the drive from orange county to san francisco is 8 hours of wide open farm land, small gas stations and rest stops, and some of the prettiest views of nothingness you can see in southern california.  when we started our road trip, it was rainy and dreary, but by the time we made it out of bakersfield, it was pretty dang gorgeous.  we had all the essentials for a successful road trip: snacks, good music, and a camera to document it all!!  we rocked out the entire drive and i'm pretty sure i ate my weight in beef jerky and sour patch kids.  

travel // road trip to santa barbara

santa barbara was a blast.  absolutely amazing.  we left early saturday morning, stopped for some delish bagels and headed up the coast.  the drive to sb was easy and is so beautiful once you get out of LA and get to drive along the coastline.  once we made it, we checked into our little hotel (the Mason Beach Inn - which was clean and affordable and perfectly located), freshened up, and headed out for a little late breakfast. 

after breakfast, shopping was at the top of our to-do list, or so we thought.  after an hour or so, we decided we'd much rather be wine tasting than shopping.  so off to the wineries we went.  there's this little strip of 3 or 4 store fronts that different local wineries have turned into tasting bars.  they are all so eclectic and different.  we sipped and chatted and laughed for hours.  it was such a perfect afternoon. 

saturday night we rallied after some dinner on the pier and headed out to state street to explore the night life.  we ended up at a small bar (Indochine) we an awesome back patio where we quickly made ourselves at home.  there's nothing quite like a group of good friends hanging out and just being ourselves.  it was a great way to end our day.