Fun With Friends!

Friday, March 1, 2013

Greg decided he needed a short hike up the canyon before driving for the day, so off he went while I got myself together for the day. Not a morning person, so that worked out! When he returned, we drove over to Morro Bay State Park to get water and dump. We then took off down the coast. The day was GORGEOUS! Warm, sunny with a light breeze. So Cal at its finest.

We needed lunch and got all tangled up in downtown San Luis Obispo, a university town. A cool downtown, but no where for our rig to park. We wound up at a shopping center with a Chipoltle. Could have been in the one in Mount Airy since it is the same chain. But, I have to tell you. The food was better. Same produce, but tastier, since it was grown here and not shipped across the country first.

The area became more populated and the hills continued on the east side of us, but we finally reached beach level with no cliffs on the west. Headed through Santa Barbara and viewed the Channel Islands in the Pacific. They are a national park, and taking the boat over is on the bucket list. A good reason to return in the future.

At Ventura we headed east to Santa Paula which is a small town at the base of the Los Padres National Forest and on the northern fringe of the populous Los Angeles area. It calls itself the citrus capital, and we were surrounded by citrus groves as we drove inland. The groves are currently being harvested and are colorful with the ripe oranges. We arrived at the home of Teresa and Bruce. We have kept in touch over the years after traveling with a team to do mission work in Costa Rica when we were California residents in 1989 to 1991.

Friday night we visited downtown Ventura and had dinner at a fun Irish Restaurant, Dargan's. Across the street was Kevin Costner's restaurant, Watermarks. He grew up in Ventura. We checked out the menu posted outside while a huge bodyguard kept his eye on us. Then we had fun window shopping on Main Street.

Saturday morning, after a great breakfast prepared by Chef Bruce, he drove us up into the hills north of Santa Paula to the Ojai Olive Oil Company. We had a lecture about olive growing while we sat under olive trees planted in the 1880's and still producing. The Spanish missions and priests originally planted trees in this area to have a steady supply of oil. We then went inside the warehouse and were shown the equipment used to produce the oil. Olives are no longer pressed, a lengthy hand done process, but are now squeezed down and centrifuged to separate the oil from the pulp and water. This is a small business started as a retirement project.

The next stop was the tasting room. This business grows up to nine varieties of olives, while most groves only produce from a few varieties. We took cubes of white bread and dipped them into the oil. Whoa! I have never tasted such strong oil! This is recently produced oil and has a very sharp, peppery taste that mellows out with time. There were four different varieties of the oil, and then a dozen specialty oils such as lemon, orange, basil and rosemary. The oil we buy off the grocery shelves must be much older than I realized to be so mild and often bland tasting compared to this. We also learned that cold press and virgin are meaningless connotations. The oil until recently has been sent to Europe for certification, and they name it virgin or extra virgin based on the nutritional results. Everything is cold pressed. There is no way to use heat in the processing, so that is irrelevant.

There is now a lab and certification process in the US. Certified organic affects what can be used on the trees to fertilize them or in treating the fruit flies. We were warned that European countries send us their oil that doesn't meet their stringent standards. Italy is especially bad about doing this. But, only a small percentage of oil is produced here, so we mostly have to buy from other countries.

We bought a bottle to use for salads, or something that will allow the taste to be an important part of the dish. Yesterday when we shopped at Whole Foods, we looked at their olive oil selection with new eyes. Their store brand and cheapest olive oil was imported from Italy. We assumed that is was the poor stuff that wasn't acceptable in Italy that Whole Foods got a good price on!

After we left the olive grove we drove to Ojai. I have been curious to see it after watching the Bionic Woman with Lindsay Wagner YEARS ago! Her character lived with her horses on a ranch in Ojai. I always wondered where that was. Well, it is a nice town up in the mountains with a beautiful city park and outdoor amphitheater. We stopped at the ice cream shop and then wandered around town. There were several trees with yarn wrapped and crocheted around the trunks. I have seen this on the internet, but never in person. Struck me as a very artsy, creative community.

Our next stop was the Old Creek Ranch Winery in Ojai Valley. Beautiful spot! The tasting room was crowded, so they handed us a tablecloth and sent us out to the deck with glasses filled with our first tasting. Each time we were ready for the next one, Greg and Bruce went back in and had it poured into our glasses. The temperature was perfect and we had shade trees and flowering trees around us. It was a lovely way to spend a glorious So Cal afternoon with friends.

We knew we were in California when two women at another table on the deck were loudly discussing their “emotional and relationship issues”. When they laughed and commented that we were probably hearing everything, I smiled and said that we were from back east and trying to discretely not listen! They found that amusing. Another couple started asking questions about Alaska after hearing us recount some old adventures to Bruce and Teresa. That turned into a long discussion across the deck since they will be traveling there with their children this summer. I did say several times, “Well, have a great trip”, but the conversation continued on! I think there is something to be said for “Eastern reserve” in public places!

After realizing that lunch had been ice cream and wine samples, we were hungry! We had Bruce and Teresa recommend a favorite Mexican restaurant and we left that lovely spot and drove back down the foothills into Ventura, by the sea. Bruce drove to the beach before the sun set and we saw the tail end of a surfing competition. There were still a number of surfers in the water. We quickly got back in the car. The temperature difference between inland in the foothills and on the beach at sunset with the wind kicking up was chilling. We arrived at Casa de Soria Cafe, a long time staple in the area. The walls were filled with celebrities who had eaten there. (I sat under Mr. T). The place was bustling, but after a short wait, we were seated and enjoyed a well prepared Mexican meal.

For some reason tasting all that oil and wine, and a heavy Mexican meal made for an early bedtime! Yes, well, we are all getting older...

Sunday morning Bruce was off to his chef job and we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and morning with Teresa. The navel orange and lemon trees are bearing in their back yard, so she gave us a great treat to take with us. We had already had fresh picked oranges for breakfast each day. She gave us a bag of each to take with us. We enjoyed our visit with them. Lots of good fellowship and food and two nights in a bed in a house and the use of their shower! But, our feet were itching and it was time to get the wheels moving under us.