Olive Oil in a Bottle
When I was a kid one of the crank calls I made was calling a market and asking if they had Olive Oyl in a bottle. They would say, yes, they do. "You better let her out 'cause Popeye's gonna get real mad!" Click.
My wife, son, niece, sister-in-law and I took a drive up to Santa Ynez and Rancho Olivos, California. It is just north of Santa Barbara and right next to Solvang. This one place we stopped at is Olivos Ranch. They have 3 acres of olive trees - Spanish olives and varieties of Italian olives. They send them to the press and produce very good oils. My favorites are the Arbequina Extra Virgin Olive Oil (Spanish) and the Garlic Flavored Olive Oil. I got one bottle of the Garlic Flavored - I'll be back for more!
Murphy Eating Maggie MaeNo, not really. These 2 dogs live at Rancho Olivos and are the 2 friendliest of the ranch dogs. They really made our stay at the ranch enjoyable. They followed us around like they were our own dogs. We'll be back for more oil and to visit Murphy and Maggie!
Murphy Eating Horse Poop!Yep, that's what he's doing. 'Nuf said.
Horse Whiskers
Majestic Oak, Los Olivos
The golden hills of California are dotted with beautiful oak trees. This one, right in the middle of town, was one of the biggest and most majestic oak trees I have seen. I am sure it is at least a couple of hundred years old. I did not think of it on this trip but next time I will ask one of the locals to see how old it is.
Dash the Beggar Dog
We stopped at a little market/deli in town to have lunch and we soon had an uninvited guest. This dog, Dash, as his tag read, was very polite. He did not whine, bark or do anything else that was annoying and I think that is what made him endearing - he just sat there and waited. I liked my tri-tip sandwich and was too hungry to share it with him, but I did offer him some pepperoncini which he declined. I then offered him an onion slice, a piece of tomato and a small piece of sourdough bread. He snubbed them all! Nikki, my niece, was secretly (I was on to her and gave her a wink) dropping small bits of her ham sandwich, Dash obliged. Turns out he likes ham and cheese. He's big enough where you can't not notice him. He's not too big to be intimidating. And he's not so small that a tourist can just pick him up and take him home. He's the perfect size to be begging for food. Yes, other patrons did toss him scraps. After lunch as we walked around town and checked out some of the small shops, we spotted Dash at another sandwich shop with outdoor seating looking for more suckers!
Fat Cat on a Barrel
Dash obviously has not gotten a hold of this one.
Wooden Eye?
Smiley face spotted on one of the planks on the Santa Barbara pier where we topped off our day trip.
