I have returned from the land of milk and honey. I mean the land of traffic and homeless. Sooo glad I got out of California.

The trip wasn't that bad. Stayed outside of Sacramento and then made it to Santa Barbara by noon the next day, even with a detour through Atascadero, Santa Margarita, and San Luis Obispo (mmm, Sunshine Donuts).

My grandfather seems to be making a recovery. He's now up to 146 pounds.

My other grandparents seem to be doing well. I stopped in to see them for a few hours and my grandmother's memory didn't seem any worse than the last time I saw her in October.

I ate at most of my favorite places (what I wouldn't give for a Patrini's meatball sandwich right now) and got to see people I haven't seen since I left. I had also forgotten how beautiful Santa Barbara is...a lot of nice public parks and trails. I ate lunch in the Rose Garden near the Mission and walked along the Breakwater, drove around Hendry's Beach and Cabrillo Blvd. I was very enamored with it, much more so then previous trips. Luckily it pissed me off the day before I was to leave with traffic and construction. And the number of homeless people was shocking, even though, in retrospect, there didn't seem to be more then there ever was before.

So, overall, good place to visit. And eat...mmm, tri-tip sandwich and mango iced tea at the Beachside (twice).