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.
