OJAI

We put our bikes on the bus and went up (up being the key word) thru the mountains behind Ventura. 20 miles later we were dropped off in the town of Ojai in the heart of the Ojai Valley. Patty and I have been planning to do this public transport/bike ride for a couple months.

The first thing I noticed was how polite the locals were behind the wheel. 2nd is the variety of building design. One house is a log cabin and the one next door is 192o's art deco then Spanish or Cape Cod. ....3rd was a mother pushing her baby carriage riding a skateboard. The bike ride back to Ventura was what we enjoyed most. We love to travel by bus for many reasons and the combo of transportation was a great way of experiencing culture and visuals.

The last pic is about the middle of the 20 mile bike ride back to Ventura.

EMMA WOOD ELITE

first two shots are the Curren boys

2nd to last shot: Keith

If you get the chance, catch Thomas Cambell's new movie "THE PRESENT." Many highlights featured were shot at Emma Wood State Beach where I work. Today we had a line up consisting of Keith Malloy, Rob Lowe and Tom Curren. As exciting as they were to watch, the best part was watching Currens sons ripping the little waves to bits.

wE LiVe HeRe

It's now a 10 minute bike ride from this new location to the Emma Wood state beach kiosk where I work. It was blowing a steady 25 knots yesterday (Sunday) and it took 35 minutes to make that 10 minute run mentioned above. I got calls on the work hotline about a boat capsized with the captain standing on the overturned hull..(it was a stand up paddle board) .. A windsurfer in distress with a blown out sail..(it was a 40ft. sailboat 4 miles offshore with her sails down trying to motor in to a safe harbour, a surfer lost at sea on a big yellow surfboard..(it was a guy on his paddle board taking advantage of the drift which is a strong current running parallel to shore. He was havin a ball paddling at incredable speeds..,..and lastly the baby seal pup stranded ashore. (poor little guy just needed a rest from the heavy surf and strong currents the winds were creating.) All these alerts were called in from people driving 65MPH on HWY 101 except for the seal pup episode. As misguided as they may be, at least people care! About the pics..#3 and #4 were taken from our motorhome and the others taken on the other side of those trees and bushes.

Some shots of the area around our rig.

Windy today with clear skies and a building swell.

OUR NEW SURROUNDINGS

Some shots taken over the past 3 / 4 days shows the beach in front of our rig, a ww11 gun turet installed to protect our shores after a Japanese sub landed a torpedo on Ventura County beaches while cruising within a quarter mile from the shoreline. The local camp hosts (7 of us) were treated to a slide show put together by Charlie, a camp host who did a photo essay of Baja from his ultra light. It's a motorized parachute. He presented it on the grass where our rigs are parked. Check him out at http://www.charleschandlerphotography.com/ Wave report: it's ben a great run the past 10 days. The outside reef at Emma Wood broke for 3 of the days at 2 to 3ft overhead, C St was as good as I've seen it for length of ride (30 to 40 seconds was the norm all the way to the beach) for longboarders. Today out front as photos show, it's small scale and pretty fun with bigger sets hitting chest high.

Big Sur or Humboldt?

We took a trip to Big Sur last week to check it out for a possible Camp Host job this summer. For those of you that don't know about Big Sur it's a 90 mile stretch of coastline south of San Francisco. It is truly majestic and very remote. The closest grocery store is 30 miles away in Carmel. The campsite is a hike-in campground. No cars. Lots of trails, wildlife, and a mile walk to the beach. We would have full hookups for our RV. It would be an opportunity to live somewhere for a couple of months we could never afford to live in.

The other place is in northern California in Humboldt Redwoods and just as remote. Huge redwood trees and also spectacular. The rangers are all super nice and seem to want us. We're leaning towards Big Sur but I need to work out a few things with my computer/phone to ensure I have coverage so I can work.

The first picture is of the park in Big Sur called Andrew Molera State Park. The other picture is of Spike and our new friend Nancy also at the campground trail. Nancy and Spike knew eachother from grammer school in Venice and we recently connected with her after all these years. She lives in Camarillo - just south of Ventura. The next two pictures are of Big Sur and the Redwoods.

After the trip to Big Sur we stayed in a little town called Cambria at Nancy's friends townhouse. Cambria is a quaint and charming place. I loved the architecture - it was almost like going back in time. We've really enjoyed stopping along the way at all the little coastal towns. Cayuco is another one we liked. It felt like being in the wild west. California is really spectacular. When you get north of Ventura you see so much countryside - meadows, ranches, vineyards, farmland, rolling hills, mountains and the ocean right on the other side. No concrete!

Truly jawdropping.

P.

NEW BREAK

The first 2 pics is my new home break. No one surfs it as it's a tad off the beatin path with no parking except for our rig. It's a small day and will shoot some more shots when a new swell arrives this weekend. Pics # 3 and 4 is C Street the same day (this past Tues.)

SO LONG OVERHEAD

HELLO CALIFORNIA ST. A couple parting shots before moving. (A WHOPPING ONE AND A HALF MILES SOUTH)

WE ARE BUMMED!

But not really. As Patty put it "It's bittersweet". We are moving a mile south to a plateau overlooking the Pacific with and endless supply of electricity and fresh water. It's a short 2 to 3 minute walk to the waters edge. After being 15 to 30 seconds from the surf zone it seems like a long way HA! I'll be at C st. point most the time. Good chance we will be camp hosts in Big Sur May and June.

Rico's morning report

Perfect conditions yesterday and today although yesterday was colbalt blue skies as you can see in the photos. 1st pic is the outside reef at a foot or two overhead and 2nd is the inside about head high. Probably a foot bigger today.

LUnCH AnD a BiKe T0 C sT.

Patty bagged a couple lunches and we headed to California St., came home and got a fire going (that was Sunday) woke up yesterday to a head high swell (surf shot) and this morning it looks to be a couple feet bigger. Warmer weather has arrived and I worked in the kiosk in shorts and it's back to flop flops. Patty had a field day shopping at TrADeR J0eS.

AROUND THE FIRE

wE HAd A GReAT DiNNeR ARoUND ThE FiRe.