Forty is the New Thirty, they say. But that’s not the title source for this post. It’s about flying, of course, and in this case over the 3,000 foot “hill” to the Santa Ynez Valley. (I put “hill” in quotes, because on the East Coast that’s a mountain but around here not so much). Anyway, climbing over the hill I snapped this view back toward the beach.
2446 Hill To Coast
Lovely, right? A bit hazy, but the mustard blooms and blue sea more than make up for that! Looking at the full-res pic I noticed a castle. Like me, you probably don’t see it. But here’s a full-res crop from the original, showing this castle-like structure with two turrets.
2446 Castle
Pretty cool! Hope I can remember to fly over and get a closer pic one of these days. For now, it’s yet another example of how wonderful it is to fly here. That same pic has two scenes I really like. 🙂
2460 Over Hill
Just two minutes later I snapped this great view along the other side of the hill, toward Alisal Lake. Even hazier because I’m shooting toward the sun, but I just love the colors and shapes. So much that I descended for a closer look at this hillock that looks like a green wave breaking in a sea of yellow.
2503 Mountain Wave
All around the valley are farms, ranches, orchards and vineyards, and most have a mansion or large ranch house like this out among the fields.
2505 Valley Dreams
After touring the valley side of the hill, we flew up the river toward Lake Cachuma. This was back in mid-May when there were still beautiful pools like this.
2518 Lingering Pool
The texture of tall grasses and mossy water punctuates the dry valley where only ancient oaks thrive among the irrigated orchards. That line of life is always fascinating to me, especially with its green season extended by the controlled releases of water from the dam most years.
John & Anne Wiley 
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