Commemorative Air Force Aviation Museum at Camarillo Airport

Located at the Camarillo Airport at 455 Aviation Drive, the Southern California Wing of the Commemorative Air Force has hangars devoted to preserving, maintaining, displaying, and flying World War II aircraft.

The Commemorative Air Force Southern California Wing Aviation Museum is open Fridays and Saturdays from 10 am to 4 pm and Sundays noon to 4pm. (As of January 2024.)

Donations requested of $15 for adults, $10 for ages 10 to 18, $5 for ages 6 to 10. Kids under 6 and active military are free (as of January 2024). Visit www.cafsocal.com or call 805.482.0064 for more information.

Also, take a vintage WWII airplane ride on the only remaining U.S. Navy/Marine Mitchell B-25 PBJ Bomber, the open cockpit Primary Trainer PT-19, the SNJ Texan and the Aircoupe. Details at www.cafsocal.com/warbird-ride-program.

Docents are enjoyable to speak with as they have a lot of history to share at this museum. Two 15,000 sq ft hangars and a 32,800 sq. ft. hangar complex serve as a Museum Hangar and a Maintenance and Restoration Hangar.

The Museum Hangar contains some of the many artifacts that are currently on display as well as a gift shop. It also houses any of the aircraft that are not away on a mission or undergoing maintenance.  For safety reasons the maintenance hangar is not available for a walk-through, however visitors can observe any work in progress from behind a safety perimeter.

There are a number of aircraft on display, including several you can physically inspect, which is always fun to do with the kids. There are some interesting WWII exhibits on hand too. 

The only authentic Marine BPJ-1J variant of the famed Mitchell B-25 Bomber. It flew into Camarillo from Midland, TX in 1993 for a 20 year restoration project. It is now flight-ready!

The Kakovlev Yak-3 is widely considered the lightest fighter aircraft between 1939 and 1945.

Ventura Boat Rentals at Ventura Harbor Village

Ventura Boat Rentals, located at Ventura Harbor Village at 1575 Spinnaker Drive, Ventura rents out electric boats, paddle boats, kayaks, power boats, surf bikes. jet skis and sail boats to the general public.  They also offer narrated harbor tours on weekends and select holidays, public dinner cruises, sunset cocktail cruises, private charters, private parties and public holiday tours. 

Visit www.venturaboatrentals.com or call 805.642.7753 for more information.

We enjoy exploring the Ventura Harbor, thanks to Ventura Boat Rentals.  Lots of small crabs hang out in these rocks.

The Mighty Axe in Thousand Oaks and Oxnard

The Mighty Axe opened at Janss Marketplace in Thousand Oaks in late July 2021 and at The Collection at RiverPark in Oxnard on April 8, 2023. What do you do there? You reserve an axe throwing “cage” for hour-long increments and hurl the axe at wood targets. And yes, they do go through a safety lesson with you before handing you the axe.

Open to ages 10 and up; ages 10 to 17 must be accompanied by adult. You can order food from various eateries to nibble on before, during or after your throws. Yes, they do have a craft ale bar, but you may not imbibe in more than 2 per hour and you will be cut off from axe throwing if you consume too much.

Pricing currently is $35 per person for an hour, $60 for two hours, minimum of two people in a cage.

Learn more at themightyaxe.com or call 805-557-8686 (Thousand Oaks) or 805-394-8889 (Oxnard).

Wheel Fun Rentals - Bike Rentals - Ventura

With a number of locations in Ventura and Santa Barbara, Wheel Fun Rentals provides an assortment of bicycles, quads, coupes, surreys, tag-alongs and other two to four wheel human powered vehicles for rides along the beach. They also offer a wide assortment of water vehicles...boats, surfboards, boogie boards, etc.

Santa Barbara is my favorite nearby daytime destination with the kids as there are so many things to do that we all enjoy, one of them being riding bikes along the ocean.

Nearby locations as of September 2022 are:

Oxnard- Zachari Dunes on Mandalay Beach, 2101 Mandalay Beach Road (805.984.1994)

Oxnard - Channel Islands Marine Emporium Landing, 3600 S. Harbor Blvd (805.910.7257)

Oxnard - Residence Inn Oxnard River Ridge, 2101 W. Vineyard Avenue (805.278.2200)

Port Hueneme - Holiday Inn Express, 350 E. Port Hueneme Road (805.986.5353)

Ventura - Crowne Plaza, 450 E. Harbor Blvd (805.648.2100)

Ventura Pier 850 Harbor Blvd., Ventura (805.765.5795)

Ventura State Beach Picnic Area 901 San Pedro, Ventura (805.650.7770)

Santa Barbara - Hilton Beachfront Resort 633 East Cabrillo Blvd., Santa Barbara (805.966.2282)

Santa Barbara - Near Stearns Wharf 24 E. Mason Street (805.966.2282)

Santa Barbara Train Station 215 State Street (805.966.2282)

For more information visit www.wheelfunrentals.com or call 805.650.7770.

K1 Speed Indoor Go Kart Racing in Thousand Oaks

K1 Speed indoor go kart racing opened its 8th Southern California location - K1 Speed Thousand Oaks, in February 2022

Guests can enjoy indoor go kart racing, games for all ages, food and drinks, and a private event room for any occasion.

The all-electric Adult Karts for adults and teens can reach speeds of up to 45 mph. Kids 4’ (48”) or taller can drive electric Junior Karts that can reach up to 20 mph on the professionally designed circuit.

Guests can also play over 30 popular video games from the past and present, plus pool tables, air hockey, basketball hoops and prize machines.

The Paddock Lounge is an onsite café that serves classic favorites such as hamburgers, pizza, nachos, and wings in addition to a wide assortment of non-alcoholic beverages. In the near future, this location plans to serve beer & wine for adults 21 years of age and older to enjoy after racing.

A private event room for birthdays, corporate events, bachelor parties, and other group events is also available. For private events, the entire venue may be rented by the hour, half-day, or full day.

K1 Speed Thousand Oaks is open seven days a week at 770 Lawrence Drive. Reservations are not required to race.

More information at www.k1speed.com/thousand-oaks-location.html.

A portion of the arcade at K1 Speed Thousand Oaks

Disneyland Park in Anaheim

Everyone knows about Disneyland Park (originally called just Disneyland) in Anaheim, so here in this post we will summarize some key tidbits about this amusement park.

Disneyland Park and sister theme park Disneyland California Adventure together form Disneyland Resort, along with three hotels (Disneyland Hotel, Disney's Grand Californian Hotel & Spa and Disney's Paradise Pier Hotel) and Downtown Disney, an outdoor shopping and restaurant area connecting the theme parks and hotels.

Disneyland Park Sections (or "Lands")

Disneyland is divided into the following "lands," or themed sections: Main Street, U.S.A., Adventureland, New Orleans Square, Frontierland, Critter Country, Fantasyland, Mickey's Toontown and Tomorrowland.  Ground breaking for a new section, "Star Wars Land," began in April 2016. Star Wars Land will encompass 14 acres when completed at a future date.

The eight existing lands occupy 85 acres. The original lands when Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955 were Main Street U.S.A, Adventureland, Frontierland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. Later on came New Orleans Square (1966), Bear Country (later changed to Critter Country) in 1972 and Mickey's Toontown in 1993.

The "lost" land is Holidayland, which opened in 1957, a 9 acre area with a circus and baseball diamond, that closed in 1961. (Good to know this, trivia buffs!)

Disneyland Park Attractions by Land

Visit touringplans.com/disneyland-resort/closures for updates on rides that are closed for renovation.

Opening May 31, 2019: Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge: Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run

• 14 acre expansion of Disneyland

• Opening later this year: Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance

• Reservations required from May 31 to June 23, 2019

Main Street U.S.A: The Disney Gallery, Disney’s "Aladdin” Sneak Peak, Main Street Cinema and Main Street Vehicles (turn of the 20th century vehicles)

Adventureland: Enchanted Tiki Room, Indiana Jones Adventure, Jungle Cruise, Tarzan's Treehouse

Critter Country: Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes, The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Splash Mountain

Frontierland: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Frontierland Shootin' Expedition, Mark Twain Riverboat, Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island, Sailing Ship Columbia

• Frontierland, representing the “Frontiers of America,” opened as on of five original lands on July 17, 1955.

• Big Thunder Trail is a walkway between Frontierland and Fantasyland and also serves as one of the entrances to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge.

• Big Thunder Mountain Railroad’s 40th anniversary is September 2, 2019

• Eateries in Frontierland include The Golden Horseshoe and Stage Door Cafe for quick service options and Rancho del Zocalo Restaurant (Mexican food) and River Belle Terrace (comfort food) for sit down and dine options.

Fantasyland: Alice in Wonderland, Casey Jr. Circus Train, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, King Arthur Carrousel (yes, this 1955 original ride is spelled with two r's), Mad Tea Party, Matterhorn Bobsleds, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Peter Pan's Flight, Pinocchio's Daring Journey, Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough, Snow White's Scary Adventures, Storybook Land Canal Boats, “it's a small world”

Mickey's Toontown: Chip 'n Dale Treehouse, Donald's Boat, Gadget's Go Coaster, Goofy's Playhouse, Mickey's House and Meet Mickey, Minnie's House, Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin

New Orleans Square: Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean

Tomorrowland: Astro Orbitor, Autopia, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, Disneyland Monorail, Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy, Star Tours - The Adventures Continue, Star Wars Launch Bay, Star Wars: Path of the Jedi

Various Areas: Disneyland Railroad

Character Experiences and Live Entertainment

There are various opportunities to meet Disney characters throughout the park. Visit disneyland.disney.go.com/entertainment/#/character-experiences for details. And for live entertainment opportunities, visit disneyland.disney.go.com/entertainment.

Pricing

Retail pricing is as follows as of May 2019 and of course is subject to change:

• 1-Day, 1 Park: Varies from $104 (Value) to $129 (Regular) to $149 (Peak) (For Ages 10+; Ages 3 to 9 are about $6 less per ticket)

• 2-Day, 1 Park Per Day: $225 or Park Hopper $280

• 3-Day, 1 Park Per day: $300 or Park Hopper $355

• 4-Day, 1 Park Per Day: $325 or Park Hopper $380

• 5-Day, 1 Park Per Day: $340 or Park Hopper $395

• Annual Passports: There are 5 to choose from and they vary from $399 to $1,399 per year. The $1,399 Disney Signature Plus Passport gets you in to both park every day of the year.

• One Day Parking: $25

Learn more at disneyland.disney.go.com.

Marty's Hobbies in Thousand Oaks

Marty's Hobbies is a family owned and operated hobby shop that has operated in the Conejo Valley since 1976. In 2018, the store relocated to a huge new location at 270 Conejo Ridge Avenue, Thousand Oaks. 

The new location has all the items it had at the previous location - plastic models, airplanes, slot racing cars, trains, toys and much more. 

The store has a huge RC Race Track, RC Crawler Course, Drone Course and Slot Car Track. You can access the tracks on an hourly, daily or monthly membership basis. 

Marty's also offers birthday parties now for both kids and adults. Parties include track time, expert staff time to train your attendees, party room use, karaoke machine, gaming system and more.

Visit www.martyshobbies.com or call 805.497.3664 for more information.

Store hours (subject to change) Mon-Fri 10am to 8pm, Sat 10am to 6pm, Sun 10am to 5pm.

Ventura Raceway

Ventura Raceway is a world-famous dirt track located at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.  Ventura Raceway became world famous in the early 1990s when it hosted several years of the ESPN Thunder Series on television. 

With weekly racing events held on most Saturday nights from March through October, Ventura Raceway has a worldwide following of short track racing fans.  Most Saturday nights you can find the powerful VRA 360 Sprint Cars racing at the 1/5 mile oval.  These 600+ horsepower, open wheel racers hit speeds in excess of 80 mph on the track that is smaller than a high school oval track. 

Beyond the sprint cars, there are classes for seniors (age 45 and up) down to kids as young as 5 years old in a family friendly environment. 

Located at 10 West Harbor Blvd, Ventura. Admission (as of January 2019) is $15 for adults, $11 for 60+, military and students with ID and free to 12 and under (with adult). Visit www.venturaraceway.com or call 805.648.RACE for more information.

Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament in Buena Park

Medieval Times is a family-friendly dinner attraction inspired by an 11th century feast and tournament. Guests are served a four-course banquet meal (without utensils, of course) and then cheer for one of six knights competing in the joust and other tests of skill.

You may feel like this is goofy and you're only going for the kids.....but try it out, it's actually a lot of fun and some great entertainment! The tickets aren't "cheap" but when you factor in both the dinner and the great entertainment, it is definitely worth it. We also upgraded our tickets to the VIP/Kings Feast section to get front row seating and it was great!

My 6 year old and I loved the food. Pretty basic but quite tasty menu included tomato bisque, foccacia bread, massive quantity of roasted chicken and ribs that were also quite good, potato, apple strudel and a drink. Really was good. And they do have vegetarian options too.

Gotta love this place. And both the animals and the actors did an amazing job! I captured some scenes from our 2012 visit below.

The Buena Park location is located at 7662 Beach Boulevard, about 60 miles from the Conejo Valley, a mile from Knotts Berry Farm and 5 miles from Disneyland. Visit www.medievaltimes.com for more information.

We are lucky to have one of only 9 Medieval Times locations in North America, with others located in Dallas, Chicago, Atlanta, Orlando, Myrtle Beach, Baltimore, Lyndhurst, NJ and Toronto, Canada.

Skatelab Museum and Skate Park - Simi Valley (CLOSED)

AFTER 21 YEARS, SKATELAB HAS CLOSED ITS DOORS AT THIS LOCATION AT 4226 VALLEY FAIR STREET, SIMI VALLEY.

However, Skatelab founder/owner Scott Radinsky posted on 1/6/19 that a new Skatelab location will be coming soon. Check for updates at www.facebook.com/Skatelab.

The world's largest and best skateboard museum resides in Simi Valley at Skatelab.  There are over 5,000 vintage skateboards, scooters and skateboard memorabilia at this 20,000 square foot facility from the 1960s to present day.  The museum is open to the public seven days a week and is free.  You really have to see this in person to get the full effect. This is a downright AMAZING collection!

Hours as of January 2018 are 4-10PM Mon, 3-10PM Tue-Thu, 3PM-Midnight Fri, 10AM-10PM Sat and 10AM-7PM Sun. Visit www.skatelab.com or call 805.578.0040 for more information.

Read more about the world's largest skateboard collection on display at www.skateboardman.com

Skatelab has a large indoor skate park that your kids will love.  It is located at 4226 Valley Fair Street, Simi Valley.  Visit www.skatelab.com or call 805.578.0040 for more information. They offer skateboarding classes on Saturdays and Sundays for beginners and novices too!

Cory Kruseman's Sprint Car and Midget Driving School in Ventura

Cory Kruseman's Sprint Car and Midget Driving School at Seaside Park in Ventura (Ventura County Fairgrounds) give Fans and Race Car Driver some safe seat time and instruction in a Sprint Car or Ford. Their team takes pride in teaching each student how to safely operate these race cars, from teaching you to dress in safety equipment to taking the checkered flag.

Cory is a professional race car driver and knows quality equipment is what makes a winning formula and provides the most up to date race cars at the school.

Visit www.Kruseman.com or call 805.649.1243 for more information.

Ventura County Derby Darlins

Formed in early 2007, the Ventura County Derby Darlins is a dedicated, passionate group of women committed to the support and growth of all female, flat track roller derby.

The Derby Darlins is a not-for-profit organization, and much of the money made goes to local community charities. In fact, each skater must pay league dues in order to train and skate with VCDD.

Every hit, every injury, and every lap is real. We invite you to come out to our next event and take a seat in the front row to see the damage up close and personal. (Don’t mind the DANGER disclaimer court side!)

If you like what you see and can’t get enough VCDD, we are always looking for new players, referees, volunteers and guest coaches. Roller Derby is an awesome way to get fit, get out some of your aggressions and meet some truly amazing people. 

If you’re just in the mood to watch some amped up, jaw dropping action, the Darlins can never have too many awesome dedicated FANS!

For more information, visit www.vcderby.com. The Darlins practice at Freedom Park Rink, 528 Freedom Park Drive, Camarillo three nights a week and home games are played at Freedom Park and Ventura County Fairgrounds.

Skydive Santa Barbara

Skydive Santa Barbara does tandem skydiving in Lompoc from 13,000 to 18,000 feet, with ocean views.  Learn more at www.skydivesantabarbara.com.