Cruisin' the Beach in Santa Barbara

Mom and Dad bought these Schwinn bikes in 1974. I pulled them out of the basement, put on some new tires and tubes, and they were ready for the road - sort of. They need a little TLC in the form of polish, oil, and brake pads. Hitting the brakes lets out startling squeals that can terrify children and animals.

I plan to have these bikes on the ready at my future home near the ocean.

My dear friend Gail and I took the bikes for a shakedown run at the beach. There are some unusual vehicles parked down there.

This van is covered in toys and other geegaws, inside and out. The owner just sits on a lawn chair and greets tourists with, "Welcome to Santa Barbara! Feel free to take pictures, but we ask that you put a donation in the globe." Or something like that. What an easy gig! Brilliant!!

This van displayed more sophisticated artwork.

Gail bows in awe at the craftsmanship displayed by this camper.

Gail very generously volunteered to come up from Escondido to help Berta, Paul, and I get the house ready to sell. We had a blast the days she was here, working, eating, and getting out of the house - we all miss her fun loving spirit and helpfulness.

La Cumbre Peak Assault

On Sunday, Berta, Gail, and I decided to get out of the house, stretch our legs, and climb La Cumbre Peak. Amazingly, there were still areas of beautiful wildflowers. The first few miles were in fog, but then the sun broke and the mountain heated up.

Berta taking a rare break from sifting through family records and photos.

A complex and pretty flower.

Gail and I pausing on the dreaded West Fork which is steep, hot, and shadeless.

There were jumbles of giant boulders at the top. Three hikers, here, between a rock and a hard place.

A very unconcerned Tiger Swallowtail sips nectar from a thistle.

Coming back down, Berta and Gail with the peak behind them.

Gail spotted a large garter snake on the trail. We watched it go down into the bushes where we discovered an old shed snake skin.

Sunday, Gail and I took the Schwinns out for a ride on Mountain Drive. Gail was determined to beat Ted Gardner's $35,000 mail box in a race. We also visited John P. and saw the progress he's making on building his home after it burned down in the Tea Fire - the second home he's lost to wildfire.

Fun at Hendry's Beach

It was a beautiful, warm day at Hendry's Beach on Monday. Gail spotted a couple drift branches that someone had balanced on an upright log. Our creative and goofy impulses took over and we soon started to add a more organic theme to the structure.

We added bamboo ribs, other detritus, and stones, but... the sand was scalding hot. Gail is wearing her sweatshirt on her feet - I had to run with a little blanket and hop on it after short little bursts. OUCH!!

Lookin' good and ready for subhuman antics!

"MY FEET ARE BURNING!!!"

One Praising Sculpture

Two Praising Sculpture

Feeling the Power

Flashback to Dance of the Hot Sands

The Look

The Rapture

Playful Pelicans

Below are 2 videos I took with my new iPhone (yes, I'm cool) while I was siphoning stuff off the bottom of the pools in the pelican aviary. These are all first year pelicans (about 40) who were found on beaches. They were starving, too weak to fly, and all would have died. Some have other problems like injuries and infected splinters in their feet. Anyway, they are recovering nicely, and like kids, like to play with things. Here, they are playing with the siphon hose I'm trying to use, and a garden hose that is running. They are definitely curious, and very observant. I love them!

It was a long day of bird care with the pelicans, dozens of herons and egrets, hatching bitterns (16 eggs, about 12 hatched so far), a kestrel, 8 killdeer, coot, grebes, murres, and others. And, we're getting word from NAR in Santa Cruz, that they are getting a lot of loons, which means many will be sent to us.

Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve

Yesterday, Nick and I did some hiking aound the Lake Berryessa area. In the morning, we drove along a 5 mile gravel road on the east shore of the lake. This is a very peaceful ranching area, that is also a little known wildlife area open to the public. We saw Meadowlarks, Tree Swallows, Kestrels, Osprey, White Pelicans, and surprisingly, feral Peacocks. Around noon, we headed over to the dam end to hike the 5 mile loop in the Stebbins Cold Canyon Reserve. It was anything but cold yesterday!

We had lunch at a shady spot along the creek. From here, the trail climbed steeply up to Blue Ridge.

On the ridge we saw several Tiger Whiptail lizzards cuising along searching for bugs. I read they can run up to 30 mph!

I haven't seen one for years, and in the past few weeks saw several in Santa Barbara up on a peak, and then these yesterday. Good luck, I guess.

The trail follows the spine of the ridge for a couple miles. You could see UC Davis out in the distance to the east, and the lake to the west.

Two sweaty dudes at one of the viewpoints. It was a great day of knocking around, talking, and seeing plenty things to keep us entertained.