Final Summer Flings

[illflem]

I remember when 101 was a two lane road with huge Eucalyptus trees on both sides going past Camarillo. Last time thru it was four or six lanes with solid city.

I used to run an avocado ranch 17 miles up the coast from Goleta.

Someday much of that ranch will be a bay.

 

[big jake 1]

Originally posted by illflem

I remember when 101 was a two lane road with huge Eucalyptus trees on both sides going past Camarillo. Last time thru it was four or six lanes with solid city.

I used to run an avocado ranch 17 miles up the coast from Goleta.

Someday much of that ranch will be a bay.

damn... .



there goes the price of avocadoes... ... ... .







big jake



THE FORD GUY Oo. Oo. Oo.

 

[Elite1]

Originally posted by illflem

I remember when 101 was a two lane road with huge Eucalyptus trees on both sides going past Camarillo. Last time thru it was four or six lanes with solid city.

I used to run an avocado ranch 17 miles up the coast from Goleta.

Someday much of that ranch will be a bay.

Yep, the good old days... I remember that tunnel of trees well. There are still alot of Avacado, Citrus and row crops in this area. In fact a few years back Ventura County passed an initiative that all Ag land must remain Ag. The farmers cannot sell Ag land to developers... which really ****** off alot of farmers! Many of them thought they were sitting on gold mines and would sell off to developers for big bucks, but the voters of the county passed it. The Oxnard plain is an amazing Ag area. Fertile sandy loam soil, ample water, temperate climate not too hot in the summer but frosts in the winter are rare, the farmers can get 3 and sometimes 4 crops a year out of their fields.

17 miles up the coast from Goleta (my son just graduated from UCSB) you must have been near Refugio or el Capitan beach? Or where you inland near the Cold Spring Tavern or the Danish town of Solvang? Nice up there!

 

[illflem]

I was in Tajiguas Canyon, the next one up from Refugio. 5200 acre ranch owned by Arab oil sheiks, whom I never saw, with a half mile of beach extending to the top of the coast range. Neighbors were Ronald Reagan, John Travolta, and Henry Shulte, the guy who invented the pacemaker.

Zoning in that area is 1000 acre minimum agricultural. National Park Service has been looking into making that stretch of coast into a NP.

I loved the place but Santa Barbara county officials and the Coastal Commission sucked, I ended up wasting half my time dealing with bureaucrats rather than farming. Last straw was when the county wanted to put water meters on wells that had been in use for fifty years and start limiting and charging for the water we used. I left California for good.



Here is Tajiguas, the spit sticking out into the ocean far right is Refugio St. Park



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[Elite1]

Illflem, thats a great picture! I thought you may have been near the Reagan Ranch. (guess they sold it) I believe that is the spot that the surfers call "The Ranch". My son is an avid surfer and competed for years in Jr. surfing tournaments and was on the surf team at UCSB. They say that spot is one of the best breaks on the entire Calif. coast, but it is private so the only way the surfers can access it is by boat.

Santa Barbara had a tough time about 15 years ago or so during the drought, they don't have enough water in that area. They built a very expensive de-salinization plant which turns ocean water into fresh water..... but have never had to use it!

I would imagine Montana is quite a change from SB county. Did you run any cattle on that ranch?

 

[illflem]

Montana is a definite change, the county I live in doesn't have zoning or even a building code, sometimes I wish it did though.

Ran about 400 head at Tajiguas during the green time of the year.

I was on a first name basis with Reagan while he was governor and afterwards, but when he became president he became unreachable with the Secret Service and all. He was a cowboy at heart, great man.

Maintained Travolta's fleet of 1950's Ford Thunderbirds, did dozer work and went dirt biking with him. He's much different than the roles he portrays.



"The Ranch" your son speaks of is actually called Hollister Ranch and is one of the top surf spots in Calif. To drive to it you have to go up though the tunnel at Gaviota Pass and come back down, but it's gated million dollar homes, the surfers launch boats from Gaviota St. Park for access. It was about seven miles up the coast from where I was.



The picture I posted came from here http://www.gaviotacoastconservancy.org/thumbnails.html

there are pictures of the coast from Goleta to Lompoc. Each picture has a story if you click it.

These are part of larger series of pictures this guy has undertaken to photograph the entire Calif coastline from Mexico to Oregon from an airplane looking on shore. Very cool website http://www.californiacoastline.org/

Looks to be political right now with recall stuff but if you scroll to the bottom you can click on the section of coast you want to see for a series of pictures.



Every time I look at these pictures I long for the area's beauty and climate, but then I wake up and realize what a hassle the government down there is and how stuck up most of the rich people were. My best friends were the illegal aliens who worked on the ranch.

 

[Elite1]

Illflem, great pics & I can relate to what you mean about dealing with stuck up rich folks... I am a landscape contractor and I specialize in installations and maintenance of estates. I have worked with many celebrities and Pres. /CEO types. But in a normal work day I speak more Spanish than English. I have gotten pretty fluent with over 25 yrs of working with the people of Mexico. I even have been down to the State of Zacatecas a few times for weddings/fiestas.

I usually don't have much problems with the govt. , I run into an occasional jerkoff building inspector, but thats about it. But I'm all for less govt. involvment in our lives and a smaller more streamlined govt. But that is another topic!

I rent a yard from an old farmer here in Camarillo, I store equipment , trucks etc. there. We have become good friends over the years. One day a whole slew of County officials came out to the farm, they told him the cattles urine and waste was contaminating the soil and was probably leaching into the water table. This old guy told the officials he had the perfect solution... I will put diapers on all the cattle,hire a bunch of wetbacks and have them change the diapers all day and night! He laughed them right off the ranch!