John & Anne Wiley

2011/04/10

Secret Garden

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 04:25

There is a quiet garden that many Santa Barbarians don’t know of, with miles of trails through rock, tree and river among a wide variety of interesting native plants.

6755 SB Botanical Garden

6755 SB Botanical Garden

We had lived here a while before a friend told us of the free path on the hillside above the Garden. That’s it to the right of the road, running up the right side of the pic. The main buildings are in the middle, and flowing down the shady canyon on the left is a maze of quiet trails that are our favorite part of a visit. There’s even a small grove of majestic redwoods that seems to have survived the wildfire of a few years ago. Here’s a better look at the paths of the upper free trail, which is across the road from the Botanical Garden proper.

6748 Upper Garden

6748 Upper Garden

Seems to me there used to be a few more trees there, but I’m glad quite a few are there still. At the top of the first photo you can see the small rectangular building in this next pic.

6762 Spiral Shelter

6762 Spiral Shelter

Looks like a great place to shelter on a hot day, and we’re looking forward to getting a closer look sometime soon because it’s new since our last visit a few years ago. Last up is another angle on the main buildings, revealing what we hope is a “new” public cafe on the deck with tables sporting green umbrellas.

6764 Garden Cafe?

6764 Garden Cafe?

Maybe we can at least take a picnic to enjoy there, perhaps overhearing botanists talking about the latest exotic species in the Garden.

2011/04/09

Nowhere

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 00:30

Could anyplace be nowhere, or is paradise arrayed everywhere around and within us? My answer as you’ve guessed, tends toward the latter. 🙂

There’s a place locals call the “bridge to nowhere” that has a lot of somewhere about it for us.

6737 Bridge to Somewhere

6737 Bridge to Somewhere

It crosses Highway 154 just North of Foothill/Cathedral Oaks, and opens a world of adventure for those who go there. The formal name is Salvar Bridge and it was presumably built in anticipation of housing development that (so far) hasn’t happened. When wildfires have scorched our mountains, helicopters and fire crews have used the short road as a staging area. Hang gliders launched from the mountains land there. Radio control model plane enthusiasts gather there to fly their cool toys. At the top (North) end, hikers and bikers have used it for years as the entrance to the area locally known as the San Marcos Foothills. Because it’s a bit above town and open, sunsets there can be especially spectacular when the whole dome of sky lights up to overwhelm the viewer unimpeded.

6737 Cycle Jump Closeup?

6737 Cycle Jump Closeup?

This closeup cropped from the bottom (South) end of the short road seems to reveal a spot used for jumping with bikes. We didn’t see it last time there a few months ago, so maybe it’s new. Looks like concrete or something similar has been put on part of it, and they turn around on the dirt next to the intersection at the top-left of this closeup. Below is a snap of the whole area taken a moment later as we passed. Though it’s hazy due to looking more in the direction of the late afternoon sun, it gives an impression of how wonderful it is to walk these hills. Maybe contemplating the opposite of nowhere as each step brings us closer to someplace quiet within.

6739 San Marcos Foothills

6739 San Marcos Foothills

2011/04/08

Going Up

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 00:52

I love to fly. Guess you didn’t know that. 🙂

Seems like I’d love everything that involves going up, but oddly that’s not so. Not so keen on roller coasters, no interest in bungee jumping, little interest in skydiving, though I would like to try hang gliding. Another in the long list of vertical “not so much” options is rock climbing. I like the idea, but it just seems like too much work before/after a climb, and lots of expensive, heavy gear to haul. It’s fun to watch though, and right next to Gibraltar Road above Montecito is a great spot even more fun than the little rock on Painted Cave Road. So flying the hills I often look at rock formations to see if there’s anyone climbing, but have yet to spot anyone while flying.

6773 Going Up

6773 Going Up

Yesterday we went on a short flight before the weather changed to blustery and wet today, and though I couldn’t tell from the air this telephoto shot when cropped down reveals someone going up the rock face. Cool! Looking at this does give me the urge to try rappelling some time. Maybe someone will offer a swap for flying, since there’s no way I’d buy or rent all the gear much less learn to use it. Any takers? Meanwhile, I’ve put different pix of this on my Photo Page and on Edhat that show the others further down on the rock.

2011/04/07

Terminal Lunch

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 05:15

There was a Booth cartoon years ago that featured a guy in a cafe, and there was a detail in the drawing that got me giggling many times. Backwards on the glass door looking out toward the street you could read the name of the place: Terminal Lunch. Well as you may have guessed, my theme tonite is a followup on Anne’s post yesterday about the new SBA airline terminal construction.

6729 SBA Construction

6729 SBA Construction

Being so much larger than the old one, I’m hoping it will have at least one nice cafe where we can sit and watch planes come and go as we enjoy a snack and some snippets. You know, those little tidbits of overheard conversation like when someone passes on the street just as they say, “So are you going to sue?” We like to tell each other stories based on those snippets.

6727 Copper Top

6727 Copper Top

Of course, my fav feature of the new building is the copper-topped turret. I’d pay extra if we could sit up there! As you’ve guessed, I snapped these just after takeoff today so they’re closer and maybe you can more clearly make out some details.

2011/04/06

SBA & Tripp’s home

Filed under: Aviation,by Anne,Flying,Has Photos,SB Region,Tripp — Anne @ 05:12

Our Airport (SBA) is Tripp’s home base and the one we fly out of.  I left the strut of our plane in the upper left corner for context. This particular view is an unusual path, above runway 33 on the left, with the larger runway 25 at the top.  When ‘parked’ Tripp sits below with the other planes and usually there are many more giving her company.

1926 SBA runway 33

1926 SBA runway 33

Santa Barbara’s new terminal is in process, scheduled to open this summer.  The original terminal is the small top curved part of the red tile roof.  People are concerned the new terminal is too big and wrecks the flavor of SB, but it’s looking good to me and adds much needed space.  Here’s a closer view so you can decide for yourself.

1927 SBA terminal in process

1927 SBA terminal in process

Having flown in most of the country and Canada, I can say this airspace, with ocean behind and mountains ahead, is spectacularly beautiful to fly in, out, and around…but maybe especially to fly home to.

by ~Anne

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