We enjoyed a free, continental breakfast from the Best Western in Oxnard, Saturday morning. It was probably the best we could remember having in a long time, complete with warm, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, cold cereal, bagels, fruit, milk, juice, waffles. We weren't due to port until noon, so we took our goodies and headed back to the room to chill a bit. We had come into town the previous night, tired from the long drive through Los Angeles on Interstate 5. Anyone familiar with traffic on the 5 coming through LA-especially on a Friday, and especially during traffic rush....no more words are necessary. Anyone not familiar, take it from me, you don't want to know.
That Friday night, Doug and I walked a couple blocks to a little Mom and Pop style restaurant. The waitress rushed over and said, "Would you like to sit in front of the tv?" - like she was pitching a sale or something..like it was a reeeeally big deal to sit by the TV. Who were we to disappoint? So, in front of the TV, it was. And then she took the remote and asked what did we want to watch, and she began flipping through stations, and we settled on Sanford and Son. We found the food to be hmmm...average...and completed the evening with the short walk back to the hotel, and watched TV the rest of the night until falling asleep.
Saturday was the big day. It would be our 2nd Channel Island visit; the first being Anacapa, which I chose first, because it had a lighthouse on it. Vaguely familiar with the routine, we went to port, signed in, and waited a half hour beneath cloudy skies to board. Once we settled into our seats beneath the canopy, it would be an hour and a half ride to Santa Cruz Island; we enjoyed a bit of dolphin watching as they accompanied us here and there, and slowly watched the horizon of land disappear.
Gray skies greeted us at the island, but we could tell the sun was making an effort to come through. The ranger gave us a set of rules, pointed the way to the trails, and we were off. We took a short, 45 minute hike to the top of one of the cliffs, and sat around with some of the other folks, taking photos and enjoyed the look out point and munched on light snacks. Going back, down hill, provided views of the ocean below where we saw people relaxing on the beach and some kayakers. At the bottom, there was a small visitor center where we whiled away the rest of our time, watching videos of the island, leaning about the island natives, and the wildlife.
The natives of the island are the Chumash Native American Indians. They called the island, "Limuw" which means "in the sea".
Besides the small visitor center, there were remnants of what used to be a blacksmith shop and an old ranch house. At a ranch adobe, an oven still stands that once provided bread for the entire island.
Part 2
It was a warm, sunny, breezy, day in the hills of Simi Valley surrounding the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. It was good to be back. Since our first visit four years ago, new exhibitions were added, so we were thrilled for a chance to return. Some of the new exhibitions inside the newly renovated museum included a chance to "appear" in a movie scene with Ronald Reagan (you simply read a teleprompter at the cue); an opportunity to deliver President Reagan's inagurual address; set the table for a state dinner; a new Guide-Cam which as over 50 narrations by Ronald and Nancy. More information regarding the library can be found at: www.reaganfoundation.org.
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