Sea Cliff + coastal overlook in Carpinteria

It's the return of the Carpinteria road trip posts...We haven't even gotten to that point yet, but bear with me as I painfully eke out these posts...

After our short stop at Beacon Coffee Co. in Ventura,

As much as we enjoyed our trip to Ventura the previous year, we needed to move on....

Beacon Coffee Co., Ventura

Morning on the 101...

heading west on a weekend getaway..

Carpinteria Road Trip - Day 1 Highlights

It was still dark the morning we headed out to Carpinteria...

First stop was, as usual, the Starbucks on Red Hill Dr. in Tustin. Gone is the cigar store and replaced by a poke place...poke is everywhere now it seems...

Nature's Grill & Juice Bar + scenes from Ventura

Not too far away from our dinner destination was the Mission San Buenaventura...

We parked at a free lot nearby. Sadly, the Mission was already closed...

but at least this eatery, Nature's Grill & Juice Bar was still open...

Coffee Fails + Mai's Cafe & other random stops

Driving through Ventura, I was checking online to see which coffee places were still open...

One of them was Sticky Fingers Bake Company...

which had a retro like look and feel, but...

Brophy Bros, Ventura Harbor, Lunch Part 2

Across the parking lot from Andria's was our other lunch stop...

Brophy Bros, restaurant, which was a bit more "fancy" (but still casual enough) than Andria's.

The dining level was at the top which was cool...

Andria's Seafood Restaurant and Market - Lunch Part 1

This morning we did a two-fer in terms of trying seafood restaurants.

Our shot was here, at Andria's Seafood Restaurant and Market...

They opened at 11 am and we were ready to give it a try...

Return to the Ventura Pier + a visit to Ventura Harbor Village

Our summer trip wasn't done quite yet...

We got up early to check out the Ventura Pier...

Sherpa Fire sunset

As we headed back to our hotel, we noticed the orange red glow in the sky...

which was shrouded by dark smoke clouds...

Rice Thai Cuisine

We weren't sure what to expect at Rice Thai,

but if Jack the motel clerk liked it, then we were willing to give it a go...

Rosie Lee Imports

We parked for free up near City Hall and walked a few blocks down to explore.

We noticed the British import shop across the street and wanted to check it out...

Serra Cross Park

The motel we stayed at was a vintage hotel. Not fancy, but good enough for the night. The guy working there was really helping in giving us recommendations on where to see some cool sights and where to dine.  We thought we would check out the one of the highest points in Ventura...

We made our way up the hill, past City Hall and near Father Serra's statue...

Grant Park, which includes the Botanical Gardens also has another park, Serra Cross, known for its spectacular views...

Summer Road Trip 2016 - Day 6 Highlights

This day was purely food stops...

Our initial destination was a breakfast place in Granada Hills...

Summer Road Trip 2016 - Day 5 Highlights

Once again, bright and early...

We'd been on this pier before from our summer trip two years ago, but we wanted to get some morning exercise in...

Summer Road Trip 2016 - Day 4 Highlights

Before leaving Santa Barbara, we made sure to catch a glimpse of this famous tree...

Look it up on google. San Diego has our own in Balboa Park, but this one is much much bigger...

Tipps Thai Cuisine

We figured we were on one of the main streets, we would have dinner someover over here...

That somewhere happened to be across the street...

Ventura Pier, mermen ornaments, buildings and more

Our way down to Ventura was quite nice. No traffic and decent weather all around.

There were some foggy patches though...

but we made it to Ventura intact...

Summer Road Trip Day 6 Highlights and heading back home...

After six days, our vacation had to come to an end...

We left yet another beach community for home, but of course, made a few stops along the way...

Summer Road Trip Day 5 Highlights

Driving through miles of countryside was certainly different...

It was neat finding random homes up in the hillsides as we made our way to our next stop...