May 12, Ventura Cali
Today we ventured down to Ventura to check out the pier and the Ferris wheel. Well the Pier was cool but apparently the Ferris wheel is actually 60 miles south of Ventura, in Santa Monica. Whoops…. My bad, next time I will do my research before we start driving. Hehe.. Thats ok, Ventura actually ended up being really cool, chill town. I think that it is kind of a surfers mecca, because there were a lot of surfers there… I had done a little bit of research on the area and saw that Ventura for the most part, is very dog friendly. One of the beaches that was supposed to be so, was Surfers Point. We pulled up looking like the tourists that we are, and a surfer, who happened to be parked next to us, started commenting on the pups. So of course I struck up a conversation with him. He said that for the most part Surfers Point is dog friendly-ish, there were a lot of surfers out today and sometimes people can get cranky about dogs off leash. He suggested that if we walked 100 yards up the coast people tend to let their dogs run more freely. He also recommended different beaches in the area that were cool to check out, different breweries, and Spencer Mackenzie’s for 2 for 1 Fish Tacos from 3 to 5. He assured us that the tacos were amazing and that we had to check it out.
We spent about two hours walking around Ventura beach. We did not walk down the pier because it was very chilly, and after our experience on the Sterns Wharf yesterday, we knew we’d both freeze our butts off, so we opted out of that.. I still got some cool pics of the pier, and really a pier is a pier, and there was nothing spectacular that we were going to miss on this one.
We have discovered when we walk three pups, it tends to draw a lot of attention.. Particularly from older people and children. Most little kids really want to say hi. Today there was the cutest little guy, who had to be maybe 2, that really wanted to say hi to the puppies.. I told his mom that he could say hi if she was comfortable with letting him.. So he ran straight for Trigger, and I warned him that she would probably lick him, but he seemed undeterred. Sure enough, she gave him a big wet kiss right across his cheek.. This kid got the biggest grin on his face and just took of running as fast as he could in the opposite direction immediately after, he didn't even try to say hi to the other two, apparently he had enough puppy love for one day. It cracked me up.
There were these cool little dunes that were between the beach and the sidewalk that had a path led from the sidewalk to the beach. There seemed to be a lot of dogs the further we got up the coast, and we really just wanted to find a quite section to let the pups play without having to deal with the stressors of potential scuffles at all. So after careful evaluation, we found a nice little spot away from everyone else, and just let them run for a few.. The little spot we choose to frolic also happened to have several ducks frolicking as well. We were quite surprised to see a flock of Gadwalls, and a pair of mallards on the coast. Trigger of course, had to run and see if she could get them before they flew away.. Silly dog, she should know that she can't catch them when they fly.. Especially after 8 years of hunting with me…
We only hung out at this part of the beach for about 30 minutes, but it seemed to be enough to make the pups very tired. Apparently, swimming in the ocean is exhausting! All three were ready to go back into their crates again, but we made them hang out outside with us, just to make sure we didn't have a repeat of yesterday with Frank getting sick in the crate.. Luckily he did not get sick at this beach, and instead just rolled around like a goon in the wood chips for a while..
Ok, if I am going to be honest, the only reason we made them hang out with us outside was because it was only 2, and we had an hour to kill before we could go have fish tacos…They just sounded delicious and we usually don't resist food well. So by 2:45 we were at Spencer Mackenzie’s in Ventura, just willing time to move faster. So we had a beer to pass the time. This little taco shop was really neat…. Much like the town of Ventura, it had a very laid back vibe too it, and was just fun. The waitresses were all friendly and talkative, and you got to watch the cooks banter back and fourth with them, which is always fun to watch.. Then there were the Fish Tacos. Oh my goodness, they were amazing…. And I typically don't like fish…. At all….But I loved these tacos. No idea what kind of fish they were, but it was cooked in a tempura batter, served on a homemade flour tortilla, with cabbage slaw, cilantro, and their magic sweet chili sauce… I was in food heaven.. Kyle also ordered a Parker Burger, which was a seared ahi burger served “Brooklyn Style”, (what ever that means). It too, was quite delicious.. This honestly had to be our favorite meal of the trip so far… I know i said that yesterday about the Los Agaves Burritos, but these tacos were just stellar….
After leaving with full and satisfied bellies we headed back up Hwy 101 toward Santa Barbara.. I had read about a little beach in Carpenteria, that was supposed to be a little secret local beach, called Santa Claus Beach. I had been wanting to check it out and this seemed to be the perfect opportunity since we just “happened” to be driving by it today.. (I may have had this planned all along and just didn't tell Kyle that (: ) Well once again folks Santa Claus will make you believe in magic… This time his magic was in the form of a white sandy beach, surrounded by beautiful homes that made you feel like you were trespassing, but you're not…..Other than the group surfing lesson taking place on the south end of the beach, we pretty much had the place to ourselves.. So we got the pups and the chuck-it out, just to better insure a peaceful evening at home with tired pups… Our only company was a group of harbor seals that seemed very interested in what we were throwing in the water, and what was running after what we were throwing in the water…. They didn't bother the pups at all though.. Come to find out, they usually won’t, and there have been rumors of the curious seals, and curious pups making friends and playing together at this beach.. Not sure if I buy that or not, so we didn’t risk it.. We played here for about 45 minutes and just enjoyed the beautiful views around us. On our way back to the truck, we passed two ladies carrying a beer. So of course, I was thirsty, so I asked “Where did you get the beer?” To which the younger lady responded “ The car…” Well I’ll be buggered, these ladies are GENIUSES, and I will have to take notes and plan better next time!
We once again failed in our attempts to keep Frank from drinking too much salt water today. While he did not get sick in his kennel again, he is pretty darn miserable this evening and is totally acting like a little kid with a tummy ache, and wants nothing more than to have his belly rubbed.. At one point he ran to the door and of course i quickly followed only to discover that he has what is termed “Beach Diarrhea”, oh lovely.. Then he ran directly to one of the water spigots here in the campground and started drinking from the dripping faucet…. Poor dog… Eventually we will get this right, and hopefully figure out a way to keep him from getting sick every time we go to the ocean..
Friday the 13th,
Today we wanted to a little more exploring of highway 1 so we decided we were going to drive North up toward Pismo Beach. There was supposed to be a really cool recreation area on the beach that you can drive on, sounds like a hoot! But first, breakfast. I had been craving a really good breakfast so we decided to splurge for it today.. We knew that we would be driving through Solvang, the little Danish village we had visited on Tuesday, and figured they would have something delicious there with all the bakeries around… Well folks, when you are looking for breakfast food and you see a sign that says Pancake House, you stop. We both had the Danish Pancakes and they were SPECTACULAR!
After inducing ourselves into a food coma, we headed back up Hwy 1 toward the coast.. I know I've said this already, but this part of California is so incredible pretty. Even though the state is incredibly drought stricken, there is still so much beauty around you as you drive on these roads that just wind through vineyards, orchards and so many farms… Then you start to smell the sweet from the Strawberry farms near Santa Maria. Well, Kyle and I are both suckers for fresh strawberries, so of course we have to stop when we see a strawberry stand.. We stopped at Little Petes Farm, where they had 2 lb packages of two different types of strawberries.. They had some Alvion, which she said would be a heartier fruit and that would last us a little longer and travel well. Then they had a Chandler variety, that she was hesitant to suggest for us because they aren't as hardy and don't really last long, and she knew that we were traveling… No problem, these won’t make it through the day anyway, we’ll take one of each.
Back on route after our little detour. This section of Hwy 1 doesn't really go right along the coast but still takes you through some neat farm country.. We finally found our way to the Oceano Dunes State recreational area, and were less than impressed to be honest.. The idea of driving on the beach was fun, but Kyle was being goofy and decided that he didn’t think that it would be good to drive on the sand.. So we just decided to walk around on the beach for a few. I think we honestly made it a total of 10 minutes on this recreation area.. There were a lot of people on the beach, far more than we are usually comfortable with, and the beach itself really just wasn't in that great of a condition. So we went back to the truck to find a different place to go… Once we got back to the truck I noticed that there was a little salt water Taffy shop just across the street, and honestly I couldn't help myself.. So we went in and got a 1/2 lb of the most delicious salt water taffy I have ever had.. It was so soft, and just seemed really fresh.. My friend Kate would love this stuff, I know she is a sucker for salt water taffy too…
We went to Pismo State beach next, and this was much more our style.. There was a path through the dunes that lead to the beach. All along the dunes there are these beautiful flowers that grow all over, that are not only pretty, but smell wonderful too. It was fascinating to us that they were growing on sand, and come to find out they are everywhere here. The pictures really don't do them justice, but you can kind of see them. Pismo State Beach was really pretty, but also really windy that day. We thought it would be fun to just walk along and find a place to just hang out for a minute.. So we found a little dune to try to hide behind, and sat down to just enjoy the scenery around us. Its fun to watch the flocks of birds just fly around. This beach seemed to have a large amount of seagulls for some reason, that really seemed to not be at all afraid of people. I watched one land about a foot away from someone who was taking a nap on the beach, and one fly about 5 feet above Kyle’s head. We had great intention of just hanging out and relaxing on this beach for a while, but because of the wind, something that should be really relaxing, was really quite the opposite. We had found a little dune to try to hide behind, so that it would block the wind, it didn't really work out like we’d hoped it would.. Every time that one of us moved, it created little whirlwind of sand that blew all over us. It was really quite comical.. We lasted about 15 minutes before we started back to the truck feeling like we were chewing on sandpaper.. It was awesome!
Saturday May 14,
Yesterday we drove over to Goleta to go for a hike that looked pretty fun. It was called the Ellwood Bluffs Trail. This trail is also serves as a butterfly breeding ground in the fall and winter, but there are very few of them this time of year. This trail is also a VERY popular place to walk your dog for a lot of the locals. We were laughing yesterday as we realized that we have become “those people” that always have to have their dogs on a leash, vs us laughing at “those people” back in colorado. I feel like this is another thing we will figure out how to handle eventually, but for now we’ll keep torturing ourselves by walking them on leash every where we go.
The Trail was a very well worn trail that eventually led to some bluffs over looking the beach. It was very serene feeling standing at the top of the bluffs looking out over the pacific. You can see forever. We also got to witness a couple getting married on the bluffs too. The trail on the bluffs led to a path that went down to the beach so we went down and played in the water here too.. The drought conditions on top of the bluffs seem a little more extreme than they have in other places, but when you get about 200 yards inland, the land scape turns lush and very green. It’s strange how much it changes in such a small amount of space.. This part of the trail is full of very fragrant flowers, big trees, thick vines covering the ground, and the same flowers that we say by Pismo Beach.. The added bonus to this section is that there seemed to be a lot less people too…
Our days all seem to consist of doing the same things these days, but its still fun to just see different beaches, they all seem to have their own unique beauty. After our hike, we made a quick stop at Happy Harry’s Produce to pick up a couple of supplies. I love little stores like these. They always have the freshest fruit and produce, and the people that work there are always incredibly friendly and helpful.. After getting the supplies we needed, we headed to another beach ;) This afternoon we were headed to Rincon Point. Rincon Point is just south of Carpenteria, and is supposed to a legendary surfing destination in Cali.. I don't think that the conditions were conducive to “legendary” surfing yesterday but there were still a handful of surfers testing out their skills on the small waves.. We had kept the pups on their leashes for most of our time at Rincon Point but eventually let them off to go run amuck. It was almost as if Frank and Trigger were watching how the surfers rode the waves, because they both immediately ran out and started trying to jump on top of the bigger waves heading toward them.. Its pretty entertaining when they discover they're really not good at that. Its funny watching Frank in particular, its like the ever changing water level leaves him very confused. He wants nothing more than to go lay down on the water, but every time he lays down where he feels comfortable, the water moves on him, leaving him perplexed. So then he starts running out into the water and racing the waves back to shore. I find it very entertaining, he is such a goofy dog…
Sunday May 15th,
Today is going to be a “camp day” as Kyle dubs it.. he tends to like to have a day where we don't really do anything but relax and hang out.. We will see how long I make it today. I tend to get a little antsy (I know, shocking) and want to go do something.. Its almost lunch time and Im doing ok so far. I’ll let ya’ll know if that changes next blog post. Thank you all again for checking in on our adventure.. Cheers!!
Today we ventured down to Ventura to check out the pier and the Ferris wheel. Well the Pier was cool but apparently the Ferris wheel is actually 60 miles south of Ventura, in Santa Monica. Whoops…. My bad, next time I will do my research before we start driving. Hehe.. Thats ok, Ventura actually ended up being really cool, chill town. I think that it is kind of a surfers mecca, because there were a lot of surfers there… I had done a little bit of research on the area and saw that Ventura for the most part, is very dog friendly. One of the beaches that was supposed to be so, was Surfers Point. We pulled up looking like the tourists that we are, and a surfer, who happened to be parked next to us, started commenting on the pups. So of course I struck up a conversation with him. He said that for the most part Surfers Point is dog friendly-ish, there were a lot of surfers out today and sometimes people can get cranky about dogs off leash. He suggested that if we walked 100 yards up the coast people tend to let their dogs run more freely. He also recommended different beaches in the area that were cool to check out, different breweries, and Spencer Mackenzie’s for 2 for 1 Fish Tacos from 3 to 5. He assured us that the tacos were amazing and that we had to check it out.
We spent about two hours walking around Ventura beach. We did not walk down the pier because it was very chilly, and after our experience on the Sterns Wharf yesterday, we knew we’d both freeze our butts off, so we opted out of that.. I still got some cool pics of the pier, and really a pier is a pier, and there was nothing spectacular that we were going to miss on this one.
We have discovered when we walk three pups, it tends to draw a lot of attention.. Particularly from older people and children. Most little kids really want to say hi. Today there was the cutest little guy, who had to be maybe 2, that really wanted to say hi to the puppies.. I told his mom that he could say hi if she was comfortable with letting him.. So he ran straight for Trigger, and I warned him that she would probably lick him, but he seemed undeterred. Sure enough, she gave him a big wet kiss right across his cheek.. This kid got the biggest grin on his face and just took of running as fast as he could in the opposite direction immediately after, he didn't even try to say hi to the other two, apparently he had enough puppy love for one day. It cracked me up.
They were very intrigued by what was on the other side of this wall...
There were these cool little dunes that were between the beach and the sidewalk that had a path led from the sidewalk to the beach. There seemed to be a lot of dogs the further we got up the coast, and we really just wanted to find a quite section to let the pups play without having to deal with the stressors of potential scuffles at all. So after careful evaluation, we found a nice little spot away from everyone else, and just let them run for a few.. The little spot we choose to frolic also happened to have several ducks frolicking as well. We were quite surprised to see a flock of Gadwalls, and a pair of mallards on the coast. Trigger of course, had to run and see if she could get them before they flew away.. Silly dog, she should know that she can't catch them when they fly.. Especially after 8 years of hunting with me…
Apparently dogs like to use sand to dry off after playing in the ocean
We only hung out at this part of the beach for about 30 minutes, but it seemed to be enough to make the pups very tired. Apparently, swimming in the ocean is exhausting! All three were ready to go back into their crates again, but we made them hang out outside with us, just to make sure we didn't have a repeat of yesterday with Frank getting sick in the crate.. Luckily he did not get sick at this beach, and instead just rolled around like a goon in the wood chips for a while..
Ok, if I am going to be honest, the only reason we made them hang out with us outside was because it was only 2, and we had an hour to kill before we could go have fish tacos…They just sounded delicious and we usually don't resist food well. So by 2:45 we were at Spencer Mackenzie’s in Ventura, just willing time to move faster. So we had a beer to pass the time. This little taco shop was really neat…. Much like the town of Ventura, it had a very laid back vibe too it, and was just fun. The waitresses were all friendly and talkative, and you got to watch the cooks banter back and fourth with them, which is always fun to watch.. Then there were the Fish Tacos. Oh my goodness, they were amazing…. And I typically don't like fish…. At all….But I loved these tacos. No idea what kind of fish they were, but it was cooked in a tempura batter, served on a homemade flour tortilla, with cabbage slaw, cilantro, and their magic sweet chili sauce… I was in food heaven.. Kyle also ordered a Parker Burger, which was a seared ahi burger served “Brooklyn Style”, (what ever that means). It too, was quite delicious.. This honestly had to be our favorite meal of the trip so far… I know i said that yesterday about the Los Agaves Burritos, but these tacos were just stellar….
Spencer MacKenzies Fish Tacos and Parker Burger
After leaving with full and satisfied bellies we headed back up Hwy 101 toward Santa Barbara.. I had read about a little beach in Carpenteria, that was supposed to be a little secret local beach, called Santa Claus Beach. I had been wanting to check it out and this seemed to be the perfect opportunity since we just “happened” to be driving by it today.. (I may have had this planned all along and just didn't tell Kyle that (: ) Well once again folks Santa Claus will make you believe in magic… This time his magic was in the form of a white sandy beach, surrounded by beautiful homes that made you feel like you were trespassing, but you're not…..Other than the group surfing lesson taking place on the south end of the beach, we pretty much had the place to ourselves.. So we got the pups and the chuck-it out, just to better insure a peaceful evening at home with tired pups… Our only company was a group of harbor seals that seemed very interested in what we were throwing in the water, and what was running after what we were throwing in the water…. They didn't bother the pups at all though.. Come to find out, they usually won’t, and there have been rumors of the curious seals, and curious pups making friends and playing together at this beach.. Not sure if I buy that or not, so we didn’t risk it.. We played here for about 45 minutes and just enjoyed the beautiful views around us. On our way back to the truck, we passed two ladies carrying a beer. So of course, I was thirsty, so I asked “Where did you get the beer?” To which the younger lady responded “ The car…” Well I’ll be buggered, these ladies are GENIUSES, and I will have to take notes and plan better next time!
Trigger about to get rocked by a wave
Pure joy
We once again failed in our attempts to keep Frank from drinking too much salt water today. While he did not get sick in his kennel again, he is pretty darn miserable this evening and is totally acting like a little kid with a tummy ache, and wants nothing more than to have his belly rubbed.. At one point he ran to the door and of course i quickly followed only to discover that he has what is termed “Beach Diarrhea”, oh lovely.. Then he ran directly to one of the water spigots here in the campground and started drinking from the dripping faucet…. Poor dog… Eventually we will get this right, and hopefully figure out a way to keep him from getting sick every time we go to the ocean..
Friday the 13th,
Today we wanted to a little more exploring of highway 1 so we decided we were going to drive North up toward Pismo Beach. There was supposed to be a really cool recreation area on the beach that you can drive on, sounds like a hoot! But first, breakfast. I had been craving a really good breakfast so we decided to splurge for it today.. We knew that we would be driving through Solvang, the little Danish village we had visited on Tuesday, and figured they would have something delicious there with all the bakeries around… Well folks, when you are looking for breakfast food and you see a sign that says Pancake House, you stop. We both had the Danish Pancakes and they were SPECTACULAR!
After inducing ourselves into a food coma, we headed back up Hwy 1 toward the coast.. I know I've said this already, but this part of California is so incredible pretty. Even though the state is incredibly drought stricken, there is still so much beauty around you as you drive on these roads that just wind through vineyards, orchards and so many farms… Then you start to smell the sweet from the Strawberry farms near Santa Maria. Well, Kyle and I are both suckers for fresh strawberries, so of course we have to stop when we see a strawberry stand.. We stopped at Little Petes Farm, where they had 2 lb packages of two different types of strawberries.. They had some Alvion, which she said would be a heartier fruit and that would last us a little longer and travel well. Then they had a Chandler variety, that she was hesitant to suggest for us because they aren't as hardy and don't really last long, and she knew that we were traveling… No problem, these won’t make it through the day anyway, we’ll take one of each.
Strawberries make Kyle SOOOOO HAPPY!
Back on route after our little detour. This section of Hwy 1 doesn't really go right along the coast but still takes you through some neat farm country.. We finally found our way to the Oceano Dunes State recreational area, and were less than impressed to be honest.. The idea of driving on the beach was fun, but Kyle was being goofy and decided that he didn’t think that it would be good to drive on the sand.. So we just decided to walk around on the beach for a few. I think we honestly made it a total of 10 minutes on this recreation area.. There were a lot of people on the beach, far more than we are usually comfortable with, and the beach itself really just wasn't in that great of a condition. So we went back to the truck to find a different place to go… Once we got back to the truck I noticed that there was a little salt water Taffy shop just across the street, and honestly I couldn't help myself.. So we went in and got a 1/2 lb of the most delicious salt water taffy I have ever had.. It was so soft, and just seemed really fresh.. My friend Kate would love this stuff, I know she is a sucker for salt water taffy too…
We went to Pismo State beach next, and this was much more our style.. There was a path through the dunes that lead to the beach. All along the dunes there are these beautiful flowers that grow all over, that are not only pretty, but smell wonderful too. It was fascinating to us that they were growing on sand, and come to find out they are everywhere here. The pictures really don't do them justice, but you can kind of see them. Pismo State Beach was really pretty, but also really windy that day. We thought it would be fun to just walk along and find a place to just hang out for a minute.. So we found a little dune to try to hide behind, and sat down to just enjoy the scenery around us. Its fun to watch the flocks of birds just fly around. This beach seemed to have a large amount of seagulls for some reason, that really seemed to not be at all afraid of people. I watched one land about a foot away from someone who was taking a nap on the beach, and one fly about 5 feet above Kyle’s head. We had great intention of just hanging out and relaxing on this beach for a while, but because of the wind, something that should be really relaxing, was really quite the opposite. We had found a little dune to try to hide behind, so that it would block the wind, it didn't really work out like we’d hoped it would.. Every time that one of us moved, it created little whirlwind of sand that blew all over us. It was really quite comical.. We lasted about 15 minutes before we started back to the truck feeling like we were chewing on sandpaper.. It was awesome!
These birds were making Trigger crazy, she really wanted to try to get them!
I am fairly certain this is NOT what beach waves are supposed to look like..
Saturday May 14,
Yesterday we drove over to Goleta to go for a hike that looked pretty fun. It was called the Ellwood Bluffs Trail. This trail is also serves as a butterfly breeding ground in the fall and winter, but there are very few of them this time of year. This trail is also a VERY popular place to walk your dog for a lot of the locals. We were laughing yesterday as we realized that we have become “those people” that always have to have their dogs on a leash, vs us laughing at “those people” back in colorado. I feel like this is another thing we will figure out how to handle eventually, but for now we’ll keep torturing ourselves by walking them on leash every where we go.
The Trail was a very well worn trail that eventually led to some bluffs over looking the beach. It was very serene feeling standing at the top of the bluffs looking out over the pacific. You can see forever. We also got to witness a couple getting married on the bluffs too. The trail on the bluffs led to a path that went down to the beach so we went down and played in the water here too.. The drought conditions on top of the bluffs seem a little more extreme than they have in other places, but when you get about 200 yards inland, the land scape turns lush and very green. It’s strange how much it changes in such a small amount of space.. This part of the trail is full of very fragrant flowers, big trees, thick vines covering the ground, and the same flowers that we say by Pismo Beach.. The added bonus to this section is that there seemed to be a lot less people too…
Our days all seem to consist of doing the same things these days, but its still fun to just see different beaches, they all seem to have their own unique beauty. After our hike, we made a quick stop at Happy Harry’s Produce to pick up a couple of supplies. I love little stores like these. They always have the freshest fruit and produce, and the people that work there are always incredibly friendly and helpful.. After getting the supplies we needed, we headed to another beach ;) This afternoon we were headed to Rincon Point. Rincon Point is just south of Carpenteria, and is supposed to a legendary surfing destination in Cali.. I don't think that the conditions were conducive to “legendary” surfing yesterday but there were still a handful of surfers testing out their skills on the small waves.. We had kept the pups on their leashes for most of our time at Rincon Point but eventually let them off to go run amuck. It was almost as if Frank and Trigger were watching how the surfers rode the waves, because they both immediately ran out and started trying to jump on top of the bigger waves heading toward them.. Its pretty entertaining when they discover they're really not good at that. Its funny watching Frank in particular, its like the ever changing water level leaves him very confused. He wants nothing more than to go lay down on the water, but every time he lays down where he feels comfortable, the water moves on him, leaving him perplexed. So then he starts running out into the water and racing the waves back to shore. I find it very entertaining, he is such a goofy dog…
Kyle decided he needed a nap
This sign just cracked me up
Sunday May 15th,
Today is going to be a “camp day” as Kyle dubs it.. he tends to like to have a day where we don't really do anything but relax and hang out.. We will see how long I make it today. I tend to get a little antsy (I know, shocking) and want to go do something.. Its almost lunch time and Im doing ok so far. I’ll let ya’ll know if that changes next blog post. Thank you all again for checking in on our adventure.. Cheers!!
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