March 2020 was an eventful — and historic — time!
In the midst of increasing concern about a growing pandemic, we managed to just barely get a trip in to visit Central California. This was our Spring Break — taken a few weeks early due to Jamie’s work schedule.
In hindsight, taking the trip was probably foolish. But in the early days of the pandemic our understanding of risks evolved quickly. What seemed reasonable one day became unthinkable just a few days later.
We didn’t fully realize it at the time, but we were in a race with the response to Covid-19. By the time we got home, almost every attraction we visited had closed to the public.
Our 5 Days / 4 Nights Trip to Central California
Itinerary (List View)
- Thursday
- Travel Day
- Stay at Harvest Hosts: 43 Ranch
- Friday
- 43 Ranch Tour
- Solvang
- Mission Santa Ines
- Stay at Cachuma Lake
- Saturday
- Stay at Cachuma Lake
- Sunday
- Santa Barbara
- Santa Barbara County Courthouse
- Mission Santa Barbara
- The Robert J. Lagomarsino Visitor Center at Channel Islands National Park
- Stay at Cachuma Lake
- Monday
- Travel Home
For more information about any part of the itinerary, we have more in depth detail below.
Thursday — Travel
We left just before noon on Thursday. This allowed us to get everything set and packed while the kids were able to participate in their morning schooling. We didn’t realize but this was the last day they would be at school for the rest of the school year!
We loaded up and headed south. It was a beautifully sunny day and our route took us across the coastal range on Highway 152. What a gorgeous drive! We really enjoyed the rolling green hills, brilliant blue skies, and beautiful spring air.
When we saw a turnout, we had to pull over for a quick stop to take in the views.
A little later, we were shocked to drive right past the entrance to Pinnacles National Park. We were on a timeline to make it to our Harvest Hosts location so unfortunately we were unable to stop.
We arrived at 43 Ranch, our Harvest Hosts location, at around 5:30 pm. This was our first experience with Harvest Hosts and we were really pleased! You can read more about our experience at 43 Ranch here.
Friday — 43 Ranch, Solvang, & Mission Santa Ines
43 Ranch Olive Press Tour & Olive Oil Tasting
We awoke Friday to a cool and cloudy morning. We took a walk through the 43 Ranch olive grove and got the rig ready to go. When we were all hooked up and ready to go, our Harvest Host arrived to give us the olive oil tour.
It was so interesting to see how olive oil is made. At the end of our tour, we got to taste several of the delicious 43 Ranch olive oils. We picked 2 flavors that were our favorites and bought some for ourselves and for gifts.
Solvang
Then it was time to head south to Solvang, CA. Solvang is a delightful little town with a Danish influence. We knew we were arriving with the rig attached, so we did some research ahead of time and determined that there is RV parking near the library.
When we arrived in Solvang, our first priority was to find lunch. We know that all sightseeing goes much better on full stomachs!
We found a great burger place called Chomp. The kids were happy as they both had shakes. We really enjoyed the food and ambiance — it was just the pick-me-up we all needed!
After lunch, we walked around town to take in the interesting architecture. It’s a small enough downtown that even the kids managed to not get tired of the walk!
The Book Loft, a charming local bookstore, caught Andrew’s eye so we dropped in for a look around. After the bookstore, we headed towards the mission but the kids found it hard to resist the Swedish Candy Factory. It was pretty interesting to see how they hand roll the Polkagris! Apparently they are the only place in the US that makes the Swedish sweet treat.
Mission Santa Ines
Then we headed to Mission Santa Ines. It is right at the edge of Solvang, so the walk isn’t too long.
Most California 3rd or 4th graders study the California Missions and many do an in-depth study of one of them. Andrew studied the missions this year and his mission was Santa Ines. He was so excited to see the mission he had been studying and building a model of!
Our visit to the mission was really nice. A small fee got us inside for a self-guided tour. There are some interesting artifacts in the museum. Andrew was particularly excited about a robe that was supposedly worn by Father Junipero Serra.
After a few “museum” type rooms, the tour takes you through the thick adobe wall into the church. You can just feel the history in that space!
Then the tour goes through a side door — the only remaining original door — into the courtyard. There is a nice fountain and a lushness to the planting that is really pleasant. Finally, around the backside of the church is the cemetery.
Our visit took about an hour and it was well worth the $12 total we paid to see it.
Cachuma Lake — Our Home Base
After our visit to Mission Santa Ines, we headed a few minutes south to Cachuma Lake where we checked into the county RV park. We had booked three nights since we planned to use this as a somewhat central home base for the rest of our sight-seeing.
Saturday — Channel Islands National Park
Our Saturday got off to an early start. We woke up early to make sure we could get in a good breakfast before driving an hour south to the Ventura Harbor.
Visiting the Channel Islands was an all day adventure. The boat left in the morning and didn’t return until evening. We have collected our thoughts, tips, and tricks for visiting the Channel Islands over at our Channel Islands blog post — go check it out for more information.
When we returned on the boat, we drove the hour back to our home base at Cachuma Lake for supper and a movie night in the rig. We were all pretty tired after the long day!
Sunday — Santa Barbara
After a good breakfast and a somewhat leisurely morning, we drove the half hour into Santa Barbara. We found parking pretty easily and started exploring the town.
Santa Barbara on a Sunday morning seemed to be very sleepy. Not much was open but we did find a donut shop — Onus Donuts. Of course we had to stop in for a sweet treat!
After getting fueled up by donuts, we explored the town a bit. The kids were getting a bit restless but I (Greg) remembered hearing about the courthouse and I wanted to see it.
Santa Barbara County Courthouse
We finally made it to the Santa Barbara County Courthouse and it was worth the extra walking! It is a beautiful Spanish style building with lush grounds around it. And, as we soon discovered, it was open and free to explore the interior as well.
As we were going through the large arch portal, a friendly homeless man helpfully told us we could go inside and we should go up the clock tower. So we headed inside. The stairs were beautiful!
On the second floor, we found a historic court room open and went inside. What an amazing space! It has large murals surrounding the room, large intricately decorated beams, and huge windows on one side. Very cool!
We continued up the stairs and soon found a creaky old door labeled “Tower Stairs” which we went through. That led to a glassed in area where we could see the inner workings of the clock as well as the bells.
We continued up the stairs and soon found ourselves at the top of the clock tower. It is an open air space with views all around. The railings had helpful photos of the view in each direction with points of interest labeled.
After taking in the views, we headed back down the stairs. At the second floor we decided to go down the hall and find a different stair down. We discovered a cool spiral stair in the corner of the building.
The Santa Barbara Courthouse was very neat and we wholeheartedly recommend a visit. Every corner turned up a new and interesting feature and the whole thing was free!
Lunch — Natural Cafe
After the courthouse, we clearly needed to find lunch! We ended up at The Natural Cafe — a really nice restaurant right in downtown. The kids had smoothies in addition to their meal — always a big hit! The food was good and we all felt energized and ready to go after a nice break.
Mission Santa Barbara
After lunch, we went back to the truck for the quick drive to Mission Santa Barbara. We easily grabbed a parking spot. Just as we were taking some photos around the front of the mission a tour bus arrived. Luckily they just came to see the outside and didn’t go in for a tour.
As we were taking some video of the fountain out front, we noticed a family dispute happening. It was a pretty intense fight and unfortunately we got to witness it for almost the entirety of our self-guided tour since we couldn’t seem to get away from them!
Entrance to Mission Santa Barbara was quite a bit more expensive than Santa Ines — adult tickets were twice as much and child tickets went from free to around $6.
The self-guided tour at Santa Barbara went in the opposite order from Santa Ines. In Santa Barbara, the tour starts in the courtyard, continues to the cemetery, then into the church, and finally into the museum rooms. It was all very interesting and beautiful.
After the tour, we walked around the front of the mission a bit more. Across the street is the remnant of an old aqueduct which was pretty cool.
The Robert J. Lagomarsino Visitor Center at Channel Islands National Park
After the mission, we decided to head back down to Ventura to visit the Channel Islands Visitor Center since we hadn’t had time to see it on Saturday.
It was nice to see some of the exhibits and the short film, but it probably wasn’t worth the extra driving. It’s not a very big visitor center.
After visiting the visitor center we headed back to our home base at Cachuma Lake (about an hour drive) for supper.
Monday — Travel Home
We woke up Monday to pouring rain. It’s always an adventure to pack up the rig in drenching rain! But the tanks have to be emptied and the hookups have to be stowed.
After packing up and hooking up, we headed home. It was a mostly uneventful trip although we did have a few times with pretty intense rain.
The most eventful part of our trip home was our quick stop at a Taco Bell. We rushed in (due to the rain) and missed the sign posted on the door. Once inside, we were quite surprised to see the dining area completely blocked off! Little did we know that this was the beginning of a comprehensive Covid-19 shut down.