Letters, I Get Letters....

I recently got an e-mail asking about an old house I posted pictures of a long time ago. The house is along highway 101, just south of Pismo along the California coast, and the young lady who wrote me would like to know exactly where the house is so that she can go see it herself. The problem is, I can't remember the precise location of the place.

I used to take my stepson up to see my sister in Salinas, California because she's an orthodontist, and was providing him with braces for free. (My sister is wonderful that way.) Salinas is a good 266 miles away from where we live in Ventura, California, and my stepson and I drove up and back in a day approximately every six weeks for quite some time. We got to know some of the landmarks pretty well, and on the last few trips we would stop off at some of the more interesting ones and take a few pictures.

When I wrote about this house before, I only posted what I felt were the best pictures. I want to post all the pictures I have today so that the person who e-mailed me can have them. When she told me she uses one of the pictures as her wallpaper for her desktop, I felt I should make every picture I have available to her.

So, after the jump are all the pictures I have of the house. You can click on each picture to get to the full sized original. This is the only view of the house that was accessible to us. There was a huge gate at the front of the drive warning off trespassers. Such signs never stopped me before, but there were people around who might have taken exception to me and my stepson climbing over the fence.

UPDATE: I found the house! I used the satellite feature of Google Maps and found it. Here are screen captures of the site using Google Maps...

You can click on these to get a larger image. The house is circled in red, the tree seen in my pictures is circled in green, and the main gate in yellow. This shot shows how to get there from the 101 freeway. And, I was wrong, the house isn't south of Pismo, but is south of Arroyo Grande. You can see the house easily from the freeway, so if you are heading north, and you get to Arroyo Grande without seeing the house, you have gone too far.

Now, go ahead and look at all the other pictures below...

Angel and Jacqueline and the Quest for Grass III

Two weeks ago we accepted an offer on our condo here in sunny California. The housing market in these parts has been slow, and so we were thrilled when someone actually showed some interest in buying our place. We have been looking for a house to buy since summer, and believe you me, there is plenty to chose from.

The problem was, we didn't like anything that was available. I have lived in this town since 1967, and I was surprised to find out that most of the houses in our price range just don't appeal to me. (More importantly, none appealed to my wife, either.)

We did find one house in Newbury Park, a town about twenty miles away from where we live now. It was a beautiful house with a beautiful view, and my wife told me we need look no further; it was the one. The problem was the location. It is a little further away from where we wanted to live, AND you have to drive up a pretty long, steep section of the 101 freeway called the Conejo Grade to get there. We would travel this grade twice everyday because of our jobs alone.

The other problem was the property has no fence. The house sits at the top of a hill, and there are natural barriers between it and the surrounding properties. But those things would not keep Angel and Jackie from roaming around where they shouldn't.

There was another house that was nothing short of spectacular that we were considering. The problem there was it sat right on a busy stretch of highway in Oak View, California. This highway is the only way in and out of the Oak View, Ojai area, and is heavily traveled. The owner did much to dampen the noise that is caused by cars, motorcycles, and trucks speeding by, but it wasn't enough to satisfy us, so we decided against it.

Today, though, our agent called us and told us that the offer we made on a house two weeks ago, and just a few minutes away from us now was finally accepted by the bank. This place is owned by a couple that have, "gone their separate ways", and are three months behind on their payments. We are buying the house for $20,000.00 LESS than what they owe, and about $50,000.00 less than the property is worth. It has a couple of drawbacks, but nothing all that bad. It is pretty big for around here; 1800+ square feet, and has a pretty big yard. It also has all the grass Angel and Jackie could ever hope to have.

Our backyard now consists manly of one large cement slab. By New Years it will not only have a nice, covered patio, lots of grass, an avocado tree, and enough room for two small dogs to run themselves silly with exhaustion.

I lifted this picture of the backyard of the house we are buying off the local Internet MLS listings. The offer we signed excludes the jacuzzi, and of course the barbecue belongs to the current residents. Doesn't that backyard just scream doggie heaven? It has a covered patio, plenty of grass, and a nice, big shade tree that occasionally drops a tasty avocado. Jackie, Angel, and especially Mariah, (my stepson's dog,) are going to go simply insane.

I can't wait until we are all moved in.

Thalia Itches

Thalia, like most other cats, is sensitive to her surroundings. Anything new must be checked out. Take a look at her in the picture below, what do you see?

Notice the look on Thaly's face. I have always felt that a cat's face isn't very expressive, but in this picture her face clearly shows her interest in whatever it may be that she is looking at. Let's see what it is... Why, it's Brutus! Brutus, (my name for him until he gets a real name,) is just two days new in our little household. He is an Oscar, and has had a rough go of it the past couple of days. We will be moving out of our 1200 sq foot condo into an 1800+ sq foot house soon, and so we decided to get a fish tank. Brutus here is our first fish. Evidently, Brutus makes Thalia itchy. I guess it's better than trying to eat poor Brutus.

More cats can be found at the Friday Ark at The Modulator, and the Carnival of the Cats this Sunday.

Pillow Fight

Jackie adores her big brother. She loves to play with him, walk with him, and sleep with him. Angel, while he loves his baby sister, too, prefers to lay on his own pillow. But sometimes he lets Jackie snuggle up against him. Check out the following set of pictures, and witness how Jackie and Angel work out who will sleep where.

This is Jackie and Angel resting peacefully on the large pillow. This is sort of a rare occurrence because as I stated earlier, Papa likes his space, and usually wants to be on the pillow by himself. Just after I took that picture, Papa got up and moved to the smaller pillow so that he could be alone. Jackie followed, and cleaned his ears in an effort to get him to let her stay there. But Papa wouldn't have it, and moved back to the large pillow so that he could rest in peace... so to speak. Jackie followed, Papa objected. (He isn't really mad in this picture, they were just playing, but I need some drama in my story, right?) In the end, Jackie got her a spot on the large pillow, and Papa dreamed happy doggy dreams on the little pillow, and we all lived happily ever after.

So there you are, another fascinating chapter in the exciting adventures of Jackie and Angel.

Check in next week for a new chapter in The Adventures of Angel and Jacqueline. And don't forget to check out the Carnival of the Dogs at Mickey's Musings, and the Friday Ark at The Modulator for more interesting animals.

Thalia

This Sunday will mark Thalia's third anniversary as a member of our family. Unlike Salem and Ebby who were born of the streets, I bought Thalia from a breeder. After I lost Athena, I really didn't want another cat, but I had always wanted another Siamese because we had two when I was a kid, and I always liked their coloring and personality.

I remember bringing Thalia home in her little crate. She was the sweetest little thing, and she hardly took her big beautiful deep blue eyes off of me the whole ride home. (The breeder lived a good twenty minutes away from us.) I felt sad for Thalia's mother; she had already had her other kitten taken away from her earlier that day, and looked a bit frantic. Here's a picture of Thalia's mother

When I first saw Thaly's mother the day I went to give the breeder my down payment, I thought she was a beautiful cat, but a bit small. The male was in the house, but the breeder discouraged me from seeing him because he wasn't very sociable. But, after meeting Jasmine, (that's Thalia's mother's name,) I was sold.

Thalia turned out to be even more beautiful than her mother. Thalia is long, and very fast. She is a true hunter. I can't wait until we have our house, and she has room to run.

When it came to personality, Thalia did not disappoint me. She is crazy, but she is also smart.

Anyway, I am rambling, so on with the pictures...

Thaly's personality was prevalent from her first day in the house. Here she shows her expertise at unsheathing her claws, and taking a defensive stance. Even at this tender age she was a Siamese Ninja. Thalia has her tender side, too. She spent most of her early days lazing in her new daddy's lap. This is when I knew Thalia was special. She shares a love for Disneyland with her daddy. Thalia has become famous with her "face plant" way of napping. It is still a mystery how she is able to breath. Thalia loves her brother Angel, and her sister Jackie. And she loves her daddy too. Thalia possesses unrivaled grace. But, above all, Thalia is just plain beautiful.

More cats can be found at the Friday Ark at The Modulator, and the Carnival of the Cats this Sunday.

Papillon

Yesterday evening while returning from our afternoon walk, Angel, Jackie, and myself happened upon one of natures more beautiful occurrences; the mating of two butterflies.

When I first saw them I thought it was one large butterfly in distress, but upon closer examination I realized that it was actually two, and they were going at it fast and heavy. Angel was the first of the two dogs to notice them, and like most other things he sees for the first time while out on a walk, he growled at them. He moved in close for an investigatory sniff, but as butterflies often do, (and more so when they are making out, apparently,) they fluttered violently, and scared my poor boy. He jumped back, barked, and made room for Jackie who was waiting her turn to view one of nature’s miracles.

Jackie moved in, curious as a, well, as a cat, and carefully watched as they butterflies engaged in making little butterflies. She was a little hesitant, and growled a little herself. Angel was standing well back, and was barking as if there were really two large German Shepherds on the sidewalk rather than two little butterflies.

So, we watched the butterflies go at it, and I was lucky enough to snap a few quick photos with my trusty cell phone. I went back in for my real camera afterwards, but the butterflies had finished by then, and were off in a tree someplace having a smoke.

So, here are the pictures of Jackie spying on butterfly lovemaking. Angel was too scared to get close enough for me to take his picture. Just imagine him a few feet behind Jackie, barking.

Jackie investigates the amorous butterflies. She was really fascinated by the whole, er, affair.

She got in for a close look, but I was worried that she would snatch them up and want to carry them around, like she does with cigarette packs she finds when we go walking. A little butterfly porn.

So there you are, another fascinating chapter in the exciting adventures of Jackie and Angel.

Check in next week for a new chapter in The Adventures of Angel and Jacqueline. And don't forget to check out the Carnival of the Dogs at Mickey's Musings, and the Friday Ark at The Modulator for more interesting animals.

Flying Over Disneyland

When I was in high school my family would often visit my aunt Joanne, and Uncle Richard in the city of Claremont, California. Claremont is a lovely place just 30 miles east of Los Angeles, and I always enjoyed visiting my aunt and uncle there because they had a nice sized pool in their backyard, and it was usually warm enough to spend the entire day swimming. The other reason I liked going so much was because my uncle was a pilot, and he would take my father, sister, and me flying.

My uncle would let us take turns flying the plane. He did all the hard work; taking off, landing, avoiding the San Gabriel Mountains, but once we were in the air he would hand off the controls to his wide-eyed, 16 year-old nephew. It was exciting, and a ton of fun. We would take off from the Ontario airport and see all the sights of LA from the air.

Of course everyone knew of my fascination with Disneyland, so my uncle was sure to take us over the park each time we flew. Below is one of the pictures I took of the park from roughly 1000ft. (I think that was how high we were. It could have been 500 feet. I can't remember what my uncle said about how low we could legally fly.)

I don't think you can fly over Disneyland today. That is a direct result of 9/11. I wonder what other points of interest we once flew over without a thought of national security are now restricted airspace.

Anyway... (and remember, clicking on the thumbnails below will get you a bigger version for your viewing pleasure,)

If you know anything of Disneyland's history you will notice that Space Mountain, (in the upper right of the park,) is under construction. It opened in 1977, and I believe this picture was taken in August of 1976. I was a junior in high school at the time.

People who know me will tell you I am a nostalgic being. I love the past. In fact, I teeter on living in the past. So, when I installed Microsoft Flight Simulator X on my computer this week, what do you guess I did first? Yep, I took off from Ontario Airport, and flew over Disneyland...

I have never used Microsoft Flight Simulator before, so I was unsure what I would find when I took off from Ontario. I looked up how to get to Disneyland from Ontario Air Port on Mapquest, and then followed the freeway system. It was a little challenging because I really had to pay attention to the patterns of the roads, but I made it! This is my approach to Disneyland. From several miles away I could see Space Mountain, which is just below the center, and to the left in this picture. I flew an Ultralight aircraft so that I could get a good view of the park. I was probably no higher than 400 feet. I couldn't resist buzzing the park. I flew straight down Main Street, (OK, maybe not straight down Main Street,) and pulled up just before I slammed into Sleeping Beauty's Castle. I would be writing this entry from prison had I done this in real life.

So, there ya have it. I was once an adventurous young man who fearlessly flew around Los Angeles in a small plane. Now I get vertigo whenever I try to relive it using my computer.

Bedtime for Angel and Jackie

luckily for all you faithful readers out there the camera was handy last night, and I was able to take a few quick shots just before Angel and Jacqueline turned in for the night.

When Angel was a baby he would put himself to sleep by going into his puppy crate all by himself. He was such a good boy puppy. He never whined, or cried, or anything. He just went in, flopped down, and wouldn't make a peep until it was morning and he needed to go potty. When he got bigger, he was allowed to sleep with mommy and daddy in the big bed. That continued until a couple of years after Jackie arrived, but when the two of them started waking us up early on Saturday mornings, we decided they were old enough to start sleeping on the floor like a big boy and girl.

Angel has his pillow to sleep on, but he often starts off sleeping on the floor for a little bit. I have no idea why.

Jackie prefers her crate. She puts herself to bed just like Angel did when he was a puppy. She walks right into her crate, scratches at the blankets to make herself a cozy little Chihuahua nest, and then flops down and starts snoring. (I will need to record that for you one day. She snores like a two hundred and fifty pound drunken construction worker).

So, without further ado, I proudly present this week's installment of, The Adventures of Angel and Jackie....

Here's Papa sleeping on the floor, which is how he starts off his night. In a couple of hours he will migrate over to his more comfortable pillow. Always the ham, and knowing I was taking pictures, Angel gets up long enough to present himself for the camera. Such a handsome little man. Jackie is already in her lair, and is sawing some good size logs. I feel like her jailer when I close her door and latch it. I lock her in so she won't get up in the middle of the night and go p-o-t-t-y in an inappropriate location. Instead, she rattles her bars with a tin cup so as to wake me up so I will take her outside. Usually at three in the morning. Another advantage to her sleeping in her crate is, if there were ever an emergency where we would need to evacuate the house quickly, say for instance a fire, Jackie would be ready to go. Just pick up her crate and get out of Dodge.

Check in next week for a new chapter in The Adventures of Angel and Jacqueline. And don't forget to check out the Carnival of the Dogs at Mickey's Musings, and the Friday Ark at The Modulator for more interesting animals.