A hot day in Santa Barbara, but not 133 degrees

I come home from vacation and feel like another vacation is just beginning at home in Santa Barbara. People here LOVE to talk about how much they LOVE Santa Barbara. Travel writer Pico Iyer said when he spoke at the SBMA in 2002, “it’s in the air, it’s in the mountains, it’s in the beaches, it’s in all the elements, this sense that you’re just inches away from a utopia.”

But today complete strangers stop each other on the street to talk about the heat. Everyone looks drained, productivity is low. And lines are out the door at Blenders Smoothies. So when we are all feeling this rare extreme heat, it is like some shared traumatic experience that drives people to become even friendlier versions of their congenial Santa Barbara selves.

We are used to weather being a non-issue, at least compared to most locales. When I visit my sister in Ohio, her husband seems to always be talking about the weather, not to make forced conversation, but because it truly is an issue in their lives, with day-to-day effects involving tire chains and raking leaves. And in the summer months when it truly is beautiful, they must go outside, put everything else on hold, and take advantage.

But we have extreme weather here too. And although today’s heat seemed like it could break a record, my co-worker Tracey shared this today: in 1859 Santa Barbara seared with 133-degree record heat that remains the third hottest temperature ever recorded on earth.

Upon further research, my boyfriend found some information from accounts of that day, gathered mainly from here: http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=564672:

"For many years, Goleta (next to Santa Barbara on the coast) held theU.S. temperature record of 133 degrees from a sundowner heat burstevent on June 17, 1859. I found this event hard to believe when I first read about it in thebook 'California's Wonderful Corner' (1975) by local historian WalkerA. Tompkins. He called the wind a simoon, an Arabic word." "June 17, 1859 - The only 'simoon' ever to occur in the United Statesis reported by a United States Coast Survey vessel off Goleta. Anorthwest wind brings scorching temperatures of 133 degrees between1:00 and 2:00 that afternoon. Birds fall from the sky, crops shriveland cattle die under the shade of oak trees." Here's a description of the event: "THE SUN COMES UP bright that day. It is a Friday-June 17, 1859. Thereis a little breeze from the northeast, a clear sky, and the promise ofa warm day. The morning temperatures are normal, 75-to-80 degrees,with an offshore breeze that prevents the ocean from having a coolingeffect. By noon, people begin to notice something unusual is happening. Thetemperature has quickly risen to almost 100 degrees and the mountainbreeze is becoming stronger and stronger. About 1 pm a heavy blast ofhot air sweeps through the Goleta Valley from the direction of SantaYnez Peak, driving even the hardiest into the shelter of their homesand filling them with terror; they think the end of the world hascome. The superheated air continues to pour down on the coast for the nexthour. By 2 pm the temperature is an incredible 133 degrees! Many ofthe people take refuge behind the thick walls of Daniel Hill's adobe,who is owner of Rancho La Goleta, where they pray fervently for theoppressive heat to be lifted. For the next three hours the temperature hovers at 130 degrees; by 5pm it has cooled off only slightly, to 122 degrees. The inhabitantswonder if this will ever come to an end. Then suddenly, as fast as ithas come, the hot breeze dies and a cool marine breeze washes over theland. By 7 pm the temperature is a comfortable 77 degrees and thehalf-baked citizens emerge from their houses to see what damage hasoccurred. 'Birds had plummeted dead from the sky; others had flown into wellsseeking cooler air and drowned,' says Walker Tompkins, describing theevent in his book, Goleta the Good Land. 'A fisherman in a rowboatmade it in to the Goleta sandspit with his face and arms blistered asif he had been exposed to a blast furnace.' 'Calves, rabbits and cattle died on their feet,' adds a government report." From a newspaper account of the "Great Simoon": "In June 1859 Santa Barbara’s weather had been quite normal, withhighs in the 70s and low 80s. But on June 17th, all the record bookswere broken. Santa Barbara experienced the greatest temperature changein one day in North America. The day began sunny and clear. Around noon, the temperature was anunusually warm 100°. Then a hot air current swept into the ChannelBasin. This was no regular Santa Ana wind; rather it swept in from thenorthwest. Residents called it a simoon, referring to the hot, dustyand suffocating winds of the Arabian Desert. The simoon struck like afurnace, destroying nearly everything in its path. Cattle droppeddead. Fruit fell from trees and withered on the ground. Vegetation wasscorched and crops were ruined for the year. As thermometers rose to an incredible 133°, there was so much dust inthe air that residents could scarcely see the sun. People fled totheir homes or local churches, seeking shelter... For some threehours, the temperature held steady at 130°. Then, around 5 in theevening, the temperature cooled to a still sizzling 122°. But then thesimoon left as quickly as it had come. By 7 p.m., the temperature wasback to 77°!"

Amalfi Coast, Ohio, Georgia and South Carolina

The night blooming cereus...cling to the old school wall

What is EC 261? The airlines would prefer you didn't know.

In the United States, airline companies are the ones to decide how to (or how not to) compensate travelers when flights are delayed or canceled. In the European Union, airlines are required to compensate travelers or pay for hotel rooms and meals, even if the reason for delay or cancellation is not the airline's fault.

How does this benefit Americans?
The law applies to all flights departing from the European Union, regardless of the airlines and regardless of the passenger's nationality. So if an American Airlines flight from any state in the European Union flying to the U.S. is disrupted, you should be compensated.

This recent NY Times article explains how you can file a claim and where to seek help if the airline refuses to provide the compensation required: http://travel.nytimes.com/2010/07/18/travel/18prac.html?ref=travel

Places to go one day

These are places I would like to go, listed in alphabetical order (I couldn't possibly list them in order of preference). There are places that I wish to return to over and over again (Hawaii, Atlanta while Adam is there, Columbus while Jeffy is there) and others that I am so curious about, and hope to one day have the experience of being there.


Antarctica
Antigua and Barbuda
Aqaba
Argentina
Arizona (time it with Country Thunder)
Atlanta (over & over)
Austin
Bahrain
Belize
Bhutan
Bolivia
Cambodia
Cambria (over & over)
Chile and Easter Island
China and Bali with Jeffy
Columbus (over & over)
Cordoba and Granada (the Alhambra)
Croatia
Czech Republic
DC Book Fest
Denver
Dubai
France - I will always go back to Paris and Lannion
Georgia (the country)
Giovinazzo
Grand Canyon
Hawaii (over & over)
Hawaii during Holoku and Carnival
Hungary
Iceland
Iran
Iraq (one day...to see its amazing art: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/arts/design/14moma.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=iraq%20arts&st=cse / http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/iraqs-imperiled-modern-art/?ref=design)
Israel
Jordan - Aqaba, Petra, Wadi Rum Desert, and the Dead Sea
Kauai (hike Na Pali Coast)
Kiribati
Ladakh and Leh, India
Laos
Lebanon
Libya
Macchu Picchu
Maldives
Mauritius
Micronesia
Montenegro
Monterey
Myanmar
Nashville with my honey because we met there
Nepal
New York (over & over)
Oaxaca
Philippines
Pitcairn Islands
Qatar
Ravenna
Redwood Forest
River Rafting in Idaho or Utah
Samoa
Sarajevo
Sayulita
Seychelles
Sitka
Smithers
Sri Lanka
Switzerland
Syria
Thailand (Ko Phi Phi and Chiang Mai)
Tunisia
Turkey
Turks and Caicos
Vermont
Vico Equense near Sorrento
Vietnam
White Sands National Monument (Grand Sands), New Mexico
Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Park
Yosemite

Lisa’s “Know Before You Go”

Lisa’s “Know Before You Go”
(a work in progress)

Make sure you don’t forget anything -use Independent Traveler's Interactive Packing List
Determine if you should check or ship your bags with Independent Traveler's tips
Check seat maps for your plane and read seat reviews at SeatGuru.com
Airline Passengers Get New Bill of Rights – not necessary to read, but have it in your phone in case you need to access it

Travel Today

I just read an article about rudeness on the airlines. Peggy Post, great-granddaughter-in-law of Emily Post, is quoted saying that traveling "used to be a treat and people got dressed up. Today people say it's a cattle car. So they view it differently. That's understandable. But rude behavior is never okay." http://www.usatoday.com/travel/experts/mcgee/2010-07-06-travel-etiquette_N.htm

I don’t dress up for the airplane; I wear my sweatpants and probably look pretty goofy. But, I definitely still view travel as a treat, even after doing a lot of it.

Some of the readers’ comments discussed their dislike for airplane travel and complained about how rude people can be. So I did something I have never done before. I posted a comment:

One of my favorite things to do is travel. I realize that many people feel the same way but they dislike the process of getting to their destinations. I find comfort in the process. And I have taken probably 250 airplane rides over the past 6 years. I bring a good book and headphones and I wait. Because that is all I can do. At home I am distracted by the dirty dishes and the emails I have to respond to. At the airport and on the plane I don't feel bad neglecting those tasks because I have no other option. Maybe it's my attitude - and the fact that I like being there - that has allowed me to be open to interacting with others in a positive way. I recently had an upbeat and hilarious conversation with a flight attendant about chocolate eclairs. I heard the TSA guy say I had a nice smile in my license picture (which reminded me, on an occasion where I didn't want to be at the airport - I had just said good-bye to my boyfriend - that I should smile more in real life). I have gotten on earlier flights out, not because I expected the employee to do me the favor but because I was nice and I respected that they don't have to do this for me...they may even risk getting into trouble...but they wanted to help because they could empathize. Someone commented that airlines used to care about their passengers and go the extra mile to make travelers' needs better. I say make them care. It's not a right to have someone care about you. It doesn't happen automatically. I work in the travel industry and I will absolutely help the people more who aren't rude or passive aggressive to get what they want.