end. 

It’s been so much fun & we’ve learned a lot. 

We’ve seen so many cool places in California that we wouldn’t have seen if it weren’t for this adventure.

 

 I’m proud of Kate for her great idea and I’m proud of Claire & Luke for being good sports about being dragged along to all these Missions.

Now, we need to think of a new adventure, any ideas?!?