Fun on 101

Heading north, I left Brea and routed through downtown LA on 101, through Hollywood:

And then on to Ventura:

Stopped in Santa Barbara to run an errand and grab some lunch.  It was a beautiful day and fun being in SB remembering Martha & Zach's wedding while driving down State Street.

I then headed up into the hills on a little detour off 101 to see Solvang.  I stopped at a couple of "vista" points along the route, the first of which was this view across the valley looking north:

The second was at Bradbury Dam, which creates Lake Cachuma:

My mom and step-dad have stayed in Solvang a couple of times and raved about what a cute place it is - and it did not disappoint.  I arrived just before sunset, so I walked around a bit taking pictures of all the cute "Danish" themed buildings:

As it got dark, the shops began to close, but the lights began to come on:

The whole place is very festive this time of year.  But with the dark, came the cold and no more light for pictures, so I quickly made my way back to my car and got back on the road.  About an hour later, I arrived at my hotel in San Luis Obispo, where I'm now looking forward to a good night's rest.