Rincon Point to Ventura by bike

a tale of two coffee grinders

I'm very happy with this new stainless steel hand-cranking coffee grinder from World Market. The old wooden one, which has provided 18 years of continuous use, and which has been extensively documented in my blogs, certainly has its charms, but also mechanical problems that I am either unwilling or unable to fix.

California Coastal Cleanup day

The California Coastal Commission organized the first California Coastal Cleanup Day in 1985. The event falls on a Saturday in September and this year we participated. Over the years some great posters have been made to honor the event. The poster below is from 2004 and can be seen in the restroom of Tony's Pizzeria in Ventura. Other great posters can be viewed at this link:

 https://www.coastal.ca.gov/publiced/ccd/poster_archive/index.html

world bamboo day

the travel Scrabble game of 9-18-19

Skyview Motel

For years I would drive by the old Skyview Motel and it would speak to me. It would say "one day you're going to stay here". That day finally came on my 57th birthday. The property is fully renovated and met all of my expectations. The restaurant - Norman's - is quite good as well. Whoever had the idea of building a motel atop this hill in Los Alamos, CA - surrounded by ranches and vineyards - was a genius.

Mesa Verde Restaurant

The restaurant as opposed to the National Park... tucked away in Santa Barbara's Mesa neighborhood. How did I go so many years without even knowing about this vegan powerhouse?

birds that prefer live worms

(As seen at Wild Birds Unlimited)

Scrabble cheat sheets

They exist.

pepper grinder as coffee grinder

If you put your coffee beans in your empty Trader Joe's pepper grinder, it works! Free coffee grinder with your $2.99 bottle of pepper.

birds of the Channel Islands

chalk art...

...at Ventura Harbor, post beach walk.

American white pelicans

Went on a Sierra Club hike and saw these beautiful American white pelicans - migratory and rare for our area.

California brown pelicans

California brown pelicans are a subspecies of brown pelicans. They are abundant and non-migratory. I thought perhaps this display at the beach had something to do with migration, as it is that time of year, but my research tells me that for the most part they are a resident bird.

 

Heermann's gull

It appears that I encountered a group of Heermann's gulls one evening at Seacliff Beach. They looked slightly different from the usual gulls, and I was later able to match their description with some bird guides at home. Who was this Adolphus Lewis Heermann? Well, it appears he was a doctor, naturalist and explorer from New Orleans, LA. There are also a rat, a sparrow and a weed named after him.

Sea Center, part 2

petting sharks and sting rays

The next time you get a hankering to pet sharks and sting rays, you can head over to the Sea Center on Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara.