Welcome to California

Welcome to Southern California. If you're from another part of the U.S. or even from different parts of the world, you've probably heard all kinds of stories about Crazy So. Cal. Let me put some of those crazy stories to rest, confirm that some of them are very true, and add a few points of interest and observations from this So. Cal. native.

I've lived in So. Cal. all of my life; grew up in Santa Barbara which is an easy 90 minute drive north, from the Los Angeles area. http://www.santabarbara.com/points_of_interest/. One of the many advantages to living in Calif. is that you can drive two hours in either direction and have a different surrounding and experience. You can drive south from L.A. and head towards San Diego, continue and you're in Mexico. Drive east and head out to the high desert with another couple hours putting you in Las Vegas where you are certain to come back with less money than you started...trust me, it happens. Remember, in Las Vegas, the House (casino) always wins.

You can also head north/east and get into some of the best skiing and snowboarding during the winter season at Mammoth Mountain. http://www.mammothmountain.com/. Summertime is incredible as well at Mammoth when it comes to mountain biking, fishing, and hiking. If you head west from L.A.....you'll end up in the Pacific ocean which opens up a world of sports from surfing to scuba diving, windsurfing or just basking in the sun. Just an example of how accessible everything is in a short drive; my husband and I did a quick road trip to Las Vegas over the weekend. Drove up early Saturday, returned to Cal midday on Sunday, went down to beach in the early evening so he could catch (surf) a few waves. Not bad. It makes the new work week an easy cruise when you can accomplish so much over the weekend.

Just an example of how much you can do over the weekend. Here's an example of how we spend ours. Get up Saturday morning, take the motorcycles out for a breakfast ride. Return home, go for a hike, my husband goes windsurfing in the late afternoon, BBQ for dinner and talk about our day. Sunday; go for a killer mountain bike ride, possibly take the motorcycles out for a lunch ride, cruise by the beach...later as the wind comes up, he heads out to windsurf again. Note: being a windsurfer's wife, when the wind blows....he goes...at a moment's notice. Generally speaking, if the wind is "blowin like stink" (windsurfer talk), it DOES NOT make for a good basking on the beach day. I generally end up with a nice dusting of sand covering me which ocassionally blows into my lovely glass of wine.

Enjoy your time in Calif., no matter how long your stay is.

Next post....the DRIVERS!!! It's all true....