The next morning, we woke early and got a good look at the campsite. It was great, only 30 or so sites, maybe 12 of them full, all given some privacy by the stand of trees the campground was tucked into. We got a small fire going, made coffee and Addy made some delicious breakfast burritos. After breakfast, we went looking for a hike. We first drove up to the day use areas near the campground. We stopped at Alto Pinos, before continuing up the mountain to Figueroa Mountain Lookout. We got some great photos there, but they can't quite capture the wild expanse that we saw. We found a hiking trail, closer to the Ranger Station, that started out cutting across a tall grass field, reminding us of a western plains prairie. We followed it as it followed the ridgeline down the canyon to a steam. We only passed one other group coming back up from the canyon floor. Apparently, we could have followed the stream to another canyon and from there hike to the top of Zaca Peak. That would have to wait for another day as we had not packed all the gear we would need for that long of a trek. Having gotten nice and sweaty, we decided it was time to find some water to cool off in. We drove back to Lake Cachuma Rec Area, only to be told that swimming is prohibited in the lake. We made the best of it, by relaxing lakeside, in the sun, with our books and then showering before heading to our Wine Club winery, Roblar. They are our favorite winery in the area for several different reasons, not the least being that their wines are delicious. The grounds are also beautiful, pastoral and comfortable. We have great memories there from visiting with my parents to sitting on the veranda planning our wedding. This time we sat out on the porch reserved for wine club members and sat enjoying the sun, the wine, and each other's company. Once we enjoyed our tastings and picked-up our wine shipment, we decided to head to Los Olivos and do at least one more tasting at another favorite in the area, Saarloos & Sons. Unfortunately, they had stopped doing tastings for the day, but we were able to have a mini cupcake each, which was almost as good. We walked down Grand and found another tasting room to try, Coquelicot. By the time we finished our tastings there, hunger had come over both of us, so we headed back to the campground. The drive was much less treacherous in the light and provided some great views. Addy had been marinating some great looking rib-eyes that we grilled over the fire with some asparagus and made an amazing dinner, camping or not. The syrah from Roblar was a great pairing as well. We retired after sitting by the fire for a little while, bathed in the silvery light from the full moon.
Sunday started out similarly to Saturday, a bright, sunny morning with coffee and breakfast. We broke camp and left the site better than we found it. We took the road we had not taken yet, which ended up leading us along the ridgeline, over a pass to Cachuma Saddle and provided some amazing vistas of the surrounding wilderness. The road from Cachuma Saddle led us down the other side of the ridge, then through some ranching lands, then vineyards on Happy Canyon Rd. We ended up back at Saarloos & Sons, this time enjoying the wine tasting and their adirondack chairs in the sun. Since we didn't get to go swimming in the lake the day before, we decided we wanted to go to the beach in Santa Barbara for the afternoon. After the drive back to town, we found the beach at Arroyo Burro Beach to still be overcast. We decided to give it some time and hope that the marine layer was still burning off. Luckily, we were right. The sun came out and it was gorgeous. It was not too crowded, which added to the relaxing environment. We just enjoyed the sun and read some more of our books, occasionally pointing out sailboats or paragliders to each other. After a few hours in the sun, I was ready for a cold one, so we headed to the Brewhouse. We had been here the summer before and really enjoyed it. It did not disappoint, providing great beer and delicious food, with outdoor seating. Unfortunately, we did not have much time to relax there, as we needed to get on the road before traffic got increasingly worse. We must've beat some of the traffic, since it only took us 2 3/4 hrs to get back.
