A Change of Place

It's been six days since we flew in to Denver from Santa Barbara after helping our son, Sterling, leap to 40 after being 39 for a whole year.  I'm sure he needed our help to make this serious change.  Sterling, Liza and the kids live in Ventura, officially the City of San Buenaventura, commonly called San Buenaventura with a population of 110,000.  Somewhere along the line since Father Junipero Serra founded the mission in 1782, it became simply Ventura.  Probably some kids were responsible for that since they don't like long names.

I could tell you some other interesting facts about Ventura like because it is located between the Ventura River and the Santa Clara River, it has the most fertile land in the whole state of California.  Ever heard of Sunkist?  Uh-huh.  Headquartered there.  Headquarters for Patagonia clothing too.  Ever used to watch Perry Mason?  A lawyer by the name of Erle Stanley Gardner, who with a last name like that probably should have worked for Sunkist, had his law practice there and created the iconic Mr. Mason.  One of the most recognizable landmarks in Ventura is known as Two Trees.  I'll leave the rest of that story to your imagination.

Ventura Harbor is very impressive and home to Channel Islands National Park Headquarters.  That is the whole reason Sterling and Liza are in California.  We got the royal tour which included packing all 12 of us into Sterling's office where there is a wonderful view of the ocean from his window.  CINP has a great little visitor's center too.  We stood on the deck of the Sea Ranger, the park service boat, and watched pelicans swoop into the harbor waters for lunch. 

Ventura is known to have the best surfing in Southern California.  Who would even care about that except the kids who asked before breakfast every morning, "When are we going to the beach?"  Speaking of breakfast, on Sterling's birthday, Liza made Baked Oatmeal Alaska and THEN we went to the beach!  Sterling and Liza like the beach at Oxnard, a shell's-throw down the road, so we barbequed there.  It was VERY windy; oddly we had the whole park to ourselves.  We had a good time unless you were Shawn who cut his foot on a piece of glass; Luke who sort of crushed his big toe in a longboard accident; Max, who totally scraped off his right kneecap in a scooter mishap; or Jonathan and Shawn (again) who received multiple abrasions and contusions while boogey boarding.  For the uninitiated, this happens when the surf slams you to the ocean floor minus your board.

Unwilling to give up my Garbage Grandma career while vacationing, on Sterling's birthday I picked up one loaf of bread, 2 cans of veggies, (how was I supposed to know the homeless people stash these things in the bushes for later consumption?) one Nantucket Nectar bottle, one wild cherry Pepsi bottle, one Sparklette Water bottle, one Orange Crush can, one Captain Morgan Spiced Rum bottle, (yo, ho, ho!) 4 Smirnoff Vodka bottles, a Doritos bag, 2 large paper clips and 5 socks.  In Estes Park I pick up lost gloves.  In Ventura I picked up lost socks, flip-flops and underware.  You can easily see how this might happen when changing into a swimsuit at the beach.  Just ask Luke.

Besides getting acquainted with Ventura, we visited Hollywood for Luke who was celebrating his 11th birthday, drove up to Simi Valley to visit the Reagan Presidential Library (highlight), and did the town with Morgan who also insisted on celebrating her birthday (#17), but really--who wants to live in a city on the beach in Southern California where there is a year-'round 5-degree temperature differential, and it's sunny all the time?

Always,
Winter