floating island

Seeing Anancapa Island like this at sunset, in full "floating island" mode, I couldn't help but be reminded a little of the cover of Fripp & Eno's "Evening Star" album (below, at bottom) - an old favorite, both musically and visually. Image courtesy Wikimedia, artwork by Peter Schmidt.

the Surfers' Point dog

This dog was really fixated on the surfers and would not stop running back and forth barking at them, and making occasional attempts to run out to them. His dedication to his cause was endless.

papyrus at the mission

The papyrus plant at the Ventura mission.

Ventura Mission

Ventura's mission was built in 1782. Like many of the missions, there is a delightful garden alongside the main building with a fountain. The surprise highlight of the garden for me was another face-to-face encounter with a papyrus plant.

Mondo's Cove swim

Olivas Adobe

One beautiful sunny day we walked around the historic Olivas Adobe. The place was strangely peaceful, as though it existed outside of time. Curiously, there was not a soul there besides us. Later we learned that the adobe is supposedly haunted, but we neither saw ghosts nor sensed anything unfriendly. My position on ghosts has always been to peacefully coexist with them.

Ventura Botanical Gardens revisited

Another hike in the botanical gardens, only this time we went higher up to where the dragon trees and pepper trees like to perch and look out on the ocean.