John & Anne Wiley

2014/08/23

“Fuller” Flying Experience

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region,Tripp — John @ 22:15

The little town of Santa Paula has a great airport, and at the heart of the field is Fuller Aircraft Services. Our friend Glenn Fuller and his happy crew have kept us flying safely and within our budget almost since the day I started flying. His mastery of the art and science of maintaining aircraft has done the same for countless other aviators, and we are thankful.

5168 Fuller Aircraft Services

5168 Fuller Aircraft Services

Behind the fuel pump at the middle of this pic is his hangar #9 hangout where maintenance magic happens. A parade of airport regulars dropped by to say hi as he gave Tripp her annual careful inspection. He also did a few of the minor upgrades we request each year and still presented a bill within our budget. Thank you Glenn!

Tripp was all spiffy and happy as our spirits were treated to new discoveries like the paintball playground at the bottom left of this next pic.

5168 S.Paula Paintball

5168 S.Paula Paintball

Back toward Santa Barbara we again enjoyed the colorful flower fields by the red barn at the edge of this folksy little town.

5159 SP Flowers

5159 SP Flowers

Across the hills we left the warm dry air of the Santa Paula Valley past Lake Casitas and wound our way down through the broken clouds along the high foothills where mansions survey the Channel.

5154 Carp Hill Manse

5154 Carp Hill Manse

Glenn has launched us into another year of flying fun. What familiar scenes will we survey anew? Which direction will we point Tripp’s nose next?

2014/08/19

Many Horses

Filed under: Aviation,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region,Tripp — John @ 06:47

Tripp’s getting her annual inspection right now and we might be flying her again soon. I’m hoping we can use all the extra “horses” she has compared with similar planes. That horsepower enables her to perform much better on hot days or at high altitude, and to carry more of the extra stuff we tend to haul around on flying adventures (camping gear, all-weather clothing, tweaky tandem bicycle, and even sometimes inflatable 2-person kayak).

But rather than share aerial pix (or anything to do with Tripp’s horses) in this post, here are some of the many horses we saw downtown back on August 1st.

4864 Four Horsemen

4864 Horsemen

It’s called the Fiesta Parade, and though some locals tell us they avoid the crowds we like the old-timey quality of it. Some really beautiful horses, trick ponies, antique horse-drawn transportation, lots of mules, and interesting people from far and wide who love all this.

4893 Spirit

4893 Spirit

Many of the horses are very spirited, some get spooked by all the commotion, and the one on the right above seemed to be a concern for two guys watching from the wagon as the rider managed a sudden burst of speed. It was fun watching the equestrians show off their animals, like when this multi-team wagon made a wide circle to give everyone a closer look.

4900 Circling The Wagon

4900 Circling The Wagon

Some of the floats aren’t pulled by horses, all along the route are vendors of various kinds, and at De La Guerra Plaza people gather at a colorful mercado.

4910 Mercado

4910 Mercado

We enjoyed it, but we’ll be glad to ride our horses back into the wild blue and share new pix from there. 🙂

2014/07/16

Shared Use

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,Relationships,SB Region — John @ 10:36

Out over the water we saw lots of sharing. These pelicans were sharing the lift created by the bird just ahead as they glided low across the water off Goleta Beach.

2742 Shared Lift

2742 Shared Lift

They were also sharing the open water with these Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) guys.

2740 Shared Water

2740 Shared Water

Nearby were these two couples in kayaks, sharing some quiet fun in the sun together.

2728 Shared Couples

2728 Shared Couples

All of them were sharing with us their water level view of this magnificent gentle arc of coast from Goleta Beach out to Campus Point just moments after our takeoff from SBA.

2753 Shared View

2753 Shared View

2014/07/12

Painted

Filed under: Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 06:26

Near the nearly dry Lake Cachuma, May mustard grass was painting slopes that are now a crispy dry pale brown.

2548 Yellow Flash

2548 Yellow Flash

There was even lush wild grass on the low hill with abandoned building foundations next to the old highway with its small bridge that’s now normally under water.

2553 Atlantis Ranch

2553 Atlantis Ranch

After climbing back over the hill toward SB Harbor we looked back at the Painted Cave community with the vast San Rafael and Sierra Madre ranges towering in the distance.

2588 Painted Cave

2588 Painted Cave

2014/07/03

Around Home

Filed under: Aviation,Flying,Happiness,Has Photos,Inner World,Nature,People,Random,SB Region — John @ 18:50

Often after one of our Adventures flying around the continent, we’ll take a short flight around home. Sometimes the next day, even though we may be resting up. After the 4C Adventure, we did rest up for five days but then filled our hearts to overflowing with views of our beautiful home town.

2200 Air & Light

2200 Air & Light

SBA gives us instant gratification. The moment wheels leave runway we’re looking past the old Marine Corps bunker across the wetland past UCSB to the Channel and the distant islands. The quality of light here stimulates a deep breath, and the air that has been caressing skin fills your lungs with gentle aromas whispering, “There’s no place like Home.”

2238 Home On Hill

2238 Home On Hill

Even after many hundreds of hours flying here, every flight brings new beauty to notice. Perched among trees on this little hill just east of Turnpike is this modest mansion with a magnificent view. Looking up San Roque Canyon, our mountains offered a quiet anchoring presence whispering again in a deeper voice, “There’s no place like Home.”

2248 Home Mountains

2248 Home Mountains

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