the lion sleeps tonight

Achieving the status of Best Present Ever, Dane took me to The Shambala Preserve last weekend for my birthday to go on their "Safari Tour" they host one weekend a month. The Shambala Preserve is run by The Roar Foundation, which states its mission as: "To educate the public about exotic animals and to advocate for legislation to protect them. To provide sanctuary for exotic animals who have suffered from gross mistreatment and neglect so they can regain their physical and mental health and live out their lives in dignity." (taken right from their website, here). You can also click on that link to read a beautiful mission statement about the exotic cat trade and Shambala by its founder, Tippi Hedron.

Getting to see these amazing big cats up close felt like such an honor, and I was giddy the entire way to the preserve. My favorite animals, lions, didn't seem quite as excited to have me visit. I don't know how vigorous their morning was, but it seemed that we had arrived just in time for their afternoon naps in the warm sun.

But one guy, Zeus, was awake! Unfortunately, he chose to hang out waaaaaay on the other side of the compound.

The good news was that the tigers and the black leopard were much more active. 

The entire preserve was so well maintained, and all of the workers (mostly volunteers sporting "Proud Parent of _____" adoption pins) exuded such a love and respect for the cats.

...from God

This is the promised Part II of the Santa Barbara Mission. After the mission itself and the graveyard, the path leads back inside to a lovely little Spanish style chapel and mini-museum showcasing the daily life of a monk at the mission. Displays always pique the interest of my inner anthropologist.

I loved these brushes because they look like a line of little hedgehogs!

we're on a mission...

Visiting a place where time seems to stand still is so refreshing. It seems we are constantly on the go, constantly checking emails and facebook, and constantly falling into the "I'm so busy" trap. There are a couple of things I do to try to combat this-- not having a smart phone is a major one-- but taking little trips on my days off makes me forget about the bills and unanswered emails for a while and focuses my energy on seeing some amazing things less than a few hours away.

The Santa Barbara Mission was a stop on our little trip to Santa Barbara, and it is one of those places where time is suspended as you wander through the grounds. The mission is a charming mix of sacred and haunting, yet inviting and joyful.

The grounds and graveyeard lead to a still active chapel and a small museum that features items from the brothers' daily lives--I'll be sharing that in my next post!

Hope you're having a wonderful week!

court is in session

If I ever get called to jury duty (or go to trial for some other reason..), let it be in Santa Barbara! This building is so incredibly gorgeous, and still functions as the county courthouse.

And my apologies for taking so long to continue the Santa Barbara posts (it's scary to think that this trip was OVER a month ago!)--the last month has been crazily busy with the onset of wedding planning. I promise to share photos more frequently!

top of the tower

On our way up to Big Sur a few weeks ago, we stopped to have dinner in Santa Barbara and knew we had to come back and stay longer than a meal (& brought guests-- Santa Barbara is a great place to impress loved ones visiting in the LA area). A friend of mine recommended seeing the Santa Barbara County Courthouse, sometimes called the most beautiful public building in the country. I have plenty of inside photos to share, too, but these are from our ascent to the top of the clock tower, where you can soak in some seriously amazing views (even if it is mostly cloudy).

The mountains & ocean are still be beautiful, even covered in low-lying clouds. Santa Barbara feels so European to me, with its red roofs, homes built into the hillsides, and quaint downtown plazas. I imagine going to UC- Santa Barbara seems like four years of studying abroad!