We know the routine well: wake up and get out the door as it’s time for coffee and breakfast at Cajun Kitchen, just around the corner from here.

At the dog park on the bench is Uncle Woody; our Aunt Ann (Tata) is sitting behind him as Chester comes over to not only bask in the sun but in the affectionate petting from our uncle.

After those formalities are out of the way, we convince our aunt and uncle to head up to Solvang with us. As they’ve grown older, and now with my father having passed away, they don’t get out much. When my father was still alive, they’d drive out the 140 miles to his house to deliver a ton of stuff they felt he needed that they’d collected either at Costco or from various sales at the local grocery shops Tata frequents. At other times, my father would meet them about halfway between his home and theirs in Calabasas at an IHOP.

Our first stop was at the Old Mission Santa Ines, which we’d not visited before. We’ve been working on trying to see all of the California missions.

Inside Old Mission Santa Ines.

We passed through Solvang for some window shopping but already had plans for lunch, so this old Smorgasbord will have to wait for a future visit.

This was the payoff for Tata and Woody traveling with us; it turns out that it had been years since they last ate at Pea Soup Andersen’s in Buellton. They love this place in part because I think it reminds them of life some 35 years ago when the place looked the exact same as it does now.

Our drive back to Goleta.

The hills north of Cathedral Oaks Road on the way to Place Drive.

Christmas Eve with the Burns at 288 Placer Drive, an address forever seared into my memory.