Santa Paula/Ojai Getaway...

 I work (and walk when she's in town) with a wonderful woman named Rosalinda.  We talk about all kinds of things on our walks, so she is very familiar with a lot of the crappy stuff Pat & I have been dealing with over the last few years.  So she says - You should come up to Santa Paula and stay with my sister and brother in law.  They have a suite with its own entrance and you can bring Poe!  She lives on the property in the most adorable tiny house eva.  SO - we took her up on the offer this last weekend.  Not only did we get to visit a place I've been dying to check out, but we got to spend the weekend with seriously some of the most lovely welcoming people I have ever met.  Olga & Dan welcomed us right into their home where we met their giant tortoise "Zoomie" and the neighborhood dog "Dot" (whom Poe loved playing with), as well as Rosalinda's sweet little kitties "Emmy" and "BuBu".  I've honestly never felt so welcome and at home with people I just met in my entire life.  And their home is just stunning!  

Friday we rolled in late morning and spent some time getting to know everyone and the lay of the beautiful land.

Zoomie

Zoomie's enclosure

How cute is that tiny house!

The beautiful backyard with all kinds of little walkways

Just loved the sound of this water feature

Behind the house

Our little suite that opens up into the enclosed little courtyard

We hit the town and had lunch at a lovely New Orleans style place called Rabalais.  I forgot to take a picture but the food was delish!  Got me a fried Shrimp Po' Boy.

Neat little church we walked by

After this we just hung around the house visiting and relaxing, then Pat & I headed out to the The Hangar.  Go for the view not the food.  But we did enjoy the view and watching the little planes take off.

After this, back to the house to chill and visit the night away.  We did take a walk around the neighborhood and I found one of the two geocaches I found on this trip.  

They have peacocks that run around the neighborhood

Found ya!

Hmmmm, I've seen this before

River out behind their house (That we snuck out to look at)

Teeny tiny froggie!

Poe loved Rosalinda

Emmy looks so much like Luna and I think Poe was confused

On Saturday was our day in Ojai.  What a wonderful little town!!  And yes - as almost all places I seem to vacay lately - I want to live there!  Super cute and very artsy.  We started off with a hike on Shelf Road Trail.  We didn't go too far due to Pat's foot and Poe's limits.  Plus the walk to it was up a long hill!

Yup.  This town is my people.

We got breakfast burritos at Jim and Robs and wow were they fresh! Everything inside that burrito was fresh and delicious!

Yum!

Poe was already tuckered

Yup!

After this we wandered the town and I found my other geocache!

Poe the geocaching dog

This was rad!

It played music when you walked through

The Libby Bowl.  I would so love to perform here!

This was the coolest!  An outdoor bookstore!  Pat said on of his top 3 favorite ever!

We then hit up Ojai Vineyard for a tasting.  We ended up staying for an additional glass of wine because Poe was done.  They let us bring him inside so he got a good nap.  The wine was quite good and we picked up a couple of the Rieslings which were surprisingly dry!  I wanted to give one to our hosts as well.  

Done

After this we had reservations at The Duchess.  It had come recommended by a few people and it did not disappoint!  The food was so good!  I got steak and eggs - steak cooked perfectly.  And Pat got a spicy thyme chicken and waffles that he said was the bomb!

Loved the little parasols everywhere

We then hit up The Naturalist where Olga and Dan's sons work and it was a lovely time!  We got to meet and visit with Aaron while we did a yummy tasting.  We took home a bottle of the Sangiovese!  Poe also got to meet a friend when another couple with a dog came in!

We then picked up some pizza for dinner and stopped at a gorgeous viewpoint before heading back.

Yea...I want to live here

Favorite!

The rest of the evening was wonderful conversation over dinner and wine and meeting Dot!

Dot

Poe loved Olga

Dan shared with us a homemade Limoncello!

Sunday we said our goodbyes and headed out, and sadly something had gotten me sick, because I ended up in bed the rest of the day and still recovering today.  Not sure what didn't agree with me or what set me off, but just grateful it happened after our wonderful weekend.

One more romp before we head out

This is a spectacular lady right here!

Talk about a perfect couple of days away!  We couldn't have been more grateful for the hospitality we received from Dan, Olga and Rosalinda.  What a beautiful town and a beautiful home!  We'll def be back!