Independence Day: SoCal Style

This past July 4th marked the 233rd birthday for the United States of America and it also marked my very first Independence Day away from Minnesota, and the first in 16 years away from Wade Stadium. Instead, I took off from Ontario on Thursday afternoon towards Thousand Oaks, where I was meeting Dale at his office before heading to dinner at Famous Dave's in Simi Village Valley where we were meeting Katie. Following another outstanding offering from Dave's it was off to Dale's place for a little decompressing before heading out to Dargan's in beautiful downtown Ventura. We were joined at Dargan's by Nick Grant (the cat can ball). All in all, a solid day.

Friday brought about a little homework in the morning for this guy before lunch in Ventura at the Busy Bee Cafe on Main Street followed by some random wanderings around Main Street including adventuring into an antique store featuring just about every random knick-knack you could think of. This was followed up by a stop by Dairy Queen it was back to the apartment for soem MLB Network and the start of the Angels game with some brews and some pizza. Then, it was off to Victoria Pub & Grill for a night of outrageous new people, a few pitchers of refreshing goodness, and a few "W's" on the dart board. This was all followed up by three breakfast jacks and a strawberry shake in the early morning hours before hitting the sack in preparation for Saturday.

Saturday brought about the holiday and it all started off with Mosh's arrival at the apartment and from there it was off to Carpinteria for some beach time with Grant and Kitty and the amazing family of Clark. It was football on the beach, some time in the ocean, some exploring and sand castle stomping. Then it was off to the pool at the condo for some good times in the water. Following a quick shower it was time to head out to Santa Barbara for some quick dinner and then to the beach for the fireworks show, which was a very nice show. Following a very entertaining walk back to the car (pics coming soon), it was off to State Street in Santa Barbara for a little night cap. So, we found a parking spot and turned the corner out of the ramp and saw a sign from above...we were off to Dargan's. After the ride back to Ventura we were all thoroughly gassed and it was time to shut it down.

Sunday morning meant packing up and heading back to Ontario with plenty of time to spare before having to turn in some a couple of assignment for the MBA program online and preparing for the next adventures in the life.