Photos-of-the-Week #208 Room with a View, Santa Barbara, California April 2015

Imagine waking up to or returning to this kind of view. I spent an evening and morning visiting my friend, Dan Poynter, just outside Santa Barbara, California and this is and has been Dan's view for the last 40 years. I actually took the top photo from Dan's living room. He has the same view from his bedroom. And, yes, that is the Pacific Ocean.

But, this is not the only view from Dan's pad. In fact, Dan has a 360 degree view from his foothill vantage point. To the left of this view Dan overlooks Goleta, California and further south is the actual city of Santa Barbara. To the north are views of farms and forested lands. To the rear are mountain vistas that separate the coastal area of California from the central valley.

It is understated to say this view is breathtaking. I thought the views from my lake front, mountain top and ranch homes were amazing (and, they actually were, but not even a close second to Dan's views). My buddy, Dudley, and his wife, Muffet, have gorgeous views from their vantage point at about 3,500 feet on a mountain top in western North Carolina near the Blue Ridge Parkway. Their views do hold a close second to Dan's. But, imagine this view everyday of your life when you're not traveling somewhere in the world, as Dan has done for the past 40 years.

This photo was taken while stepping back a little further and using a wider angle lens. You can see there is a covered patio in front of the ceiling to floor window that must be 10' or 12' wide. You can also see the ends of the main pain of glass on the extreme right and left of the photo.

This photo shows the front of Dan's home and a reverse shot of that grand window. Dan's bedroom is to the left side of the house with the sliding glass door overlooking the view. And, there is the nose of My McVansion sneaking into the shot.

Here is the proud "King of the Mountain," himself, my friend, Dan Poynter. Dan is, in mine and the opinion of so many people I know, the "Guru of Self-Publishing." Dan is the author of at least 133 books including the iconic and definitive two volume Dan Poynter's Self-Publishing Manual: How to Write, Print and Sell Your Own Book, now in its 16th edition. He operates his publishing house, Para Publishing, LLC, from his lofty kingdom.

I live an extraordinary life. I have so many fascinating friends and continue to meet so many new interesting and fascinating friends from all walks of life as I travel. Whether they live in homes and locations like Dan's or live in vans, utility trailers of full-size RV's and everything between, I am so privileged to meet and visit with them as I live and travel freely from coast to coast. 

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