Santa Barbara

I recently heard about the Goleta Monarch Butterfly Grove where there are supposed to be tons of butterflies to view. Come to find out, it is located about 100 yards from my old grad school condo. I used to go running in the very same location. And no, I wasn't 'floating like a butterfly' while I was running back then. Anyhow, we took a family day trip up the coast and visited the butterfly grove. We parked in the paved parking lot, and hiked for 10-15 minutes on a dirt path until we came to the tree all the butterflies were hanging around. Da Boys wanted to continue hiking, so we went exploring the area. They found multiple trees to climb and multiple paths to hike. After lunch, we hit the South Coast Railroad Museum. Da Boys are really into trains these days, so they enjoyed the old train exhibits, the model trains, and of course riding the mini train!