two hours north

I could not have planned this past weekend better if I tried.  Maybe that's what was so awesome about it.  The plan was to drive to Santa Barbara to visit Geoff's sister and her family, and Chloe could maybe ride a horse.  It turned into my best birthday weekend ever, and it wasn't even my birthday.
My sister-in-law arranged for a horse for Chloe to ride and paint, and he even had fancy feet for her arrival. Aunt Debbie thought of everything.  Chlo was a little nervous about riding by herself, so she asked me to ride with her. I can't tell you how glad I am that she asked, because I had the most amazing time.  I haven't been on a trail ride in years, and it felt good to be back in the saddle again.

Turns out horseback riding is just like riding a bike, except a million times better. 

The ride was enough.  An amazing horse who was calm and sure-footed, a leisurely ride through picturesque meadows overlooking the Santa Barbara coast with my girl in front of me.  Seriously.  It was soo cool.  Apparently it was hard to tell who was having a better time because I could not wipe the smile off my face.
As I said, the ride would have been enough, but then they took us to The Palace Grill where we had amazing Louisiana faire and one of my favorite ever beers, Abita Amber.  The food was amazing, oh and the bread pudding, and the whole restaurant singing Louis Armstrong's What a Wonderful World.     And Chloe saying, "I know this song, Rowlf sings this song."   It was good stuff, memory-making.

That was just Saturday!  Big huge thanks to Debbie and Jim for their hospitality, we had a really wonderful time.

All the photos I am in, and a couple others were taken by Geoff.  Thanks, hubban.