We left bright and early on Thursday, May.28. It was about a 3 1/2 hour flight to Santa Barbara, with a layover in San Francisco. The flight seemed to go really fast and it was relaxing to just sit and read a book. We checked in at Bacara Resort & Spa and had several hours to do our own thing before meeting up with everyone for dinner at 7. We started to take a walk along the beach until we saw a lady putting flags on some rocks and telling us to wipe the tar off our shoes once we left. As we continued walking we noticed a group of people in full white suits scraping the tar off the rocks. We then decided that maybe we were in the wrong place! There had been an oil spill so we didn't want to be harmed or anything. So we found a nice path to walk along instead. The weather definitely wasn't smoldering hot as I had kind of pictured, but it was nice enough the first couple of days to suntan in a swim suit. So we sat by the pool for a while after that and actually got a bit of a sunburn. Then we headed to our room to get showered and ready for dinner. The dinner was by the pool that night and I often felt bad for anyone who wasn't apart of the "Dynamic Funds" group because we seemed to be taking over the hotel! It was a Black and White Party so everyone wore black and white, which was pretty fun. They had lots of different tables of food but my favorite was the sushi table! Buffet sushi is one of the best things ever created, I could've eaten the whole table of it. They also had some synchronized swimmers putting on a show for us which I thought was really fun! We had a good time eating but started to freeze as the night went on so we huddled under heat lamps and blankets and chatted with different people, but mostly Shemez and Zharha who came as well. Jeff works with Shemez and it was great to have Zharha there to hang out with when they were in meetings.
The next few days Jeff would listen to speakers from 8-12pm, and one of the days was until 2:30pm. Then he'd hang out with me afterwards, so it wasn't too bad. On the longer day I went shopping and spent way too much, but had such a blast! They had a shuttle bus that took me downtown Santa Barbara to a really cute outdoor mall. Another day I went biking with some of the other wives who came along. Let's just say that it wasn't a beginner trail, and I soon realized how little I've been biking since I was a kid! I had to re-learn how to use the gears and at times it was nerve racking going down and up big hills, but I got through it and actually had a lot of fun! The trail was absolutely gorgeous, going along the coast most of the way so we could look out over the ocean. Another day I decided to relax all morning. I took a bath, read a book, and went to the spa to get a massage - it was amazing! Jeff and I got to enjoy an activity together as well so we picked whale watching. We took a bus a little ways and then hopped on a boat which took us out to search for whales. It was a beautiful beach and so much fun to ride on the boat in the ocean. We didn't have to go far before we saw hundreds of dolphins! It was such a cool thing to see - all the dolphins jumping along. When we were moving they would swim and surf in our waves. It was unreal! We did spot 6 whales and they were really cool to see as well. They are so big, but don't jump around like the dolphins do so it wasn't quite as entertaining. I did get a fairly good picture of one though. We also saw some seals and sea lions.
Jeff and I had mostly all of our meals together and the food was really good. Breakfast and lunch were always buffet style, including fruit, yogourt, eggs, potatoes, waffles, crepes, etc., and lunches were always different but really delicious! Dinner took place in different areas each night. Friday was my favorite dinner and I took pictures of some of the courses that night. On Saturday we took a bus to the vineyard and the experience was based on different types of wine, so the food wasn't quite as good. Jeff and I obviously felt a little out of place that night since we didn't drink. Other than that, we always enjoyed the food and ate too much. By the time we left we felt like we didn't need to eat for days!
The people were so great to us, and they would provide us with "anything we wanted!" Jeff would joke with our friend Mike that we wanted fireworks one night, or that he wanted this other guys jacket that he though was cool. Everyone had a great sense of humour and we really enjoyed them. Yes, at times, I wished it could be just Jeff and I, but it was still a lot of fun. By the last day, though, we were ready to be done with small talk!
The day we flew home I couldn't wait to get back to Bentley. All day I was just awaiting the moment I could hold her again and give her a hug and kiss. We finally arrived home and I ran up to find Bentley who was in the bath. When I saw her she looked at me and her face slowly turned to a big smile. She looked at me like she didn't know if I was real or not! I grabbed her out of the tub and she said "mama" and gave me a big hug. It was honestly the cutest thing ever and I couldn't help but cry! Jeff had told me not to cry when I saw her and I had responded "why would I cry??" But I couldn't hold it in! Holy moly did I miss her!!! My parents were so fabulous with her, though, and had sent me videos and pictures. We also did face time with her a couple of times, which helped me know she was okay. I'm so thankful Jeff and I could go enjoy ourselves for 5 days though, it was well worth it!
