Rancho Oso RV Resort/Santa Barbara- 3/26-4/2/18

It was rather exciting to emerge from inland roads onto Route 1, at times known as the Pacific Coast Highway. A few miles north of Ventura, in Santa Barbara, we made a right into the mountains on a wild ride, the last five miles being among the more interesting, white-knucklers, we’ve experienced.

That sign kind of gets you wondering, and hoping the other guy sees you in the convex mirror.

It really was a ranch of sorts and had a very long and rich history.

The Rancho Oso area has been populated for over 3,000 years, most of it by the Chumash. Then the Spanish missionaries came with their smallpox, a much more effective method of extermination than the Crusades. In the mid 1800’s the land was turned over to an interesting succession of owners, the surrounding properties turned into national forest land, and a campground added about thirty years ago.

I booked this place a little late. All they had for our week was a site in the electric & water (no sewer), “camping”, section. So we squeezed the 42′ Odyssey among the “campers”. It wasn’t so bad. It had some natural elements that the RV section didn’t, like the daily Match of the Turkeys:

How did they know how to yodel at the same moment?
What’s with this one?

Show off.

We drove back through the mountain pass a couple of times to go to Santa Barbara. Not a real impressive town but, the mountains on one side and the ocean on the other? Well, you always know where east and west are.

One day we went to a dog friendly beach. Off the coast are the Channel Islands, the largest of which is Santa Cruz. I tried getting a shot of the surf and Santa Cruz Island in this photo but the bright sunshine prevented me from focusing in on the island just as the earthquake hit. Luckily, I got a nice picture of those playful dogs and a small tsunami coming in:

The same thing happened with this photo. During an aftershock, I thought I was seeing shiny, round rocks, but as you can see, the sunlight blinded me again. The picture was saved by that beautiful doggie bounding along the surf. All God’s creatures… And those waves – so perfectly curved, again, the hand of the One.

I began to wonder though, when God’s creatures, great and round, photo-bombed my selfie. What is wrong with people today?

Butt, we move on. Oh, I’m told there was no earthquake.

The only entertainment we had out on the ranch were the hummingbirds. We started out with one little feeder with two serving flowers. The activity got so frenzied that another day we drove into Santa Barbara just to buy another hummingbird feeder.

Check this out. I counted nine, maybe ten, looking for a sip of sugar water at one time. This picture has about eight or nine in them. A couple of blurs at the bottom of the photo count.

Then I just started snapping when the light was right. The camera on this phone is amazing.

This Acorn Woodpecker tried to get in the act but I think it was just another case of a Californian photo-bombing:

These guys appeared to be contesting the area:

And now, from a different angle.

The camera is good, but it wasn’t fast enough to make a distinction of the two wings seemingly joined as one (lower right). Weird, huh?

If you like these little buggers, and sometimes when they whiz by your ear they sound like bugs, get yourself a feeder. Stir one part sugar into four parts boiling water, let it cool, fill the feeder, and enjoy the show.

And that was Rancho Oso. Note to self, and other RVers – no phone, no internet. Limited wi-fi at the “Adult Lounge”.