johnboystravelblog

These are photos taken with the digital camera in and around Santa Barbara, CA on Wednesday:

Wednesday I spent a good part of the day in Santa Barbara, California, on my way up to Nipomo where I would be spending the next two nights.  First stop when I got into town was the Old Mission, built in 1786:

And if you think this place looks big from the ground (and trust me, it is) you should see it from the air.  This photo was inside, near the gift shop:

And of course we can’t let you leave until you say hello to Friar JohnBoy (aka Friar Tubby):

This large tile circle was embedded in the sidewalk near Stearns Wharf.  It was done by members of the Chumash Community (a Native American tribe, I believe) and is comprised of more than 200,000 tiles.

I spent a good part of the day Wednesday in Santa Barbara, California on my way up the coast to Nipomo.  Here are various things I saw throughout the day.

In North Carolina we have hurricane evacuation route signs.  Last year in Washington and Oregon I saw volcano evacuation route signs.  Now this:

An interesting house (or apartment building, perhaps) downtown:

The pier, near Stearns Wharf:

Part of this pier burned on November 18, 1998.  This photo on the new pier shows the damage from the air.  The fire started in a restaurant.  It took the city almost two years to rebuild the pier:

I had lunch (a yummy bowl of clam chowder) at another popular restaurant on the pier.

As I walked out onto the pier I noticed a young lady starting what will be an elaborate sand sculpture.  I made note of her website and will wait and post pictures from it once this is complete.  I won’t tell you what it will be.

Further out the pier, on the sand off to the side, was this quiz, written on a large piece of fabric:

And more things from around town:

There are a number of ways to get around Santa Barbara – both on and off the water.

Or in this case, BOTH on and off the water…

This is an amphibious vehicle, often called a “Duck,” which is street legal but can also “drive” right out onto the water and become a boat:

Here are some more conventional methods:

Or how about this stylish ride?

As I drove north of Santa Barbara on Wednesday on my way up to Nipomo I saw a sign along the highway which mentioned that Buellton, California was the home of split pea soup.  I love pea soup (a memory of working at the company my father worked for during the summer when I was in high school and we went out for lunch at either of the two restaurants in that small town, where the lunch special was often a hamburger, a bowl of pea soup and an ice cold Coke.  To this day I often buy a can of Progresso pea soup, go to one of the better burger joints in Durham and get two hamburgers, and enjoy them with an ice cold Coke) so of course I had to stop at Andersen’s Restaurant in Buellton.  It was yummy!!  Probably the best pea soup I’ve ever had.  Nice and thick, not watery like canned soup often is.

Their logo (splitting pea’s… the guy on the right looking nervous….)

 

I spoke with a friend of mine in Pennsylvania today who mentioned that sometimes he has trouble seeing the pictures I post.  I think it is a good time to review some pointers to enhance your blog experience.

First – do NOT open the blog using e-mails you receive indicating that I have posted something.  I often initiate a series of posts from my phone, then populate them with pictures and written text using my computer (and must upload each photo I plan to post).  Sometimes that process takes 2 to 3 hours.  If you open a post and it says “Photos  and/or  More” then that post is not complete.  The best way to open the blog and review posts is to bookmark it and open it via a web browser.  You will get to the Home page first, then scroll down to see posts – from the most recent, backwards through time.  Continue scrolling down until you see something you’ve already read.

Second – If you are tired of getting so many e-mails every time I post things, simply take your e-mail address off the list.  I appreciate having loyal, or even just periodic, followers but totally understand if you don’t want to delete a series of e-mails every day.  If it were me, I wouldn’t have my name on the list!  But rest assured that when I am traveling I try to post something every day.  Sometimes I have reasons for not posting (poor or unsecure internet access, my shoes are hurting my feet, I have hat-hair from being out in the sun taking pictures, etc, etc).  If nothing else, I will posting something (as I did earlier today) indicating that posts will be delayed.

Third – You may contact me via the “Contact” link at the top of the Home page with questions or private comments.  You may comment publicly on posts up to 14 days after I make the post (I am going to increase that timeframe).

UPDATE – I just changed it to 28 days.  That may be too late for my contest, but people may send me their guess via “Contact” on the Home Page and I will update the post with their information.  For contest info search “While you’re waiting” from the Home Page.

Fourth – You may go back and look at old posts at any time.  I started the blog a few days after July 5, 2017.  There is a calendar grid on the Home page where you may select a date and see the posts for that day.  You may also enter a word or phrase in the Search box on the Home page (i.e. Grand Canyon, or Meow Wolf) to see post(s) containing that word or phrase.

Fifth – I highly recommend you view the blog on a computer or tablet, not your phone.  The pictures will be much bigger and you will see more detail.  I believe you can save pictures I post to your computer.  I can right-click on a photo and save it.  I use Windows 7 on my laptop.  I don’t know the procedure for Apples.

I hope this is helpful.  If you can think of a question I haven’t addressed, please let me know.  And as always, please SHARE the blog with anyone you think might enjoy it.

 

The first place I went on Tuesday morning was the Visitor Center for the Channel Islands National Park.  The Park itself is a set of five islands off the coast of southern California.  The Visitor Center is on the mainland, in Ventura, only a few miles from where I was staying on Oxnard.

The only way to get to the islands is by boat (or seaplane, although I haven’t seen any of those around yet).  There are some charter boats which will ferry you out there or you can take your own boat.  Once you are on the islands the only way to get around is on foot or by kayak.  The only vehicles allowed on the islands are official Park Service vehicles.

I didn’t plan to go out there this trip but some day I would like to.  This time of year advance reservations are needed to take a charter boat out and, given that I don’t have the stamina to walk much, I wasn’t sure how much of the islands I’d actually get to see.  I have seen a show on public television about the islands and they appear to be amazing, including plants which aren’t found anywhere else.

The Visitor Center is on a peninsula which includes several shops and restaurants, a large marina, the Ventura Yacht Club, public beaches, and of course the Visitor Center.

Looking at nearby things in the water was no problem, but the visibility looking back at the coast wasn’t so good:

The Visitor Center has a 3rd floor observation deck from which I took these photos:

And when I got off the elevator on the 3rd floor I saw this poster, showing formations just off the coast of one of the islands.

After gathering my information and asking questions at the Visitor Center I walked out to the beach to watch the surfers.  The guys (and so far I have only seen male surfers) when I was there around 10am local time appeared to be young (teenagers) and weren’t having very good luck.  I waited quite a while but didn’t get any good shots.  Surfing can apparently be quite time consuming.  There appears to be a lot of “bob and wait, bob and wait” until you see the right wave coming at you.  And if you don’t time it just right, the wave passes you by but pushes you inland and then you must swim back out to your spot, while getting pushed back by even more waves, and wait some more.  The kids I saw in the morning would no sooner get up on their boards then they would wipe out (fall off).  By the way, the surfboards are attached to their ankles by long cords so they don’t have to track them down after getting separated from them.

After a while I gave up and did some other things in town but returned later when I found some slightly older guys there.  The waves were even higher and these guys seemed to be pretty good.  It can be hard to track them when you are zoomed in with the camera but I managed to get some decent shots.

And then – bob and wait, bob and wait….

I should get more practice later in the trip.  When I click off a shot there is a slight delay before I can take another one and I often lose my target (same with trying to get photos of birds or helicopters in flight).  I tried putting my camera in “machine gun mode” which clicks off continuous shots but still didn’t have much luck (and it only takes about 7 shots).  I may need to suck it up and get a more expensive camera.

I was told that the Mission in Ventura was a good one to stop and see so I made it a point to go there.  Built in 1782, this was the 9th Mission to have been established by the Spanish in California.  It sits right on Main Street in present day Ventura.

Right across the street from the Mission was a beautiful fountain adorned in blue and white tile.

Unlike other fountains I have seen, this one also had a little aquaduct while carried the water down to an identical fountain at the other end of a pedestrian walkway.

And the walkway was lined with several large flower planters, covered in the same blue and white tile.  Very impressive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a large “upscale” adobe near Ventura, California.  It sits out in the middle of a group of large farms (many of which were being prepped for planting).

Next to the adobe was a huge rose garden:

And there was also what looked like a foundation for a fountain but was filled with various succulents: