California Trip - Day 15 and 16

Monday, May 26th --  Today, we left Cliff House Inn, near Ventura, CA and drove on the infamous Los Angeles freeway system to Irvine, CA.  The distance was over 100 miles and involved numerous 3 to 7 lane highways, tricky or confusing signage, at speeds of 65 mph and upward.  In a word, it was "insane."  But we made it with no incidents and without getting lost.  The trickiest thing was anticipating which lane or lanes to get in prior to exit ramps or freeway merges.  Google Maps was most helpful for this.  Also, having quick acceleration in the car (i.e., electric motors) is nice for changing lanes (i.e., squeezing in-between other cars).

Irvine was the destination because we were visiting Betsy's cousin Carol, her husband, John and their son, Jason, who has moved back home following a divorce.  We arrived at about 1:30 pm and spent the afternoon talking, catching up on each other's lives.  Although both Betsy and Carol have been on the west coast for a long time, they had not seen each other for decades (in Connecticut).  Jason spent the afternoon upstairs writing, catching up after a 3-day weekend and two days with his 3-year old son (his name is Awesome).  The son splits time with mom and dad, and their dog, a Corgi, also splits time but opposite the son.  We only saw photos of the son, but had lots of time with the dog.

An hour before dinner we visited one of two man-made lakes/parks that are available to Irvine residents and guests.  The swimming area of the lakes had just opened.  There are abundant recreational facilities, and even fishing, on the lakes (catch and release only). 

They took us to dinner at Maggiano's, a large, busy Italian restaurant.  The meal was generous and tasty.  The wait staff was very attentive.  Since there were five of us, we drove two cars to the restaurant, so Betsy and I said our goodbyes and motored to our hotel (Ayres Suites) in Mission Viejo, about 12 miles away.  We arrived about 8:15 as it was getting dark.

Tuesday, May 27th --  This was a driving day from Mission Viejo to June Lake, CA, a distance of 350 miles.  We had breakfast in the motel, and were on the road by 9:00 am.  With stops we arrived at June Lake about 4:00 pm.  The first third of the distance was more LA freeways with thousands of cars and now lots of semis.  Although we were east of LA proper, going northeast passing through Ontario, Riverside, and San Bernardino, the inbound traffic was heavy, less so going our way.  We traversed the Mojave Desert and went past Edwards AFB.  Once clearing most of the desert, we had a nice, low traffic drive along the east side of the Sierras.  We saw Mt Whitney, and the adjoining mountains, which still have some snow at the highest elevations.  The LA area was cloaked in low marine clouds that kept the temperatures cool.  As we traveled north, the skies cleared but the air stayed comfortable.

June Lake is just before the eastern portal to Yosemite NP, at 7,600 feet elevation.  We checked into the Heidelberg Inn, a large rustic, vaguely alpine lodge.  Rooms are arranged on two levels arounds a large central public space (with a huge central fire place), with access by two sets of stairs.  We got some exercise, wandering around part of June Lake and then circling the neighboring lake, Gull Lake.  We eventually walked 3.6 miles, most of which was on trails.  There were lots of mountain cabins scattered about a single main road.

Dinner was at a "New York-thin crust pizza, in Sierra-style."

The Main Street in June Lake; Yosemite is just over the mountain ridge.

The Heidelberg Inn.

A very nice looking cabin on the granite edge of June Lake.

June Lake, looking east.

Gull Lake looking west to the mountains.

Ditto.

An ancient Juniper.

California Trip - Day 12, 13 and 14

Friday, May 23rd - We left the Dolphin Cove Hotel at Pismo Beach, and drove south along Highway 1, to Lompoc, CA, mostly through farming areas.  We passed by Vandenberg Space Force Base.  After getting into the Lompoc, I used Google App to find a breakfast place, which turned out to be excellent.  It was called "Mama's Place," in the original old Lompoc.  We sat at the counter, first meeting Mama's grandson, as waiter, and then Mama herself.  She is a first generation immigrant from Italy, and quite gregarious.  She made our expresso drinks, which were superb, using good Italian chocolate for my mocha.  We enjoyed a frittata and quiche, while watching her bustle about.  The cafe was much larger than it appeared from the outside and is evidently thriving.

We drove the rest of the way to Carpinteria, CA, to the Cliff House Inn, and checked in early (our room was ready).  We then drove about 15 miles further southeast to the port of Ventura, the location of the Channel Island National Park Visitor Center and the pier where the boat ride out to Santa Cruz Island would occur the next day.  We walked through the visitor center, watched the 20-minute film on the National Park and checked in with Island Packers, the boating concessionaire that runs many trips out to the Channel Islands proper.  There are 5 main islands that comprise the Channel Island National Park, which are about 25 to 40 miles off shore.  

The Visitor Center had a tidal pool with a variety of fish and other creatures.  This is a Garibaldi fish.

A Painted Greenling.

A model of the southeastern tip of Santa Cruz Island, where we will be going the next day.

A Black-crowned Night Heron, sitting in a Torrey Pine tree just outside of the Visitor Center.

A Great Egret.

We walked around the marina outer docks looking at the multitude of sailboats, a tall ship that wasn't very tall, and some large commercial ships,  built for fishing or dredging.  We drove back to the inn for dinner at the Inn's restaurant, the only place to eat within miles.  The restaurant was quite good and seemed to attract many locals.  The inn is long and narrow, with insufficient parking and sandwiched between the ocean and Highway 101.  At night, if you want to open the windows for cross ventilation, you get surf crashing sounds on one side and speeding vehicle noise on the other side, both strangely the same volume.

The view from our door at the Cliff House Inn.

Rose for dinner.

Dinner, of course, at the Inn's restaurant.

Looking back to the Inn.

Saturday, May 24th - We were up early and reached Island Packer's boat dock by 7:30 am where there were loads of folks waiting to board one of several trips for the morning.  We were on an 8:30 am boat with about 100 other folks bound for Prisoner Bay, named for an historic landing site used by a ship carrying Mexican prisoners in the 18th century.  After standing in line for about 30 minutes (something we would do several more times), we boarded the boat, snagging two forward facing seats on the top deck.   The passengers were most day visitors, but there were a few people who intended to camp for a few days.  The challenge for camping is that there is no fresh water on the island and practically no shade.  

The boat departed the Ventura Harbor at about 8:30 am and spent the next two hours plowing through heavy seas.  The 'rocking and rolling' was pretty intense and lots of passengers succumbed to sea sickness.  We were okay, thankfully.  There were a few families with small kids who settled down quickly after scampering around.  The day was overcast and cool, so we were glad we had worn warm gear.  (We were supposed to have visited a sea cave on the western end of the island, but the Island Packer captain dropped this leg because of the rough seas.)

Once arriving at the island, about 10:15, we had to climb four or five rungs of a ladder from the boat deck up to a long pier.  We walked ashore and were given safety talks by the Park Service ranger and by a crew member for The Nature Conservancy property.  The Nature Conservancy owns about 75 percent of the island.  We decide to hike the 2.1 mile Pelican Trail on The Nature Conservancy property, northwest along bluffs above the shore.  We saw lots of birds and unusual plants, but not the indigenous fox, which is a cat-sized apex predator.  The trail was rugged and we went slowly, nearly making to the end before the turnaround time.  We hustled back to the pier since the boat crew was emphatic about leaving at 3:30 pm.

We stood on the pier, once again in a queue, waiting to climb down the ladder onto the boat for the return trip.  We sat inside the main cabin for a much gentler ride back to the Ventura Harbor.  About two-thirds of way back, the boat came across at least one, maybe two, humpback whales feeding just off an underwater cliff.  We were told that when you see the tail flipper, it indicates that whale is going deep for feeding, which can last for 4 to 8 minutes before resurfacing.  The boat hung around and we saw the whale surfacing twice more.

Island Packers' Boat.

First sighting.

Looking at the island on The Nature Conservancy side.

Ship's Captain nosing the boat up to the pier.

Deboarding - a slow process but even slower at low tide.

Santa Cruz Pier at Prisoners' Bay.

A large, old Eucalyptus Tree.

A Great Coreopsis, almost treelike.

Fence Lizard (one of dozens).

A gentler part of the trail.

Pelican Bay, the end of the trail.

One of the several gullies we went down to a dry creek bed and then hiked up to reach the bench on the other side.

A gully with trail on opposite side.

Ash-throated Flycatcher 

Two Common Side-blotched Lizards.

A syncline, showing some of the geology.   These islands are mainly volcanic and have never been attached to the mainland, hence the unusual flora and fauna.

A very large ground slump.

We arrived back to the pier a little after 5:00 pm and drove back to the inn.  We had leftover foods for dinner, since we had been up early and were not willing to embrace fine dining.  We slept well.

Sunday, May 25th - After a restful, long sleep we went down to the continental breakfast offered by the Inn - bagels, OJ, fruit, and coffee (not nearly as good as the dinner service).  We served ourselves and sat outside near the pool.  We decided on a driving day, first visiting the garden grounds at Adamson House in Malibu, CA and then driving to Ojai, CA.  We followed this plan, but the Adamson House parking lot was crammed full as was both sides of the Highway 101, with even some double parking.  (The historic house and gardens abut a popular beach that was very busy on this Memorial Day weekend.)  We u-turned and headed for Ojai.  The route was inland up the Malibu Canyon to a high point overlooking the Ojai Valley.  

The Ojai Valley is known for high altitude vineyards whose grapes are used to make Rhone-type wines.  The elevation is around 1,000 ft.

The Ojai Post Office, unique architecture for such a building.

Ojai was celebrating Memorial Day weekend with an artists' fair in the city park.  This is the fountain in the park.

We wandered around Ojai a bit, admiring the boutiques, wine tasting rooms, and art galleries, finally stopping at Sea Fresh cafe for patio dining.  We thought all Californians were down at the coast, but Ojai was also very busy.  After a dinner of mango-shrimp tacos and teriyaki bowl with salmon, we drove "downhill" back to the inn.

California Trip - Day 10 and 11

 Wednesday, May 21st - We left the Pinnacles campground after breakfasting on bagels, cream cheese, and fruit at our outside table and after packing the car.  We drove south via rural roads with little to no traffic until merging with US 101 just before Paso Robles.  We stopped in Paso Robles for a mid-morning coffee and snack break.  We wandered a bit around the downtown, admiring the park with its Carnegie Library, a performance center, and a multi-artist gallery.  We went into the gallery and almost immediately recognized one of the resident artists - Anne Laddon.  We have her famous Nikon camera print, purchased from the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, VA just before we moved to Oregon.  Her original silkscreens are now worth $3,000.  We looked through her offerings and found another print we liked (a night scene, edition 148 of 150); we bought it.  After viewing the rest of the art on display, we met the artist, herself as she was leaving.  She is one of the gallery managers and had been  interviewing prospective interns.

Street art sculpture.

The Carnegie Library in Paso Robles.

Artist Anne Laddon, when working at the Torpedo Factory in Alexandria, VA.  She is probably near our age.

We continued the drive to Pismo Beach, arriving around 1:30 pm.  We checked in to the Dolphin Cove Motel, located just off the Boardwalk and pier.  We went out exploring Pismo Beach, first by walking out to the end of the pier, then on the beach south to the edge of where vehicles can access the beach, and then back to our hotel inland of the dunes on a walking path.  We passed a golf course, a campground and a RV park, which looked crowded and dismal.  Once back to the main square, we lingered a bit at a small market/fair after purchasing a mango-orange drink.

Dinner this evening was at Ada's Fish House, eating de-constructed Crab Louie salads, which were quite good.

Our hotel.

The Pier.

Looking back from the pier, our hotel is on the left side of the photo.

What guys do in Pismo Beach - the wet suit is typical.

Street mural.

Selfie.....

The beach

Some of the beach life we saw while walking.  This is an Eccentric Sand Dollar.

Giant Kelp.

Sand Dollar with Red-striped Barnacle attached to it.

Pismo Clam shell, a famous variety but too scarce for digging now.

The Main Square; the pier is just to the right of the photo.

The Pier at dusk.

Thursday, May 22nd - After a good night's sleep, we aroused for an adventure inland of Pismo Beach.  First we had breakfast at the Splash Cafe, an institution in Pismo Beach - a funky cafe that has been around for decades and sells more clam chowder in a day than most restaurants do in a year (so they claim).

The Splash Cafe

Surfer boy being followed by a Pismo Clam.

We drove eastward, stopping to see an historic swing bridge in Arroyo Grande, then to Lake Lopez  State Park.  We conferred with a ranger on a hiking route, which we then completed.  It started off on a shelf along the lake, passing a giant water slide and adventure park (zip lines and adult jungle gym), then it went straight uphill, along the ridge and finally straight down to the start.  The trail was poorly designed -- the steepness both going up and going down was strenuous (my heart rate got up 160 bpm), the pebbles overlaying the hard surface made traction dubious.  And it was hot!  We only hiked 3.25 miles with nearly 700 feet of vertical gain but it felt like a full day of hard work.  The park camping area was filling with RVers coming for the Memorial Day week-end,

The Arroyo Grande Swinging Bridge.

Lake Lopez.

The water slide and zipline/jungle gym.

View from the top of the hike up.

The only activity on the lake.

Cooling off after our hike.

The San Luis Obispo Mission.

The rear grounds of the Mission - cloister in background, a rather nice garden with flowers, a display of mission bells named for clergy and a large grilling area (not visible in the photo).

We drove back to the motel by way of San Luis Obispo, viewing the mission, its interior and cloister grounds (very nice), and getting some hydration at the Antigua Brewery/Pub.  Dinner was at "fast food Mexican place (torta for me and tacos for Betsy).