John & Anne Wiley

2010/06/12

UCSB Graduation Runup

Filed under: Flying,Has Photos,Random,SB Region — John @ 17:15
6791 Field of Dreams

6791 Field of Dreams

UCSB is ramping up for the annual series of graduations, with families arriving and students packing to leave. We attended a pre-grad awards ceremony yesterday, and it was deeply inspiring. Both the faculty and presenters’ speeches, and even more so the brief stories told about the students accepting awards. Such hope for our future as a country and world!

6792 Quiet Moment

6792 Quiet Moment

The whole campus had a quiet air of anticipation, and it was easy to imagine how it would feel when crowds gather in surges of “rush hour” traffic in one direction and then the other.

2010/06/11

Hope Ranch

Filed under: Flying,Has Photos,Random,SB Region — John @ 18:53

We got an unusual routing over Hope Ranch from ATC after takeoff yesterday, and this old-style mansion really stands out.

6762 Stately Estate

6762 Stately Estate

I think this place near the eastern gate has been in construction for quite a while, and I wonder what it’s like for the neighbors.

6765 Hope Building

6765 Hope Building

Further to the East above Hendry’s (Arroyo Burro) beach, we got the opposite view of “Eyelash Hill” in the distance, beyond the blue-roofed place that is said to have something to do with the Shah of Iran.

6770 Another Eyelash

6770 Another Eyelash

We’re off to a grad event, so maybe I’ll post more pix from this flight later…

Santa Paula & Back

Filed under: Flying,Has Photos,Random,SB Region — John @ 02:23

We made the quick hop to Santa Paula, and I wanted to share a few pix in addition to those I’m sending to Edhat and putting on my Photo Page.

6753 Bike Racer

6753 Bike Racer

First this little park off Cathedral Oaks in Goleta, where we went a few times with Bob Zitzer and our friend Steve. I don’t know if this circle is new, but it was the kid zooming around the circle that first drew my attention. It’s remarkable to me that having the time to look more closely now, I can see at least four people in this shot from more than 1/2 mile away.

6775 Santa Paula Flowers

6775 Santa Paula Flowers

We’re about to join Molly for UCSB pre-grad festivities, but I just had to also share this snap from a mile or so West of the Santa Paula airport. The colors are so vibrant!

2010/06/09

Dad’s Visit

Filed under: Flying,Has Photos,People,Random,SB Region,Tripp — John @ 23:20

Our flight to and from San Diego to pick up Dad for a visit was Plan B. We’d meant to fly him up to Lake Isabella, but the ferocious winds there nixed that. We did fly him to Santa Ynez to pick up our car, parked there in case of fog at SBA when we got home from getting him in SD. I flew home while they drove the somewhat dangerous Hwy. 154.

0889 Evening IZA Takeoff

0889 Evening IZA Takeoff

I worried about them on Hwy. 154, and they worried about me driving home from SBA in our old mini-pickup that’s not equipped with airbags.

Once we all arrived safe back home and had a delicious homemade pizza dinner, we went for a sunset stroll and were surprised at the sudden change in weather. It had dawned foggy with low clouds that cleared in the afternoon for our flight. Now clouds were forming out of thin air over Cathedral Oaks, and it would have made for an entertaining time lapse video.

6719 Cloud Eruption

6719 Cloud Eruption

Looking back toward Hope Ranch, we could see the solid layer pouring over the mesa there and eerily mingling with the darkening trees.

6731 Fog Flood

6731 Fog Flood

By now we were in a somewhat magical mood, and stood for several minutes watching some quail on a rooftop. Amazing that they stood so perfectly still. Were they freezing in place to be invisible because we were watching them?

6737 Roof "Quail"

6737 Roof "Quail"

As you might be able to easily see from this zoomed photo, they were some sort of roof fixtures. In the dim light at a distance, we enjoyed them as canyon wildlife. Until I snapped this and we looked at it zoomed on the camera display.

2010/06/07

Cloudy Day Activities

Filed under: Flying,Has Photos,Random,SB Region — John @ 20:30

While we’re waiting (hoping) for coastal clouds & fog to clear so we can fly, I’ve been looking at pix from yesterday’s relatively high and fast flight to San Diego. Some pix from the trip are already on Edhat and our Photo Page, so here are a few more. I never seem to tire of looking at the little residential lakes near Thousand Oaks. That area nestled in a valley beneath the coastal hills has some developments that don’t fit the standard SoCA patterns.

6683 Water World

6683 Water World

On the way down we stayed at 3500 feet, higher than the 1500 we usually fly, to save time and because we were flying near top speed to get down and back in daylight. Coming home we went up to 10,500 coming across LAX, to provide more safety margin from the coastal clouds and that also saved time. It was fun getting such a different perspective on the LA basin. We’ve seen it from jets, but that’s at best a small and hazy window if you’re not stuck in an aisle seat. Our windows are clear, and we can even open them to snap views like this.

6689 Long Beach

6689 Long Beach

Approaching SBA just before sunset, we got an unusual view of “Eyelash Hill” (see the Edhat story).

6702 Eyelash Hill

6702 Eyelash Hill

If you click on it (perhaps several times), you can see the stand of tall grass just beyond the mansion that looks like flames in the sunset light. I hadn’t realized what a zig-zag complex of trails are on the nearby slopes. Wonder what’s growing in the terraced garden boxes, and how they keep canyon critters from eating it all. Guess that’s a guard tower next to the garden, eh? Beautiful home, and they must have pretty good views from that tower. Wonder if the entrance room’s large skylights are clear, but regardless it must be a very bright room introducing guests to what is surely a lovely mansion inside.

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