Finally! After years of talking about it we finally make it to Ojai… well, sort’a. Our resort is located just town, and we are embarrassed to admit that we don’t actually bother going into town! We are here to eat and spa, after all!
⚡️ We are driving down in the Tesla, so a quickie charge in SLO is all we need. And perhaps a quick bite to eat? Madonna Inn right off the road is a perfect spot, except that the chargers are so far from the restaurant that by the time we walk up there, and get a table Dan has to run back and move the car! Go super chargers!
Jackhammer The spa? There’s good news and bad new. The good news is that the spa complex is beautiful and very quite fancy. The pool is heated, you can eat by the heated pool between treatments, the works! Bad news is that when they called us to warn us about some “minor disturbance as a result of an emergency repair,” they didn’t really specify that there will hours of jackhammering, as it turns out, right next door to Assana’s treatment. You’d think for such a large complex they would NOT schedule a treatment RIGHT NEXT DOOR. They do give us a measly discount… so I guess that’s ok.
Bzzwwzwzwbzzwzw The resorts offers a bee event. Assana hoping to be inspired to tend to her driveway hive, signs up! We geek out with our guides, meet the residents bees, disturb one hive and meet its queen — who was probably not impressed by the tourist — and finally end up at the apothecary center for some honey tasting. Yum!
Going Backwards Our first night dining experience at Olivella is spectacular. We are celebrating, so we splurge! The food and service does not disappoint… added to discovering that we have a neat freak turn-down attendant with cord-organization OCD, the evening is an A+. (Seriously, our turn-down person organizes our cord messiness by wrapping them in adorable leather ties, no matter how many we strew about the room! We feel judges, but who cares!) Wish we gush about food and service for the rest of our stay, but nooo.
Weirdo Trailhead And finally, no trip is complete without some hiking. This is no exception, except for the trail head: it requires crossing - not one — but two rivers over big giant slippery boulders and no clear crossing path. Perfect for a guy with a recently repaired ACL, and gal with a recently repaired calf muscle! We manage, and the hike is beautiful through green hills and blooming California Lilacs. We hope to plant some at Grande.
Weirdo Fruit Topping off a great few days is a drive through many Pixie Tangerine orchards, lot of conversation about Chirimoyas, ponderings about whose avocado farms are the miles and miles of farms, and through Santa Ynez Valley ending with a delicious lunch in Los Olivos… our favorite stop on our very first road trip together in 2001.
