WTW-ing in a trail-rated minivan

[Foy]

While we didn't spend a single night outside of the Hampton Inn Channel Islands Harbor, we did manage to put 800 miles on our specially-prepared Chrysler Town and Country minivan as we got out and about In the Port Hueneme, Santa Barbara, Santa Ynez Mountains, and San Rafael Mountains, with a quick drive across the southernmost tip of the Valley and up and over Tejon Pass.

Restricted to day-tripping while visiting our son just before his deployment, we took a day-trip out to Santa Cruz Island and got in a pair of loop trail hikes. We'll definitely return there with camping gear in order to get more miles in during a day, as the boat ride out and back only allowed us about 5 hours on the island. What a neat place.

Took the knarly (well, for a minivan) drive up to San Marcos Pass, thence across the Camino del Cielo to a point above Carpentiera, then down the gravel road into the Santa Ynez River Canyon, finally reaching Big Caliente Hot Springs after a 2.5 hour slog from Oxnard. The waters were terrific and we much enjoyed the drive out and back. Came down Gibraltar Rd to Santa Barbara/Montecito on the return trip. We're still a bit annoyed Oprah didn't return our calls--we drove right past her house!

Drove up though Ojai on CA 33 and over the Pine Mountain summit and down the other side. Wanted to run up to the Wallace Creek site along the San Andreas Fault but time was running short, so we went through Maricopa to I-5, then up and over Tejon Pass ("The Grapevine"?), with what appeared to be half the population of the state on Monday afternoon. Should have known better, I know. Great drive, though, with lots of great scenery and not one, but two CHP chases of crotch-rocket bikers along CA 33 to spice things up.

To avoid the joys of US 101 from Ventura to Bob Hope Airport in Burbank yesterday morning, we took CA 34 to CA 118 and thus enjoyed another nice drive through farm country.

One of these days, I'll have to get the truck and camper out there. We did see a couple of you WTW-ers rigs along Ocean Rd in Oxnard while out walking in the early mornings.

Thanks for all of the advice for things to see and places to go. Ventura County and Santa Barbara County are nice places to visit. I don't think I'd enjoy LA County very much. We had a fairly banzai drive from Bob Hope out US 101 on the night of our arrival--at 10:00pm, no less. Seems like it never quits along there.

Oh, and if anyone's in the market for a used minivan from the Fox Rent-a-Car fleet, avoid the blue ones.

Foy

 

[ski3pin]

Thanks for sharing your well told story! Best of luck to your son and thank you for his service..

 

[highz]

Thanks for your trip report! Ditto on the thanks to your son for his service, and I hope he returns safely to you before too long.

 

[Foy]

Thanks for the well-wishes for our son. Before, during, and since our visit, we've developed a good "gut" feeling about the Reserve Seabee battalion he volunteered to mobilize and deploy with. Their nickname is "The Old Pros" and their history goes back to the reconstruction of the ports at Cherbourg and Le Havre in Normandy in 1944. This is their 3rd deployment since 2003, and lots of their guys have been there for all of them. Plus, there are currently a goodly number of former active-duty Marines serving in the Old Pros, so if the going gets tough, they can handle themselves. Most importantly, our son is a crackerjack HVAC mechanic and water-heater/boiler man. Scuttlebutt says the officers and chiefs are too fond of climate-controlled offices and operational showers to let him too far our of their lines of sight at the giant base at Kandahar.

Foy

 

[SunMan]

Glad to hear you got to prowl around our neck of the woods. Good on ya for visiting the "Americas least visited national park", those islands are a treasure. We feel lucky to have such quick and easy access to them.

 

[generubin]

I am glad you had good experiences in our neighborhood. Next time consider East Anacapa Island. It is a rather different experience than Santa Cruz Island. You are up on a flat tableau looking over the edges to the ragged coast below. The most photographed and painted scenery is from the west end of the island.

 

[Foy]

SunMan and Generubin,

You are indeed fortunate to have the Channel Islands in your back yard. One could spend a lot of fine, fine time exploring them. I hope to visit again soon.

We chose Santa Cruz this time for several reasons: The boat from Ventura is the catamaran, a faster and smoother ride than from Channel Islands Harbor. We wanted some variance in terrain and additional terrain to hike, and the Scorpion Canyon Loop + some spurs + the Cavern Point and Potato Harbor Loops meant we could enjoy more miles. Lastly, I was much interested in some reported exposures of the Monterey Formation with crude oil in hand samples, some folds and faults, and some geomorphology related to the underlying geology. The "old oil well" along the divide between Scorpion Canyon and Smuggler's Cove was neat to see. There is a "museum" of 1940s-1950s drilling equipment, drill bits, and drilling tools up there, and fairly well preserved.

Foy