Solvang, CA, pre-China visit

My good friend Carol and I met on a Richard Simmons "Cruise to Lose" a few years ago. (She was Carol Lesher then, but had a new boyfriend, who became her husband the following year--so now she's Carol Lesher Peterson.)

Anyway, Carol and I became great friends. We had a blast on that cruise and have stayed in touch since. We've been on one other cruise together--with hubby Mike along this time!--and I visited them in their home in Solvang a couple of years ago. Carol is the person who told me about the China trip, and invited me to come early to visit with them. So, March 12 I caught several planes which eventually landed me in Santa Barbara, the closest convenient airport to her home on the outskirts of Solvang, CA.

The picture above is the view from Carol's back patio. She owns the houses on the hill, as well as several more acres, including a pasture, barn, etc. Lots of room for the animals. There's a white llama out by the fence. A better picture of him...

...well, his backside at any rate. If you know anything about llamas, you know they can be somewhat stubborn, and I wasn't going to risk getting any closer and get spat upon!

This is adorable Phoebe, Carol's miniature horse. Carol says she has let her into the house, but she stayed outdoors while I was there. I've heard miniature horses are so smart they can be trained to be helper animals for the handicapped. And this one is very friendly as well.


This will give you a better idea of just how tiny Phoebe really is! She was happy when I put grain into her feed dish. (I'm not much of a farm hand, having been a "town kid" all my life, but I braved the corral in order to get these pictures.)

These guys were happy to get some grub too, and I was happy they focused on the grain and not on nipping or butting me! These three goats, along with two sheep, came from nearby "Neverland" when Michael Jackson broke up his animal herd. (Carol called them "The Jackson Five"!) One sheep died, however, so now it's just the Jackson Four. The poor little sheep who was left alone was ostracized by the goats, but he took up with one of the llamas and is doing well now, as you can see from the picture below. Except for Phoebe, I can't recall any of these critters' names. (Sorry, Carol!)

Well, I do remember Billie Bad Ass (yeah, that's actually her name), but I remember her name because she looks so much like my sweet Buttercup. Billie doesn't like to be held by anyone but Mike, but she did condescend to allow me to pet her and take this picture. Wish she hadn't turned her head at the last minute. Carol got Billie as a rescue cat--she had already earned her name by being so surly and hard to handle. But Billie seems to like it in Solvang--and loves Mike!

I had planned to take some pictures in downtown Solvang, since the buildings are so quaint, most of them in old Danish style. However, distracted by all the preparations for our China trip, I never got around to it. (I realize I didn't even get any humans in these pictures! Fortunately, there are plenty of pictures of Carol and Mike on my China trip blog posts.)

Solvang is great, and I hope to visit again. Friendly people, a charming town, great shopping and excellent wineries! I recommend all of them!