LA Trip

I was down in Los Angeles with my delightful wife Sheri to visit my Mom. While down there we had a little extra time to see some sights. One of the highlights was taking a drive up to Santa Barbara for a night. The weather was unusual in that it was very warm...80 degrees! That is hot for a beach community. It was over 90 in Los Angeles. A nice extra was that it had rained the previous week and the hills were all green except where the oranges and yellows of the wild flowers broke up the tall swaying grasses. We stayed in a great hotel 1 block from the beach called The Inn at East Beach. The hotel was a simple older establishment that was fun to stay at. The guy who was working at the front desk had lived there and worked that job for 16 years. He enjoyed it like it was his first day.

I have a baseball collection of 1963 Dodgers that I have been gathering for over a year now. One of the last players I'm looking for is a signed ball from Phil Ortega. I got an address from a celebrity address website for a house in Carpinteria. We stopped by hoping to find him home. As we pulled into the driveway our hopes were raised. I got out of the car and went to the back door. As I aproached, the tenants came out of the house. All they could say do was shake their heads and say we had the wrong Phil Ortega. They said he was not the same man. My wife interpreted this as he had some mental problems. The people who lived there said No! No! He is not the baseball player. We were disappointed but I need to keep looking. Check the link to the side of the page to see more of my baseball collection.

We went to dinner in downtown Santa Barbara at Restaurant Roy. This is a restaurant that has been around for quite a few years and has a relaxed feel to it. We got there about 7:00 and learned that it was early for dinner. They serve dinner until midnight...an unusual trait even in a big city. Roy has a prix fixe menu at a very reasonable price. All meals get homemade bread, a very nice house salad and a choice of soups. We had the artichoke, cilantro soup that was fresh and hit the spot. Some of the entrees that you can choose from include rib eye steak, fresh ravioli, a catch of the day and a cured pork tenderloin. I ended up with the rack of lamb. This came with a lot of chops with a light cumin glaze. Sheri had the ravioli stuffed with spinach in a light cream sauce. We also had a plate of prawns, fresh fish and scallops with pasta and a similar cream sauce. Very relaxed atmosphere and worth searching out.

The school year is winding down for my son Tom. He is still trying to find a job for this summer in some math related field. Any ideas? He did get a promotion on the school newspaper for next year. As managing editor he will have more control over the paper. He plans on taking it in a new direction of leading the discussion on issues rather than simply reporting on events.

The weather is starting to improve and as I look out over the lake, I wonder how soon it will be warm enough to put the JetSki in the water. The longer days offset the grey from the clouds.