Santa Barbara

Today I needed some painting therapy. I had applied for a job in a school I have been doing regular supply work at but had failed to be shortlisted even though they were looking for 3 staff members and I thought I had many of the skills they wanted. The head did call me into her office and was really nice telling me in person but she didnt really say why I hadnt been shortlisted so not really helpful feedback. Anyway this morning I saw on the net that they had re-advertised the foundation stage post which was the one I was trying for. Very odd since I had been told she had been unindated with applications.

So back to my painting therapy. I had discovered that cuprinol do heritage colours in their paint range a couple of years back and had chosen a lovely pastel green to do the table and bench with. So I thought maybe I would carry on and match all the garden woodwork. The trellis was half blue and half brown so deffo needed some unity, But I could only do the parts where the clematis wasnt growing, the rest will have to wait until it has been cut back. The shed just needs painting badly anyway so I made a start but ran out of paint. So now both are only half done.

I also did a bit of digi scrapping.




Road trip begins
Time for us to leave Vegas, we really enjoyed it but 3 days was just about right. We tanked up the car, stretched out the map to check out our route and set off - after the final obligatory buffet breakfast of course.

We were rather early taking off because at 5.30 am we had been woken up with a text message from home. Kelly had just heard she had got a new job. I am sure she had forgotten about the 8 hour time delay but good for her. Consequentally we were up and showered, breakfasted, packed and on the road by 9.30 am.

We had looked at several routes which would hit the I-101 at various points but in the end we worked out we might as well retrace the route we had come by as it worked out the shortest. Again there is not much you can say about a straight road through the desert, except it was fairly easy driving and we arrived in Santa Barbara with only 2 comfort breaks by 4.15 pm!!



Santa Barbara looked so pretty, but we needed to find a place to lay our weary heads first so we stopped at the visitor centre to ask advice on a few choices. She was really helpful and gave us a huge map with hotels marked on it. We had asked for medium price range places, but Martin got chatting to her and was persuaded to try the one she worked in (presumably a second job) which was just up the road.

Which is why we ended up in a budget motel, the Pacific Ocean. It was clean, reasonably comfortable, but definately budget. It still had a bakerlight telephone for calling reception! After dropping off our cases ( it seemed odd not to be unpacking) we went for a bit of an explore and a drink on the seafront.

Of course Martin is hopeless at parking anywhere near were I would like to go so we ended up on the part of the beach nearly all the way out of town, pretty but probably not the best part to enjoy.

Then we went to downtown which we really liked. It was quite and full of a good mix of boutiques and trendy cafes, even a small Macy's Plus finally Martin got his sandals!!!! And despite the heavy police patrols, it felt really safe. We did see one guy being arrested and cuffed for Jay Walking (allegedly), but it didnt worry us enough to put us off having a small bite to eat.