John & Anne Wiley

2011/07/12

All Kinds

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 03:12

One of the things we love about SB is the way cultures and classes mix more readily than in many other communities. On our 7/8 flight we got an aerial glimpse of that. Goleta Beach near the airport & UCSB is popular with a wide variety of people from across the spectrum.

1646 Goleta Beach

1646 Goleta Beach

Just a mile or two away, most homes in Hope Ranch are owned by gazillionaires, and we got a rare directive from ATC to fly relatively low over it for this closer look.

1652 Hope Ranch

1652 Hope Ranch

In between though, we enjoyed again one of our fav local sites just past Goleta Beach. Does this look like a scene from Maui?

1648 Maui, CA

1648 Maui, CA

So lush and “beachy” looking. I like to imagine sitting on the veranda sipping a mai tai listening to the tropical birds and gentle surf, watching a small plane slide past offshore.

2011/07/10

Mamarazzi

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 08:34

My little royalty junkie wanted to fly over Kate & William’s charity polo match near Carp today, so being an aviation junkie I quickly agreed. We got some great pix of other stuff, and flying around the area provided a bounty of glorious views. But in case anyone else share’s my better half’s fascination, here are a couple of our event pix. First, the scene from offshore.

1729 Polo Field

1729 Polo Field

The white flat-topped awning on the left edge is probably where the VIPs watched, and you can see the horses leaving the field (top-left) just as we arrived. I think the “cheap” $400 seats were on the right side. Presumably residents of the condos at the top and their guests got to watch for free.

Here’s one that we think is Kate (see the larger view on my Photo Page for Notes).

1785 Kate?

1785 Kate?

Completely impossible to tell from the air, but this maximum zoom snap from half a mile away does look like her. Maybe someone who was there can corroborate.

2011/07/09

Uptime

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 00:12

Back when I used to work on computers, uptime meant how long a machine would run without shutting down to restart. These days it means flying!

Today we took our friend Sky for a ride, and being an avid hiker he relished the chance to see all the roads and trails on private property in the hills, that are behind closed gates. One of the things I enjoyed was spotting interesting rocks that are new to me, like this “hot dog” near Carpinteria.

1661 Hot Dog Rock

1661 Hot Dog Rock

Nearby are two others I like, and the lower one looks to me like the head of a frowning old man (not me, I’m happy flying!).

1663 Frowner & Friend

1663 Frowner & Friend

2011/07/08

Happy Thursday

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 05:55

This is a fun town. Tonight we got a full measure, starting with friends at the free Summer concert series – http://www.santabarbaraca.gov/Visitor/Things/Arts/Concerts_in_the_Parks.htm – at  Chase Palm waterfront park. The playful, easy mood included dancing, singing, clapping, cheering, and conversation. It began at six in muted evening light under a high overcast that didn’t dampen the festivities.

1616 Chasing the Gloom

1616 Chasing the Gloom

Before long it seemed as though all the frivolity had brought out the sun again.

1642 Sunny Times

1642 Sunny Times

I didn’t take any wide shots, but the crowd was quite large, a few hundred happy folks, come dancing as you see in the pic below.

1635 Tiny Slice

1635 Tiny Slice

Then we strolled the First Thursday – http://www.santabarbaradowntown.com/go.asp – starting at La Arcada where we were so busy sampling free goodies and enjoying all the people, art and beautiful Stuff… Well, we didn’t think to snap any pix for you. Then to our surprise, a horde of cheering cyclists rode up State Street and tho we didn’t have a camera I snapped with a cellphone.

51_661 Bikes Blank Cars

51_661 Bikes Blank Cars

We loved how the bikes were so numerous they blanked out the cars like this for at least three blocks, taking over the entire lane of traffic with playful people power. It’s part of a local fitness craze called Night Moves –  http://www.runsantabarbara.com/nite_moves.html – As we strolled more shops, they came by again riding back down.

36_725 Free Fun

36_725 Free Fun

It’s so heartwarming to live in a town where so much fun is available, with the price of admission being simply Being.

2011/07/06

Desert Sunset Memories

Filed under: Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,Random,SB Region — John @ 22:01

When I was a kid living on the edge of the sun-baked SoCA desert, we often had intricate sunsets with layers of finely textured clouds. Last night I enjoyed watching one here in balmy coastal SB, and it reminded me of those austere desert skies of my youth.

1598 Desert Beach Sky

1598 Desert Beach Sky

The crescent moon flirting with the clouds in gentle SB breezes created the feeling of a desert oasis.

1602 Desert Moon

1602 Desert Moon

Over the mountains a gathering thunderstorm worked up a grumpy clump of clouds towering into the last light while our quiet town seemed to hunker down in anxious silence.

1606 Grump Tower

1606 Grump Tower

« Previous Page — Next Page »

Blog at WordPress.com.