Sunday, June 9, 2019

Mr. House Finch

American Goldfinch of 6-7-19

A breeding male American Goldfinch having a conversation with a non-breeding male American Goldfinch. Their friends the House Finches were also at the party.

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

birds of Canada Larga

It soon became clear that Canada Larga Road was teeming with bird life and a good birdwatching area. We saw five of what I thought were condors - the Sespe Condor Sanctuary was not too far away - and two roadrunners. It turns out the "condors" were turkey vultures, but huge vultures that had a real presence.
 

Canada Larga Rd.

Beautiful country road that we had not gotten around to exploring. It seems that "Canada Larga" means "long country road" in Spanish. Remains of the old mission aqueduct (below) are seen right at the beginning of the road.

Tuesday, June 4, 2019

Clif Shot

Did not know that these existed, but I'm not surprised. We saw this during the Mountains 2 Beach Marathon. I would want something like that too if I were jogging 26.2 miles.

Ventura Harbor bird sanctuary

...revisited. We came here once before.

Ventura River Valley

Ojai Pub

Our first visit to this recently opened pub. They call it a pub and it is the kind of pub that serves food, but it is also the kind of pub that serves great food. I suppose the term "gastropub" would apply. More importantly, is "gastropub" a Scrabble word?

the things you see in Ojai

Monday, June 3, 2019

Seaward Sushi

Both the food and the artwork are inspired at Seaward Sushi, Ventura's original sushi restaurant.

El Andaluz

A  detail from the El Andaluz apartments in downtown Santa Barbara. We were stuck by the intense quality of the architecture as we walked by, and later learned it was the work of local architect Jeff Shelton, whose inspired take on the city's Mission Revival Style reminds me of the work of Spanish architect Antoni Gaudi.

the fried egg flowers of 5-22-19

act of kindness

The fizzy, lemony drink they gave me at Taj in Ventura while waiting for an order of veggie pakoras. Very kind of them - maybe they could tell how hungry and exhausted I was?

Sunday, June 2, 2019

the dark spot on the ocean

This optical effect astounded me to the point that I had to pull over while driving. Why did the ocean, which was an unusually light hue that day, have a massive dark spot not far from shore? Was it an oil spill? Kelp? The only explanation I could come up with was that it was the highly pronounced shadow of a cloud. It did not make the local news, as far as I know.

peacocks of Steckel Park

They had both kind of peacocks: captive and runaway.

Rabalais revisited

A very good Cajun-themed restaurant and bakery in Santa Paula, CA of all places... Worth a visit and a revisit. Where else are you going to find fried green tomatoes around here?

Saturday, June 1, 2019

Amgen Tour 2019

From where we stood we could see both the beginning of the women's race...
...and the end of the men's.