I am still working on the tribute blog to Dad, but the videos take an extremely long time to upload, plus I've been having technical problems with YouTube. So, that will be in a future blog.

PICTURES & VIDEO FROM CARPINTERIA

We left home on 2/22 and arrived in Carpinteria on 2/24. The scenery going down there was much better than it was when we went in October (except for the snowy part). I even managed to get a couple of pictures along I-5 that were interesting. You can tell that the Spring growing season had already started because we saw lots of trees sprouting leaves. The fields had been plowed and some of them were already planted with what probably will turn out to be flowers or vegetables.

Almond trees

Fields with almond trees behind

When we arrived at Dad's house, everything was so green and lush. The rains that they recently had were proof positive that if plants get enough water, they will flourish. In years past the area had been under a severe drought and a lot of the plants were either not blooming or were very puny. Also, there was barely any grass. We could not believe the difference!

View of side yard

The rains had been welcome for bringing the vegetation back to life, but they also posed a threat to the homes on the hillside due to the risk of flooding. The devastating Thomas Fire of last December burned to a crisp anything growing on the hills, leaving nothing to keep the water from washing away the soil. After the fire there were several calls for evacuation, with the neighboring city of Montecito sustaining a disastrous flood in January. While we were there, we actually had to evacuate one night because a storm was coming in from the ocean. Luckily, it did not drop as much rain as expected, but the threat is definitely on-going. Below are a few pictures that Linda and I took when we made a hike up the Franklin Trail. This area was right in the midst of the Thomas Fire, and is not too far away from Dad's house.

Burned bushes on the Franklin Trail

Weeds and small plants are making a comeback!

You could see where the firefighters stopped the fire

Hiking up the Franklin Trail

On the one night that we evacuated from Dad's house (out of an abundance of caution), we went over to Ventura, about 20 miles away. Linda's cousin and his wife have a condo there. Luckily they were out of town and graciously offered their condo to us for the night. We thought we were in a vacation resort! What a beautiful place they have, and within walking distance of a nice shopping center. We went over to the Panda Express that night and picked up supper, then brought it back to the condo and proceeded to drink their beer and listen to music while relaxing in their recliners.It was just what we both needed to relieve the stress! A big heart-felt "thank you" to both of them for their hospitality!!

We "roughed it" here for our evacuation night

The fortune that came with our supper...I think Linda & I do a good job of this

While we were at Dad's house we took quite a few walks around the area, just to get out and get a bit of exercise. A quick walk down the road behind his house was always welcome, and always afforded us with a beautiful view of the ocean.

You will notice a large structure out in the ocean in this video. That is an oil rig. There are several of them still offshore, although Linda said that years ago they were all over the horizon. At night they are quite pretty with all the lights on them, but during the day they are just an eyesore. You can just barely see the Channel Islands in the background of this video as it was hazy that day.

I was able to get some pretty good bird pictures while there. There has always been a great variety of birds at Dad's house, which is more than I can say about Yakima. I didn't get as many pictures of hummingbirds because the bottle-brush hedge was not in bloom like it was in October. Too bad my camera messed up back then because I had some really good pictures! Below are a few of the bird pictures from this trip.

California Scrub Jay

Anna's Hummingbird

"You lookin' at me?"  California Towhee

One day we decided to take a ride over to Ojai, one of the areas that was hardest hit by the Thomas Fire. We wanted to go to one of our favorite places, Meditation Mount. We had read that the fire in December had done a lot of damage to this beautiful garden retreat. Sadly, when we got up there we found out that it was still closed to the public. I hate to think of how it must look now.

Meditation Mount still closed due to fire damage

Another day we decided to take a walk on the beach. It was windy and a bit cold, but we went anyway. We went a little bit farther down the beach from where we usually go, so I was surprised to see a lot of driftwood washed up on the shore. Of course, someone had started a community "art" project of driftwood in the sand, so Linda had to contribute to it.

But, is it really art?

We practically had the beach to ourselves, except for a few birds wading in the water looking for food.

A couple of Long-Billed Curlews

Up above us were the Carpinteria Bluffs, with a path you can walk along that leads to the Seal Sanctuary Overlook. We had been to the seal sanctuary a couple of times before, so we decided to forgo it on this trip. We did walk along the path a short way and the smell of the Eucalyptus trees lining the pathway was heavenly.

A lone Eucalyptus tree on the Bluffs

One of my favorite places to be at Dad's house is out on the deck. That's where I took most of the bird pictures over the years. But the view is always spectacular, especially at sunset. Some evenings you can hear the coyotes howling in the avocado orchard that is behind Dad's house.

Sunset as seen from Dad's deck

One of the more interesting walks that we took was one along the Carpinteria Salt Marsh. We had taken this walk before in years past, but they have extended the trail quite a bit more. I was able to get this great shot of a heron as he flew off.

The Salt Marsh

Great Blue Heron

Hummingbird in silhouette

ARTY PHOTO OF THE WEEK

I have always enjoyed taking closeup pictures of flowers and plants because it gets you to notice the little details and the play of light and shadow. This is a closeup of a succulent that was always growing in a huge pot on the back deck.

Those are just some of the pictures and videos that I took while we were in California. There are many more but I do believe I have included enough in this blog for one week!

PARTING SHOT

The blog would not be complete without a picture of Summer Girl. We are both very happy to announce that Spring has finally arrived in the Yakima Valley and warmer temperatures (and SUNSHINE) are so appreciated!

I hope to see you back here next week to share more pictures and video with you!