Thursday was my birthday, and the O’Sheas have a tradition that your birthday is your special day – it’s all about you. Since I’ve known Chuck, we have really embraced this philosophy, treating each other to some pretty neat treats. This year, my treat was surprise two-day trip to Ojai, a cool little getaway about two hours northeast of L.A.
We stayed at a great old B&B called the Theodore Woolsey House and had an entire floor to ourselves. The house wass built in 1887, and has been very well maintained over the years. Live Oaks, a rose garden, a pool (that was freezing), a hottub (that was nice and hot), yummy breakfasts…mmmmm!!! It was a very relaxed place. Quite often B&B’s can be pretty regimented; this place wasn’t that way at all – very laid back and pleasant. Next door to the B&B was the Day Spa of Ojai, where Chuck had scheduled us for massages, foot rubs and a facial for me. Ah, life just doesn’t get better than this!! We also took advantage of the great trails around Ojai and went running and biking (the weather was pretty hot but the air was very dry – we just drank a lot of water). I was pretty excited about the biking – it was my first time out since my wrist surgery six weeks ago, so I wasn’t sure how it would go. But I was pleased to note that there was no pain or numbness – looks like the surgery worked! We went out the first day for about six miles, and then went over twenty the next – a good test!
Ojai seems to have a lot of two things: day spas and great restaurants. The Day Spa of Ojai was super – and we went to a great Mexican restaurant our first night there, but everyone was in agreement about the Ranch House – it was a not to be missed experience in dining! So we bit the bullet, made Friday night reservations and WOW all those folks who recommended it weren’t kidding! They have a huge wine cellar, and the garden setting is lovely. We had a fabulous dinner (and sat across from a couple celebrating their 55th wedding anniversary – they were so sweet, drinking champagne and having a great time! Chuck and I contemplated our respective ages should we reach our 55th anniversary and decided not to think about it anymore) and after finishing we got a tour of the wine cellar from the restaurant’s wine steward.
We left Saturday after a four mile trail run where we encountered the Rock Cairns of Ojai. They have no meaning to anyone butt the folks who create them, but there were a lot of them, so we were inspired to not only build one of our own but to snap some photos of our favorites.
Have I mentioned that I love my pre-birthday present? I got a Casio Exilim EX-S500 which is an awesome little 5 megapixel camera that fits in my running shorts’ pocket! This thing is SMALL!! My Canon SD500 suffered a terrible accident when it got dropped on its lens and has been getting itself fixed (it needed a new zoom mechanism and a new screen) so while it’s been in the shop I’ve been testing out the little Casio and it’s quite the camera! Its flash is nowhere near as good as the Canon’s, and its lack of a viewfinder is a real disadvantage in high light situations (read: outdoors), but it’s perfect when you don’t want the hassle of a big or even kind of big camera but still want to take decent shots.
Okay, okay, I admit it. I AM a little spoiled. Pics of the Ojai trip in glorious and excessive detail are here.