We had a great drive down to Santa Barbara from Carmel. To save time, we
took US 101 through Paso Robles rather than Highway 1 down the coast. It is still an attractive drive for the most part.
We arrived just in time for cocktail hour. Randy is an
expert on wines so we were in for a treat. My sister Jocelyne and her husband
Randy have created a wonderful outdoor living area in their backyard. Randy is
a chef and head of the culinary department of the Santa Barbara Community
College, and he has been treating us to wonderful meals.
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| Barbara and Jocy with Paris, one of two standard poodles. |
Randy is a very talented guy. The backyard living area is
centered around an oven/grill/fireplace that he built himself. This is an amazing
structure. There is a fire pit grill, a smoker, a fireplace, and a pizza/baking
oven built out of block and stone.
The fireplace is gorgeous at night and puts out a ton of heat, but the unique part is the baking oven. He builds a wood fire in the oven to get the stones to a high temperature. Once to temperature he removes the coals and can then cook a variety of foods as the oven cools to lower temperatures. First would be pizza or roasts, then breads followed by more delicate dessert items or slow cook meats. It is pretty cool to watch him in action, and dinner by firelight is fantastic.
On Wednesday we drove to Carpenteria, CA. This great seaside community is only a short drive south. The main street is lined with many restaurants, but we were only interested in a burger at The Spot. This is a burger stand that is very popular with the locals, as is the Island Brewery microbrewery.
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| Bill and Jocy at The Spot |
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| Island Brewery. Great beer! |
Both are only a short walk away from the Carpinteria State Beach Campground.
California has several of these beachfront campgrounds, and they are very
popular. Unfortunately for us, though, they are geared for smaller rigs and
tents. Anyone reading that has an RV of 35’ or less should keep this campground
in mind.
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| Carpinteria State Beach Park |
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| Carpinteria State Beach Park |
It is a great beach.
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| Carpinteria State Beach Park |
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| Carpinteria State Beach Park |
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