Everyone has heard of the San Fernando Valley, and Napa Valley, but many people (myself included) haven’t heard of the Santa Ynez Valley despite it being featured in the movie Sideways. When it was time for us to move for a few days after six months in the RV park (they make everyone do this to avoid us establishing residency here) and my first choice of Death Valley wasn’t an option (all booked up), I decided to go and see a small Danish town called Solvang that I had read about.
What I didn’t know was that Santa Ynez Valley is a gorgeous area with 270 vineyards and in the happiest of accidents we ended up staying for a few days in a gorgeous area of green rolling hills and beautiful small towns. Although we stayed in Buellton we were able to drive the entire loop and see all the small towns and since it was off season travel times were really reasonable.
We stayed at a VERY nice RV park called Flying Flags resort which had large pools, its own restaurant, and a great dog park. Jack was thrilled with all the new smells and although it rained on and off the first couple of days he really enjoyed his time in the dog park. Over the next three days we were able to explore all of the areas of the valley and the one common feature was the beautiful green rolling hills and vineyards we saw on our drives.
There was lots to do as we worked our way around the loop so I will just share the different things along the way. I will be skipping Solvang though because it deserves its own post but the other small towns were fun also. The first thing we learned was that there is a Space Force base located in this valley and we drove up one morning to see the visitors center. Turns out the base is closed to the public, and there is no gift shop or anything but it was still cool seeing where it was located. The visitors center is more like a reception/security area for contractors and other people with a reason to be on the base but needing a pass or an escort. Say what you want about the necessity of a Space Force but I thought it was pretty cool.
There were tons of small local restaurants in the valley and we ate at several of them and I really enjoyed my meals. The entire valley has a strong Danish influence so there were lots of amazing bakeries and diners along the way and almost all of them had a wonderful history, some dating back to the early 1900’s.
There is also the Chumash reservation with a huge casino and resort complex we went and visited. The reservation was very nice and it is clear the casino money is being put back into the community. Everywhere we went there was fresh food and produce which was great to see and the prices for California were pretty reasonable.
Speaking of parking driving around in our new little car was GREAT!! It was good on gas, only $50 to fill the tank, and parking was a breeze. Lee wanted me to show you this picture of us in a spot. We only take half of it up 🙂
Just driving around was great, especially because of the really cool architecture. The towns had either a western vibe, Spanish mission, or a Scandinavian feel. I know that’s a hodgepodge but I found it all delightful.
Lee doesn’t drink wine and wasn’t interested in vineyards but I did talk him into visiting one. It was a combination vineyard, farm, and restaurant and was pretty lovely. I should mention the wine here is not cheap and both of the two bottles I bought cost $40 a piece. They tasted great though. They also had the cutest highland cow and for $5 a bundle you could feed the animals romaine lettuce. We splurged on that Romaine!
I loved all of the valley. It was so nice being away from LA and just soaking up the small towns and the beautiful farms and greenery. Amazing to me this place is only two hours away from where I am currently living and people aren’t talking about it. I thought it was fantastic. More to come though as we spend a day in a Danish town and even see a waterfall!!
We very much appreciate your support of our blog.
Camper Chronicles 