Sideways blogging

After our trip to LA we suddenly realized that Heidie and Mads would arrive one week earlier than we were expecting. Together we spent the Saturday hanging out in Goleta and Santa Barbara, but Sunday a car was rented. We drove over the mountains to the Santa Ynez valley (where Solvang is located) and found ourselves a small Sideways map at the tourist information office in Buellton ("Home of Split Pea Soup").

Heidie and Mads by the Firestone wine casks

At Firestone we spent quite some time: tasting a selection of their wines, following a tour of their facilities, and sitting in their garden and eating the picnic we had brought along. Later we drove by Foxen, where we had just about the time needed to taste their wines before the tasting room closed. After a day in the sun we had extended our stock of wine glasses by 4 since you can keep the glass that you get for tasting.

In the week that followed we didn't get round to much more than the basics - changing back from daylight savings time and unusually (for this area anyway) grey skies didn't leave with much extra energy.