Ventura County

Mountains, Erosion - Ventura County  2019

Pines, Chaparrel - Ventura County  2019

Early Wednesday morning I dropped Hali off at the Burbank Airport for her flight to SFO. My plan was to travel north for some photos, staying one night in Arroyo Grande and one night in Monterey.

OK, so my normal route out of Los Angeles is to take Highway 101 through the San Fernando Valley to Ventura County and points north. But after leaving the airport I had no idea how to get over to 101 . . . so I turned on Google Maps and told it that my destination was the Santa Barbara Mission (I've figured out that GPS programs like specific destinations). Right away the authoritative voice of the GPS lady started giving me directions, telling me that her route would avoid some severe traffic issues on 101.

Much to my surprise I soon found myself traveling north, not on highway 101, but on highway 5, going towards the Grapevine. After a while I realized that the GPS program was taking me in a wide loop: up highway 5 towards Magic Mountain, then back towards the coast through Fillmore and Santa Paula.

So, I was avoiding traffic, but at the same time seeing a part of California that I hadn't visited in a long time. In the end, multiple photo stops used up whatever time savings I had gotten by taking the (very scenic) roundabout route. But I was in no hurry.

Orange Groves - Ventura County  2019