The Conejo Valley Guide "Welcome" blog covers a wide range of topics, local information, highlights of local things to do, compilations and other items. Focus is on information relevant to Ventura County and surrounding areas, including Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Newbury Park, Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Malibu, Simi Valley, Camarillo, Moorpark, Somis, Fillmore, Santa Paula, Ojai, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Santa Barbara and Moorpark.
The Conejo Valley Guide® "Welcome" blog covers a wide range of topics, local information, local things to do, holiday event compilations, announcements and more.
On a visit to Conejo Creek Park in Thousand Oaks (one of our favorite local parks, next to the Thousand Oaks Library, Senior Center and Teen Center), a family was feeding the ducks. The sheer number of voracious ducks was both amusing and startling! But we survived.
This reminded me of a previous experience observing Turtles Going Wild at the beautiful Alice Keck Memorial Gardens in Santa Barbara.
2013 Amgen Tour of California Route Announced
For the First Time, America’s Greatest Cycling Race Will Travel South to North, Beginning in Escondido and Crossing Beaches, Deserts, Mountains, Golden Gate Bridge
Changing direction for the first time in its eight-year history from south to north, America’s largest and most prestigious professional cycling stage race, the 2013 Amgen Tour of California, will bring riders and spectators first-time destinations, unprecedented climbs and demanding sprints on the approximately 750-mile course.
Amgen returns as the title sponsor for the heralded 8-stage race, set for May 12 to 19, 2013. Beginning with a circuit in Escondido, the route will run through 13 official host cities and include a first-time finish at the top of Mount Diablo, the 3,864-foot peak in the San Francisco Bay area. The race’s last stage will begin along the San Francisco Bay and continue across the Golden Gate Bridge, where a rolling traffic break will give cyclists uninterrupted access for the six-minute crossing.
Two new cities join the race route roster: Greater Palm Springs and Murrieta will host Stage 2, which will include an intense finish up the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, one of the toughest climbs anywhere with an 1,880-foot elevation gain in the last four miles. Two other firsts: Escondido and Santa Rosa will become the first cities in race history to have hosted both an overall start and an overall finish.
As one of the most anticipated professional cycling races on the international calendar, the Amgen Tour of California draws top cyclists from the ranks of Olympic medalists, Tour de France competitors and world champions including BMC Racing Team’s current world road champion Philippe Gilbert.
The 2013 Amgen Tour of California will feature the following highlights (route and start times are subject to change):
Stage 1: Sunday, May 12, 11:15 am start – Escondido, Stage Length 104.3 miles
Stage 2: Monday, May 13, 10:20 am start – Murrieta to Greater Palm Springs (126.1 miles)
Stage 3: Tuesday, May 14 11:20 am start – Palmdale to Santa Clarita (Finishes at Magic Mountain Parkway) (111.8 miles)
Stage 4: Wednesday, May 15 12:35 pm start – Santa Clarita to Santa Barbara (84.7 miles)
Stage 4 is largely through Ventura Co
Since 1991, Women’s Economic Ventures (WEV) has helped low-and moderate-income women and men achieve self-sufficiency through self employment training, consulting, and access to capital. The following WEV services are available to women and men in Santa Barbara and Ventura Counties.
Business Plan Courses
WEV’s 14-week Self-Employment Training (SET) and six-week Business Plan Intensive (BPI) courses provide guidance on starting or expanding a business by teaching the skills to assess feasibility, avoid costly mistakes and create a well conceived business plan. Graduates benefit from a local network of fellow entrepreneurs, expert guest speakers and an instructor experienced in owning a small business.
SET courses in Ventura and Camarillo begin in February and September. The BPI course in Ventura begins in September. Attendance of a free, 1-hour orientation is required in order to enroll in WEV’s courses.
Business Loans
WEV’s Small Business Loan Fund provides loans up to $25,000 to start-up businesses and up to $50,000 for existing businesses. The Loan Fund was created to diversify and expand the local economy and create new jobs by providing capital to small businesses that do not quality for conventional bank financing. Applicants must have resided in Santa Barbara or Ventura County for over a year.
Specialized Long-Term Consulting
Thrive in Five® provides long-term, individualized training, consulting and coaching for entrepreneurs in business at least one year. Regular one-on-one meetings with a business specialist and quarterly roundtables with peers keep the business owner acc
On a recent whale watching trip to the Santa Barbara Channel via Channel Islands Packers (Condor Express also does whale watching trips) Conejo Valley based photographer Jonathan Stewart and others witnessed more humpback whales than could be counted, a solitary blue whale, an extraordinary number of dolphins and sea lions, and countless other sea creatures as they made their way towards the Channel Islands.
Stewart shares some fantastic shots below. For more of these, visit his website at www.jonathanstewartphotos.com or go directly to his Anacapa Island Whale Watching Album.
This is the head of one of the humpback whales they saw.
This Thanksgiving my wife decided we would do something different with our young boys. Forget about cooking and gorging ourselves in the comfort of our own home. Forget about the relatives and the cleaning. Forget about football games and carving. We took the train to Santa Barbara!
Now taking the train from Camarillo to Santa Barbara is not exactly cheap. For a family of 4, reserved coach seats put me out $108 round trip. But this was about the experience of riding the train, not saving money. (That said, it was definitely nice not worrying about parking and paying for parking in Santa Barbara!)
The Camarillo train station is at 30 Lewis Road. Parking was free. Taking the train was an adventure for us clueless suburbanite autobots used to our cars. We nearly missed the train because we didn't know which side of the train tracks to wait at. Thinking our train would be on the east track, a more savvy individual informed us the other side was closed. So we literally ran up the path back to the other side with one gal who also had been waiting for the train. The train came a few minutes later and we hopped on.
We sat down near the gal who had run with us. Minutes later the ticket collector came by and it quickly became apparent she had no ticket for the train. My wife and I looked over and without discussion, we whipped out $20 to pay for her ticket. A small Thanksgiving good deed.
The train ride went by quickly. It was definitely a fun experience as we rode through Oxnard, Ventura, Carpinteria and took in sights of the Pacific Ocean. In about an hour we were in Santa Barbara.
So this is what we did the rest of the day, leading up to a 7 pm return train ride:
Rented a quad bike at Wheel Fun Rentals on State Street
Rode the quad through Chase Palm Park up Cabrillo Boulevard past the lagoon to Stella Mare's Restaurant for a 1pm Thanksgiving feast. Let me tell you, my wife and I were READY to eat after burning off calories on that bike!
Enjoyed a 3 course Thanksgiving meal. The main course options were (of course) turkey, prime rib and salmon. I had the salmon and it melted in my mouth. The rest of the crew had turkey and it was delicious.
We burned some calories in the 70 degree weather by riding the quad back, stopping by Chase Palm Park, running around at the playground and visiting the carousel.
Hung out by the beach near the pier, dipped our toes in the water, walked onto the pier for ice cream and headed back up State Street.
Walked up State Street and had a snack at Baja Sharkeez, walked back to the train station, played Red Light, Green Light, Simon Says, Tag and other games until the train arrived.
What an unbelievably beautiful day it was! There was not a cloud in the sky. The temperature was in the low 70s. There were NO CROWDS in Santa Barbara! I have to thank my wife for starting what may well be a new tradition for us!
And I ended the day tired...and HUNGRY! Yes, believe it or not, I think we actually burned off more calories than we consumed! What a great feeling!
Conejo Valley Guide covers events, activities and things to do throughout Ventura County and surrounding areas.
