Wednesday, July 3rd – Thursday, July 4th, 2013
The bulk of the morning was spent driving around in circles in search of the visitor center for the Channel Islands. Some signs pointed one way, people pointed the other way, and on top of it, vision was lousy since it was a foggy, overcast day. We eventually found it, but were disappointed to learn that out National Park Pass didn’t discount the trip to get over there. Wishful thinking. It was $50 or more per person to take a boat over, so being on the tight budget that we were on, we decided to reserve it for next time.
Back to downtown Ventura we went where we located the original “Patagonia” store and Yvon Chouinard’s blacksmith shop. Did I mention my husband has a minor obsession with Pata-gucci? We fed the meter, then fed ourselves some really delicious Thai food at a place called “RICE Thai Cuisine”.
After wandering around the shops for a while, we moved the van to a free parking area, then got coffee at “Palermo” before getting some information about the area from the town visitor center. We checked out Ventura Pier, did more window shopping, then for the sake of killing time, and because Trevor really wanted to see it, we went to the movies to see “The Lone Ranger” which had just been released. It turned out to be pretty good, even though that’s not generally my movie preference. Off to the closest Walmart we went to rest up since tomorrow would be America’s Birthday.
It’s Independence Day and we got up early to find a good parking spot before the crowds built up. There was a Fourth of July Fair going on in downtown Ventura, so we grabbed coffee at “Palermo” then wandered around the vendor tables to check out their products, and to sample some food. We ended up back at “RICE Thai Cuisine” for some more of their dank curry before strolling around the vendors one more time, and heading to the beach to watch the surfers.
We killed even more time by visiting the “Museum of Ventura County,” then left to check out the festivities at Channel Islands Harbor Pier where the fireworks would be taking place later. I ended up getting a bunch of strawberries that looked too delicious not to buy, then we hung out in the parking lot where we threw the disc back and forth, and lounged in the van as we waited for it to get dark and the fireworks to begin.
The fireworks were nice, but there was a very long unorganized line of traffic to get out of the lot. We were exhausted by the time we got back to the Walmart, so we had no problem falling sleep.
Jump Back to Part 60: Stars, Ants & Slapstick
Jump Ahead to Part 62: Cat Food, Tragedy & An Accordion Playing Clown
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Start Over at Part 01: The Blue Bubble, Freebies & A Rude Awakening
Stubbs Rambles On 