Return to Santa Barbara

My traveling buddy Justin and I just arrived in Santa Barbara on Monday. We decided to take the scenic route along Highway One from Santa Cruz to Santa Barbara, which is one of the most beautiful stretches of U.S. coast in my opinion. It is good to be back here, even though I have always had a love/hate relationship with this town. I think I prefer just visiting here, rather than living here. Santa Barbara is a beautiful place, and it is easy to get sucked in. With it's gorgeous scenery, beautiful people, warm weather most of the year, and easy-going lifestyle, it is very easy to see how someone would not want to leave. But beneath the glittery gold surface, there are some not-so-nice characteristics about this place that you come to know after living here for a while. It is getting more and more expensive by the day, and the once-unique shops of downtown are being forced to relocate because of high rent prices, and more franchises and corporations are taking their place. There is also a lot of wealth in Santa Barbara, as it is the fifth richest zip code in the country. With all that wealth, comes a high level of snobishness. I don't think I have ever known a city that was so wrapped up in itself. But of course, every place has it's negative and positive aspects, so it's best to just take it as it is.

We also have the luxury now of traveling by vehicle. Luckily, Justin places the value of experiences over the value of money. So he does not really mind what happens to his truck, as long as we have a helluva time along the way. With a 4x4 Toyota 4Runner, the possibilities are endless...especially in Mexico and Central America. The only major cost will be for gas, but that should be reduced when it is split between three or four people. The idea of going all the way down to Costa Rica has been thrown out there, and it is actually seeming quite possible. Supposedly, the drive can be done in about eight days. So my friend Justin and I are going to go to Labor Ready and try to work for a week, then my other friend Joey will meet us here and the adventure will begin...