So much to see..so long to drive

Another weekend is in the record books. And with the gloomy past two days behind us, I can officially say we didn't do much other than relax this weekend. And that is perfectly ok with me.

I remember before we moved here thinking that moving to California meant this whole new world we could see. So many places in Southern California that I had never been to. Before I knew it we would be within 2 hrs of 6 or 7 different beaches, mountains, and some of my favorite wineries. We would have endless amounts of places to go camping, hiking, biking. We would just almost never be home!

But the reality of living in California has been hitting a little bit harder lately. Nothing is as close as it seems. Need I dread to mention that T word I hate to utter. Traffic.

Yup, it is that, that has Doug and I staying a bit closer to home as of late. One description of our drive last Saturday and you can understand why.

Last Saturday, Doug found a little place called Gorman we needed to head up to at the early wee hours. He wanted to get up there as early as he could so we could capture some great wildflower shots early in the morning when the shadows, and sun was shinning just so. So trek we did, out to Gorman.

After that, rather than head back to our side of the world again, we got adventurous. Lets keep on driving he said. Soon we were in Ojai (a cute town if I do say so myself). From there it was a drive up to Santa Barbara, and before we knew it, in Santa Maria, Santa Ynez, WINE Country! :) Of course we indulged in a bit of wine..and then made our whirlwind trip back home, heading down the 101. 

That is when the reality hit me. What on paper, and thru Google maps can over and over again say only takes 2 hours always depends on traffic. Our ride home that night, as we cruised with every other Southern Californian and visitor down to the 101 took almost 3 1/2-4. Fun times and reminder that rush hour coming home from wine country, the beach, LA, always is more interesting if you don't plan correctly. A constant reminder for a kid who back home in Colorado knew that if I needed to head to my mom's from our house in Northern Colorado bar anything other than maybe snow it ALWAYS even in traffic, took about an hour and 1/2. Driving wise things out here operate on an -ish. As in I'll get there at 5ish.

Needless to say after that long in the car last week, while we had intentions of maybe heading to Joshua Tree for camping this weekend, laziness and a desire to NOT be in the car that long won out. As I told Doug earlier today, we have plenty of time to explore, no need to always have to drive 2 hours every weekend to find it. I would like to think we are storing up our miles anyway as we will have yet another whirlwind drive hitting us soon..we are heading to Northern California to visit one of my dearest friends and some more wine, for Memorial Day weekend! Until then, for me, not driving two hours to check something else off of my "visit while in California" list is perfectly ok.