January 30- Ojai, Day 2

We woke up to a gorgeous day and decided to eat lunch outside on the deck. You'll notice that there are four breakfasts on the table but only three of us. No, we didn't have another friend coming, that is just typical Lisa V. ordering. It's hard to believe that someone so tiny really likes to eat! She always wants something "sweet" after breakfast which usually means an extra breakfast of either waffles or pancakes. I always protest against this because what ends up happening is that Lisa takes one bite and I have 10. She is part of the reason that I could not button my pants after living with her in Paris. She's a food pusher in the worst way, but we were on vacation, so I let it slide. We had a nice game of tennis to work it off. I hadn't played since I was 12- I forgot how much fun it can be.

We ended the night with a fancy birthday dinner, for me, at the resort. After the previous night's meal, we decided to stay close to home. The dinner was amazing but the best surprise of the night was that the women at the table next to us thought I was turning 26!

January 29th- Ojai Adventure!

Gross appetizer at Los Caporales
Outdoor fireplace

A few months ago Lisa V, Lisa K, and I decided that we were in need of a girl’s trip. We decided to justify this little weekend getaway by making it a belated birthday celebration for me. 500 emails later, we finally decided on the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa, in Ojai, CA. Ojai is just 1.5 hours from Santa Monica, so we were there in no time! We started the day with a hike in Temescal Canyon and were at the resort by lunchtime!

On the first night we decided to venture into town for dinner. We asked the front desk for some Mexican restaurant recommendations. They suggested Antonio’s and Los Caporales, but said that they preferred Antonio’s. After getting lost a few times on the 3 minute drive there, we finally found Antonio’s. It looked pretty dead, so we decided to go to Los Caporales instead. After being seated I noticed that they were using a microwave to cook (I could see into the kitchen from my seat). We were starving and decided to order an appetizer of melted cheese and chorizo (can’t think of the name for it). I was envisioning a bowl of creamy melted cheese with chunks of yummy chorizo, but what came instead was a plate of congealed cheese with what looked like dog food masquerading as chorizo.

The rest of the meal wasn’t much better and we tried to ignore the fact that the meat in my burrito was grey. Wanting something sweet, but not wanting to take a chance on anything else there, we headed to Chevron where we loaded up on Candy to eat while watching a pay per view movie at the hotel. We decided on Fame and it was almost as bad as the dinner. As Lisa V. put it, “this movie is made for Brooke, Cami’s 5 year old.” Despite the horrible food and bad entertainment, we had a fun first night in Ojai.