Our second leg of our honeymoon was a short one, less than 24 hours, but a magical one for sure. We decided we’d try to get to Ojai from Big Sur going a way we’d never driven before since we’d done the drive on the 1 many times, so I looked over the map and chose the 166 to the 33. I knew nothing about this route, it just looked the most convenient and possibly beautiful as it went through a bit of the Los Padres National Forest. When we drove back from SF in the summer we cut across on a highway that was the most boring drive on earth, so I didn’t know what to expect. Well, immediately I knew this was different. The entire drive across the 166 was beautiful and interesting, and when we got to the 33 it got even better. Gorgeous wineries and then some serious switchbacks (common honeymoon theme) up through the national forest. There were intense Autumn colors, a particular yellow I’d only seen in upstate New York. The 33 was a little intense, but worth it as we were the only car on the road and took our time. I’d love to go camping up there some day!
Then we got into Ojai, which is a great little town we’d been to before but only briefly. We stayed at the much talked about Ojai Rancho Inn, which lived up to the chatter. It was super affordable, really well designed, comfortable and homey, the staff is super duper nice, and the location is really convenient. My only complaint is that it’s right on the main road so it’s not super quiet, but again that makes the location convenient and everything else is so great it’s no big deal. Again, white noise app (I’m a crazy person about sleep, I know this). The best part is you can borrow bikes and then ride the bike path that’s directly behind them into town. It was so much fun and convenient! I want to go back when it’s warm enough for a swim. We also stopped by Summer Camp on our way out but they weren’t open yet, but the windows were huge it looked like such a great store! I daydreamed about a hammock they had for our new patio quite a lot on the drive home.
That concludes our tour, but I took a roll of purple film throughout the trip that turned out nuts I’ll share soon!
All photos by Kate Miss, taken on a Honeywell Pentax Spotmatic with Kodak Portra 160 film.
Our Honeymoon, Part 2: Ojai is a post from: For Me, For You