28 Miles of Memories

Les and I celebrated our 28th wedding anniversary on Saturday.  We decided to take a close to home getaway to Solvang.  We have been going to Solvang for many years.  We use to go in March for the Solvang Century but hadn't been back since 2014.

I made our reservations about two weeks ago, so most of the hotels in town were sold out.  We ended up finding a gem just about a mile out of town.  The Meadowlark Inn was perfect for us - very quiet and relaxing.  Our room had its own private patio.

The grounds were beautiful.  The breakfast was more like what you find at a B&B, with a special hot dish each morning.

When I made our reservation, they had the option of adding a box of Danish chocolates.  These yummy treats were waiting in our room when we arrived!

Our favorite inn, The Inn at Petersen Village, sold a few years ago.  I made dinner reservations in their restaurant for our anniversary.  Unfortunately, the new owners did not keep the old world charm.  In the past it always felt calm and relaxing.  The owners set a "mood."  It seems the new owners have decided to set a "vibe" instead.  The background music is edgier.  They also bought the location next to the lobby and have turned it into a bar.  The food was delicious but the restaurant was much noisier.  We weren't tempted to just sit and enjoy the ambiance like we have in the past.

Solvang as a town has really changed in the last few years. What was once a tourist town with lots of bakeries and souvenir shops, has become a wine tasting destination.  When we were going on a regular basis a decade ago, there might have been two or three wine tasting rooms.  Now there are more than a dozen.  Naturally, the clientele has changed as well.

All was not lost, we visited our favorite cheese shop, The Vinhus, and ended up buying four bags of freshly ground coffee!

We also found some amazing gelato.  Les had Butterscotch and Ginger Vanilla, while I had Dark Chocolate and Coconut Stracciatella .

The highlight of our trip was taking our bikes with us.  I told Les, "We should ride a mile for each year on our anniversary," and that's just what we did!

As miles passed, we reminisced about what that year was like.  So many wonderful memories.  Just like the bike ride, there have been hard climbs, cold winds, and twists and turns.  There have also been times when the wind was at our back and we were flying down hill.  One thing that never changed, on the ride or in our marriage, we've always stuck together!  Les could have dropped me or I could have given up, but we both kept working and we made it, together.

We didn't take any pictures of the two of us.  We have changed a bit in the past 28 years but I love this guy more than ever!

Solvang 2011

As usual, we had a wonderful time in Solvang. Most of all it was a relaxing time with my sweetheart, but there were a few other highlights.


Friday evening, after checking in to "our" room at the Petersen Inn, we had dinner with Jim and Nancy Austin. Jim and Les both worked for the same company a few years ago and we've been having dinner with them every year for the past several. Jim is now retired, but still enjoys riding. The Austins had just returned from an amazing trip to Africa. They were in Tanzania and saw tons of wildlife - including 50 lions! Les and I have already decided this sounds like something we'd like to do someday.

After dinner, we walked to the Hotel Corque to pick up Les' packet for the Solvang Century. This is a goody bag that includes his rider number, route slip, and lots of information about upcoming rides. There is also a Cycling Festival to attend. There are cycling vendors on hand, assisting cyclists and selling their goods. In the past, I've endured this part of the evening, but I was definitely interested this year!

One of the vendors was Sheila Moon Athletic Apparel. They had some of the cutest cycling clothes for women that I've ever seen! They even had cycling dresses (too short for me, but cute anyway!) The young lady running the booth was Sam and she was very informative. When I told Sam that I was a runner who just started mountain biking, she said, "I love riding in the dirt!" Instant connection! I bought this cute jersey...


I guess it did the trick, since that is what I was wearing yesterday morning when I rode to the top of Las Llayas!

Saturday morning, Les was up and out the door by 6:30. I went back to sleep for a while, then enjoyed a wonderful breakfast at the Petersen, including a danish from Mortensen's Bakery! Les sent frequent updates on his progress, while I wandered in and out of the many shops. I walked back over to the Cycling Festival and met "the" Sheila Moon and had a great time chatting with her and Sam. Sheila has been a cyclist for years and just started running, so it was fun to compare notes.

I received a text from Les at 1:54 - "Last stop. Mile 85. 10 min break then we roll. Probably be back in town in an hour." I replied "I'll get you some food. Any requests?" "Turkey croissant if you can pull it off." So I was off in search of a turkey croissant! After a couple of stops, I found that the Solvang Restaurant had one with cranberry sauce - perfect! Les made it safely back by 3:15.

Sunday found us moving very slowly. We got up and had breakfast (in which I may or may not have had another danish...), then headed back to our room for a nap. A rare occurrence, especially on a Sunday! After enjoying the town some more, including a stop to the Vinhus for cheese, we decided we were hungry. Les said, "I want to eat somewhere we haven't tried before." So we ended up at the Viking Garden.



Outdoor seating was on the agenda. It was sunny and warm even when the wind started blowing! We enjoyed a great lunch.



We found one more sunny spot to enjoy our final treat of the weekend!


As we ate our ice cream, we sat people watching. We're both very curious about a particular fashion statement we kept seeing - young women in short shorts and UGGs! What is the deal? If your feet are toasty does that keep the rest of you warm? We even saw one young girl (no more than 10) wearing a swimsuit and UGGs! We just shook our heads. Where was that child's mother?? Oh, she was wearing shorts and UGGs, too...


Another great weekend to add to my memory book of the one I love!

Valentine Make-Up Weekend

You may have noticed that I didn't post anything about what we did for Valentine's Day. That's because we didn't do anything! Lance was here, so the guys rode bikes and I cooked. Not exactly my idea of romance. But I didn't complain, I told Les, "We'll let Solvang be our make-up weekend."

So we're off to Solvang for the weekend. It's our annual jaunt that we enjoy so much. We're expecting beautiful Spring-like weather. Les will be riding the Solvang Century (100 mile bike ride.) And I'll do my best not to eat too many pastries!


Have a great weekend!

Lovely!

That's the best way I can describe our weekend! I know Les would add "windy" since it was extremely windy on his ride on Saturday, but he made it with no crashes or mechanical difficulties, so the ride was also a success!

We arrived around noon on Friday and enjoyed lunch at The Red Viking Restaurant. We then found a sunny bench to sit on to let our food settle. An hour later, we finally moseyed down the street to visit some of our favorite shops!


Solvang Shoe Store


And of course a bicycle shop!


We also saw this cool 56 Chevy.



Saturday morning, I enjoyed the sunshine in our room while I waited for the town to wake up and the shops to open.



Les sent regular updates that included:

11:53 a.m. At 56 mile lunch stop. TOUGH in the winds the past 25. Should get some help as we turn south.

2:43 p.m. 82 down.

Our plan was for me to get some food for Les to eat and have it in the room as soon as he got back. With about 20 miles to go, I figured I had about an hour and half. Fortunately I headed out a little early and had just gotten back to the room when I received this:

3:39 p.m. I'm in the garage now.

The last 20 miles were a lot faster than the rest of the ride!

We enjoyed a wonderful dinner at the Petersen that night. The majority of the diners were couples. We noticed similarities in just about every couple - the guys were exhausted, faces a little winded chapped, while the ladies were perky, having enjoyed a day of shopping!

There are quite a few interesting pictures in the hallways at the Petersen. I've noticed this one before, but had never looked closely at the man's face.


Does he remind any of you Californians of anyone?


We didn't worry about the time change Sunday morning, because we slept in! After a wonderful breakfast, we made it a short distance to another sunny bench. This is the Courtyard by Petersen, not Marriott.




We sat there for about 30minutes, before Les headed into this book store. I had already purchased a book on Saturday, so I contentedly remained on the bench!


The scenery going home was spectacular! This is the Santa Ynez Valley, everything is SO green!


View of Santa Barbara from San Marcos Pass, with the ocean and Channel Islands in the distance:




One of my favorites! The Pacific Ocean!

Looking for My Wooden Shoes

It's time for our annual getaway to the lovely town of Solvang! Les will riding the Solvang Century tomorrow. We'll be checking into the Petersen Inn tonight.


I just hope it's as sunny as last year!

Solvang

The only way to describe our weekend is "aaaahhhhh...."

We arrived in Solvang around 1:30 on Friday afternoon. We wandered around in a few of the shops, including the Solvang Shoe Store, where I tried on some cute shoes!



We met Jim and Nancy Austin for dinner. Jim retired last year from the company Les works for. This was Jim's 20th year to ride the Solvang Century. They have stayed at the Petersen for many years and we enjoyed catching up with them.

This is "our" room - room 338.


Our room overlooks this fountain. With our window open, you can hear it, adding a very relaxing touch.



Les was up bright and early Saturday morning for the Solvang Century bike ride. He met Jim at 6:30 and off they went!

I went back to sleep after he left and didn't wake up until 8:00! That is sleeping in for me. I met Nancy around 11:00 and we drove over to Los Olivos to check out a couple shops there. We wandered through a metal sculpture garden checking out these characters and their friends!


Les sent frequent text updates on his progress and we enjoyed a relaxing dinner at the Petersen on Saturday night. After sleeping in on Sunday morning, we enjoyed a sunny morning, bought some cheese, crackers, and 3 brands of blueberry jam at the Vinhus!





And we made reservations for next year!