Lay of the Land (From Tales of the Great Unpacking

We're here now. Finally. Both of us, and the dogs too.

Suffice to say that my getting here on Saturday was an adventure to say the least. I was leaving Phoenix at 11 AM to meet family in OC for an evening of fun to celebrate my wife's birthday. All was well 'til Mapquest sent me on a wild goose-chase for a highway interchange that, to the best of my knowledge, does not exist. Took the next-best thing and ended up going south on the 215 only to realize that I was way too far inland and south to be getting where I wanted to go ("I'm how far from Temecula!?").

It all sorted out, and the evening was a good time so no problems there. Anyway...

Monday was my wife's actual birthday so my in-laws treated us to dinner...way out in the middle of nowhere, also known as Casmalia, at The Hitching Post. THP is a steak joint that, according to it's history, doesn't appear to have changed much since the 1950's. Which is fine; it was the best Sirloin I think I've ever had.

Yesterday brought the job hunt to the top of the agenda. I got the whirlwind tour of Santa Barbara County: down to SB for an appt. around 11:30 A.M., from there another in Los Olivos and the wine country NE of Santa Ynez.

After a brief detour that involved unpacking at the house, it was off to Santa Maria for the most enjoyable and hopefully, ultimately most productive of the days efforts.

I figure at this rate I'll have most of the county down fairly quick...say a month or so of driving through the hills, re-learning how to drive canyon roads again while following the map and trying not to miss the many one-block-long, sneeze-and-you-miss-em towns that litter the countryside.