We continued up Rte 33 and the drive was beautiful. Huge mountains, misty, foggy, a whitewater stream running alongside the road. It reminded me a lot of the Appalachians. We continued to the point that the road was closed at a campground. This campground wanted $20.00 and the facilities were nothing but a pit toilet! We were looking for a place just to park and take a nap. We found a place to pull off on the side of the road next to a wonderful mountain stream. We’re high in the mountains, near the San Andreas Fault. It’s cloudy, misty and very different from the desert we’ve been in lately.
We went back into Ojai, CA and walked around the downtown area. There were several art galleries with wonderful stuff. One place, Primavera Gallery, had some glass paperweights that were really incredible (I have a collection of glass paperweights in storage). Most of these were way out of my price range, but beautiful, nonetheless. We stopped at the Los Padres National Forest Service office for some info. We found out the road that is closed by mudslide is estimated to be closed for 6 to 8 weeks. Some pretty serious damage. The spots along the road that were one lane were a result of last years “hundred year” flooding. We’ve been running into the result’s from last years flooding all over this region.
We drove thru Santa Barbara and up to an area with a cave full of pictographs. The Chumash Painted Cave is a state historic site and is gated for it’s own protection. They did leave an opening for cameras. From on top of the mountains, we had an incredible view of the Pacific Ocean and the Channel Islands until we got up into the clouds. We parked and just enjoyed the area while we saw two different groups of locals take repeated turns running through an enormous mud puddle around the corner. This just proves there are rednecks everywhere.
We for to Mark and Sharon Tollifson’s place in time to visit a little while before sitting down to a wonderful dinner they had made. They are both involved in the Wilderness Youth Project and take young people outdoors to learn primitive skills and respect for the earth. Today’s generation is the first to grow up with no connection with the outdoors at all and studies are showing that kids need that connection.