Back in the saddle, heading north along the Pacific coast. Our original intent was to do some camping in the Los Padres national forest, but our timing was way off. Because of the Memorial Day holiday weekend everyone and his brother was on the road. Campsites were booked everywhere. We normally try to avoid being on the road on holiday weekends, but we messed up this time.

We reached Solvang, CA about 2 in the afternoon and the people at the visitor center told us about the Figueroa Campground on Figueroa Mountain. That was quite an adventure. After about 14 miles on Figueroa Mountain Road (an unpaved, one lane “road”)  we reached the campground only to find the sign read “Closed due to Lake fire”.  Not wishing to return the way we came, we continued on another 15-20 miles down the other side and ultimately found our way back to Solvang. At that point, we gave up and began searching for shelter for the night. After a brief supper, we headed to Buellton where we found lodging. Given the holiday weekend and traffic, we opted to stay at the motel fro 3 nights and spend Friday and Saturday exploring the area.

After getting settled in, we were too tired to do much of anything else, so we tucked ourselves into bed, listened to our story and fell asleep.