Is anybody tired of hearing about our good times yet? If so, you might as well log off now, because we've had some really good times in the past week!
First, we went to Port Hueneme for a little crabbing, fishing and relaxing. Port Hueneme is almost due east of us, near Oxnard. The name is from a Chumash Indian word meaning "resting place." There's a large naval base here, and the whole area is spic and span and attractive. We caught lots of little rock crabs, but none of them were big enough to keep. 
I finished some Christmas crocheting projects and also read for a while. The weather has just been gorgeous; warm during the day and very cool at night. By the way, don't go looking for a neat chair like mine, because you won't fine one. Wiley made it for me from bits and pieces he found at the campground in Michigan. Pretty cool, huh?!I keep forgetting to mention that there's a clear view of the Channel Islands from many of the beaches in this part of California. To quote from the Park Service brochure:
 | "Close to the California mainland, yet worlds apart, Channel Islands National Park encompasses five remarkable islands (Anacapa, Santa Cruz, Santa Rosa, San Miguel, and Santa Barbara) and their ocean environment, preserving and protecting a wealth of natural and cultural resources. Isolation over thousands of years has created unique animals, plants, and archeological resources found nowhere else on Earth and helped preserve a place where visitors can experience coastal southern California as it once was. |
It's a place we want to visist eventually. You can catch a ferry near here. I don't know if they show up in this sunset picture, but there are also offshore oil wells visible from many of the local beaches.
Our next day trip was to the painted caves near Santa Barbara. Of course, in our usual fashion, we made a few stops along the way. The first one was to have breakfast in a little diner in Piru. It's tiny, run by a local Hispanic family whose roots go way back in Piru, and really quite wonderful! It's very clean and the food is great. I had huevos rancheros--yummy! It was a great start to the day.
Then, as we were driving toward Santa Barbara, we decided to turn off on Fish Hatchery Road, which we'd seen many times and wondered about. There was indeed a fish hatchery back there that stocks many local lakes. It was quite interesting to see all the different sizes of fish and read the interpretive signs about how they are raised.
The water in the ponds comes from wells and is filtered and aerated. After it leaves the ponds, it runs into Santa Clara creek. Just the other side of the fences (the ponds are completely enclosed to keep out the wading birds), there were a huge number of birds gathered in the lovely, clean water. I'm sure the poor things were tortured by the fish just out of their reach!
Finally, we headed off for Painted Cave State Historic Site. It's at the top of a very narrow, winding road. There's a small sandstone cave with religious paintings made by the Chumash Indians in the 1600's. They are incredibly bright and colorful. 
It's hard to believe how old they are, although some of the graffitti that was carved over top of the paintings has dates in the 1880's. We couldn't get very good photos because the cave faces north and the light wasn't good, but if you're interested there are some good shots at this website: Painted Cave
Since we were so close to Santa Barbara, we couldn't resist one more stop. We went to El Presidio de Santa Barbara. It was founded in 1782, and was the last in a chain of four fortresses built by the Spanish along the coast of California. The other fortresses were in San Diego, San Francisco and Monterey. El Presidio sits right smack in the middle of downtown Santa Barbara, and is mostly a reconstruction. 
It's kind of confusing because there are modern buildings and roads interspersed with the historic portions of the fort. This poster shows the original layout. It was a fun way to end a great day.So that was our week--hope you're having great adventures of your own!
6 comments:
Much faster loading without slide show, Thanks Uncle Ed & T
Yeah--I think Blogger needs to do a little more work on the slideshow thing. It's a good idea, but its time hasn't come.
Joyce, I almost fell off my chair when I read that you were crocheting. You??? I've seen your painting, know you love hiking and the great outdoors, and reading up a storm but I never knew you actually could sit and crochet! I still can't believe it.
What was Wiley doing at the fish hatchery? Looks like he want to shake hands with a fish! Just kidding, Wiley. I am wondering though what types of fish were they raising?
I learned to crochet from my Nana when I was about 8 years old and have done it off and on since then. I have more time for it now that I'm retired. I like to take my crocheting and a good book with me when I accompany Wiley on his fishing trips. I've mostly done dishcloths and hats recently, but in the past I've done everything from vests to baby blankets and afghans.
The fish at the hatchery were rainbow and steelhead trout.
In the El Presidio photo, did you guys walk around in that area? I noted the two "brown igloos" on the left. Did you walk inside any of these buildings?
I loved the photo of the birds. You are assuming I know what kind they are -- who me? Nope. Seeing those birds reminds me of the visit we made last summer to see you when all those birds came and landed on our heads and on our outstretched arms. That was so much fun.
The "brown igloos" are artist's renditions of Indian huts. That area is now under all kinds of buildings and city streets. Very little of the original fortress survives.
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