Birthday Beach Trip - Day Of

My actual birthday-day was once again absolutely perfect. We hunted down donuts to fuel our trip up the coast from Oxnard. We marveled at the differences in the beaches from where we had started to the coast north of Oxnard/Ventura - people packed, ?developed? beaches had given way to unpopulated, wild stretches. Santa Barbara?s beaches were not quite as wild as the drive up, but had nowhere near the people density as those down south.

The beaches, however, were not the only thing of interest.

We had visited the mission in Ventura that morning, but saved the best for last - the Old Mission Santa Barbara. The self-proclaimed ?Queen of the California Missions?. It has been beautifully restored. There is a photo waiting around every corner, so it was difficult to select my daily photo. I am a sucker for angles and color contrast and I liked the way the textures stood out in this photo shot at the back of the mission, so here is the photo that represents my half century birthday.