Seven Falls / Inspiration Point

Seven Falls / Inspiration Point is a beautiful hike in Mission Canyon, near Santa Barbara. During the spring, water fills the creeks and there are several falls (seven, possibly?). At this time of year it's very dry and dusty. The views of Santa Barbara, Goleta, the Santa Ynez Mountains, and the Channel Islands are breathtaking.

Real Madrid vs. LA Galaxy

Carpinteria, CA

Next stop on the SB Free tour is Carpinteria, CA our new home and favorite sleepy beach town. The Carpinteria Bluffs walk is free and very gorgeous. There you can also see the seal rookery.

Douglas Family Preserve

A great free thing to do in SB, love this walk with panaromic views of the Pacific coast.

A link with info about the history of the preserve:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Douglas_Family_Preserve

More info including directions:

http://www.santabarbara.com/activities/parks/douglas_family_preserve

some photos of our recent trip there:

Free Santa Barbara

Am starting a project where I'll list descriptions / show photos of free things to do in Santa Barbara / the surrounding areas under the Tag "SB Free". Good project for a poor Radiology resident. Hope you enjoy.

To Do list for Life

Things I'd like to do before I die -- will keep updating this as things come to mind, and hopefully check some of these things off the list . . .

- Ski the best mountains in the world
- Whitewater rafting
- Get good at kayaking
- Go to Burning Man
- Get really good at chess and go
- take a really long biking trip
- Transcribe note-for-note some Joe Pass songs / solos
- Go deep-sea fishing
- learn sailing
- Take a cruise
- see World Cup soccer live

things to do in California:
- napavalleybiketours.com
- drive a convertible all the way up US 1 in California
- Santa Rose Island camping (islandpackers.com)

things to do in or near SB:
- kayaking off coast
- hikes from "Day Hikes around SB"
- Cold Spring Tavern near SB (http://www.coldspringtavern.com) -- great fun, do again!
- Thursday seafood buffet at Four Seasons
- circlebarbstables.com (horseback riding SB)
- Channel Island tour / kayak trip
- whalewatching
- wine tasting in Santa Ynez valley
- Red Tile walking tour / SB Courthouse
- Lotus Land
- visit / photograph Moreton Bay Fig Tree
- Santa Barbara Zoo

visit:

Amsterdam (again)
Bora Bora / French Polynesia (Four Seasons hotel looks like a good pick)!!
Brazil
Caribbean
Grand Canyon
Great Wall of China
Greece (Santorini looks beautiful)
France (again)
Hawaii
Italy (again)
Jamaica
Japan
Nantucket, Mass
Spain
Switzerland (again)
Yellowstone National Park

concerts:

Bela Fleck (again)
Paul McCartney (before he dies)
Radiohead
Wynton Marsalis

completed & to-do again:

- take Sweewawa to see Joe Satriani
- performed a sternotomy
- Saw BB King Live
- Saw Herbie Hancock Live
- travelled in UK, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany
- skied in Switzerland, Italian Alps
- travelled throughout China
- Go backcountry camping
- Yosemite National Park

Cheers, Dr. Kowawa

June was busy

Busy month of moving from VA to CA. Not a lot of posting . . . but glad to have finally settled down in the Santa Barbara area!

Hunter Holmes McGuire

The Hunter Holmes McGuire VA Medical Center, where I proudly served our nation's veterans of war as an intern in Internal medicine for 5 1/2 months during 2009-2010.

Belle's Isle

Bubu's eggroll sushi

Voila!

California dreamin'

Midas touch

The government is like King Midas, except for that everything it touches turns to poop instead of gold. --Dr. Kowawa

Miss You

Douglas Family Preserve

Snowpocalype 2010

Crohn's cat

Theenie decided to spend the evening studying the difference between Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn's disease. I expect a full report in the morning.

1975 Santa Barbara

SB Videos

A GREAT collection of short videos about the Santa Barbara lifestyle:

Santa Barbara Movie Tours

Can you tell that I'm getting excited about the move? :)

SB / Golden State of Mind

A very cute series, well done.

SB Red Tile Tour