Adventures with Christine & Hannah

Day 1

1. No sleep. (Okay...I concede that perhaps I "napped" for an hour when I finally finished laundry & packing--the hour before having to get up at 4:30am.)

2. Fun at Starbucks in the Atlanta airport. (I swear it was like the old SNL Belushi & Aykroyd cheeseburger skit. That story can be a whole other post. Suffice to say we had a good laugh.)

3. Longest flight ever. (4+ hours)(Good thing I brought so much reading material with me. Okay, not really...I mean I had plenty of reading material, but I was too sleepy....and there was too much noise...but the time passing was made easier by numerous naps and satellite TV)(And, man were there a lot of kids on that flight.)(And, wow...I hope everyone's coughing and sneezing and hacking wasn't the contagious kind.)

4. Stupid Vegas airport. Had to change airlines here--yes, we knew in advance. The signage to our concourse was practically non-existent, airport security staff was not very helpful (though those other two people were very kind). Even after the train and figuring out where to go, it was a long walk and we had to go through security again. My travel partner was a little disgruntled and we all know how cheerful she normally is. She had to go potty, so was growing a little impatient waiting for the very very careful TSA folks to do their jobs.)(And, no, I didn't play the slots...gambling does not appeal me to at all...okay, except when the lottery jackpot is in the hundreds of millions, then I might buy a ticket...or when I'm contemplating another career change...or when Shalane proposes a bet about how low the Dow will go...or wants to wager on weight loss.)

5. Aaaah...the Santa Barbara airport (if you want to call it that) was a welcome anti-climax to the day. Big warm Andrew & Kristi hugs...so glad to finally wrap my arms these two after waiting so long to finally take this trip.

6. Fresh seafood dinner at Brophy Brothers in Santa Barbara Harbor. I had Seafood Portofino (shrimp & scallops in a creamy sauce served over a 23-person serving of pasta...it was a lot of pasta people...and no, I didn't eat it all). Hannah had Ahi tuna which was also delicious. We all shared a calimari appetizer--most tender calimari on the planet. Deeelish! Afterwards, a nice walk on the jetty (not to be confused with a pier...Andrew seized the teachable moment and explained that a jetty is more like a breakwall, but you can walk on it.).

The weather was drizzly and cloudy, but who noticed? I mean really. We were really just happy to be together.

Today, plans are to sample some wine making efforts in the area, visit Solvang, and then have dinner at Jocko's for steak. Might need rehab by the end of the day.