Emmanuel's visit Day 6

Aaaaugh! 

I woke up with a furry black face staring at me. I jumped out of bed, sending the animal flying across the room. Emmanuel woke up with a start as it landed on his bed. The creature waddled away to the kitchen, and I realized it was just my cat. Emmanuel was still startled, but when I told him what had happened, he busted up. 

As we ate bacon, potatoes and eggs for breakfast, I told Emmanuel what we would do that day. We were going to ride from our house to the Mission, and from there to the Botanic Gardens, and then head down to the Courthouse and the harbor. Then we would get a meal somewhere on State Street before we went home.

We set off at 7:30 in the morning. Emmanuel proved himself to be an expert cyclist, because he powered up the hills and left me in the dust. When we reached the Mission, we went on a tour of the inside. We saw many religious statues and Beautiful altars. Then we went into the courtyard, which I had never been to. It was like a little island of paradise surrounded by unbreachable walls. Inside was a green lawn, untouched by brown spots and dead leaves. Palm trees shot up like spears from the earth. "Wow, look at that fountain!" Emmanuel pointed to an amazing central fountain overflowing with clear water. We hung out in this sanctuary for a while, just taking in the beauty and hearing the fountain bubble, and then we left for the Botanic Gardens.

We arrived at the Botanic Gardens 10 minutes later. We stopped there and took a hike all all around the gardens and in the woods beyond. We saw a lot of hawks, quails, woodpeckers, and lizards. Emmanuel found a fallen tree that was spotted with thousands of holes. I told him that the tree had been used by a woodpecker. We looked up and saw another oak tree with a woodpecker on it. The woodpecker was hammering furiously, trying to make a hole in the wood. 

After the gardens, we went to the Courthouse. We took a tour through the different rooms. Then we got some lunch at Tupelo Junction Cafe, and ate it in the Courtyard. Emmanuel and I then rode down to the harbor, to see all of the boats and marine shops. Emmanuel especially liked the giant Harbor Patrol boats. But we could only stay for a little while, because we had something special planned to do next. We rushed home and found the car packed with camping gear. 

We set off for the Manzana Creek Trailhead. Emmanuel was so excited he kept talking the whole way there. "How long until we get there?" "Will we have to catch our food?" "Are there Anacondas In Santa Barbara?" We answered all of his eager questions patiently, but we were just as excited as him. When we got to the trailhead, we met up with some other families and explained the plan. We would hike in to a campsite, where we would camp for the night. The next day, we would hike up the creek, and when we finished exploring, we would hike back to the car. 

The hike in was very exciting. There were lots of creek crossings, and where Emmanuel and I caught snakes and lizards. 

When we got to the campsite, we built a fire and cooked dinner. Then we told stories around the campfire until well after dark, so we got into our sleeping bags and slept under the stars.