So Ben and I climbed aboard a train earlier in the morning and arrived in Oxnard, CA later in the evening. As noted Jerry and I had wonderful Alaskan Cod from a small restaurant in Ventura, fell asleep and woke up the next morning together.After Jerry headed off for another day of duty, Ben and I remained in bed asleep for a couple more hours. Rested, showered and dressed for a cool California day we awaited Jerry's return to our hotel room. He arrived later that morning and we all headed to the Santa Barbara zoo. Upon seeing the ocean and filling my senses with a cool ocean breeze all of the stress from the previous four months were blown away by that same breeze. I miss the smell and constant sound of the ocean waves crashing on the shore. Anyway, I digress.
Sadly, the day was cloudy, windy and from time to time fairly rainy. We strolled th
rough the zoo enjoying the cool breezes and exotic animals prowling about. Giraffes, gibbons, leopards, parrots, elephants and numerous other mammels and amphibiens were on hand to attract the attention of our excitable three year old. Ben is partial to otters. We aren't sure why but he absolutely loves otters and it doesn't matter what zoo he's in the otters hold his typically sound-byte length attention.
My amazement was held by the lush greenery and tropical flowers through out the zoo. I couldn't get enough of the colors and waxy looking petals. In fact, the family was separated several times due to my photo safari through out the afternoon. In a matter of seconds my men would be around the corner and up the next hill before I even noticed they were gone. Hmmmmm.... alone time? Okay, I have to say I wasn't in a hurry to catch up. In fact, I wasn't in a hurry at all the entire time we were in California.Once the rain started to fall a little harder and for longer periods of time we decided to pack it in and find a place to eat. But not before visiting the nearby beach. Ben fell asleep in the car so I kicked off my tennies, rolled up my pants and went for a walk. Jerry hung back in the truck just in case Ben woke up while I splashed in the cold surf. Again, even more stress was released from both body & mind.
Jerry drove us "home" to Ventura and he introduced us to Ericsson's Ventura, California. The restaurant itself is located on the boardwalk over the beach. From what I understand the restaurant was originally situated at the end of the pier but was beaten by the watery fury of mother nature. Waves. =) Anyway, our evening began on the deck of the bar with a couple of cocktails and some wonderful calamari (Ben's favorite). Once the restaurant opened we were seated at a window table in the corner - one hundred and eighty degrees of ocean beauty. Aside from the antics of an extremely tired 3 year old who refused to sit in his chair, dinner was wonderful. Again, we ended up in the hotel room, as a family, getting ready for bed. We snuggled, slept comfortably until the next morning when once again we awoke... together.
FYI - for more pictures from our trip (and others) click here for photos by Just Laura. They are a little disorganized but there for enjoyment by all.
