Ojai - Ventura Sister Trip and Dad's Memorial Trip - Part Two

     Welcome to part two of the Sister trip that Lisa and I took on May 20, 2022. First part of it is here.

    After leaving the beautiful, friendly City of Ojai, we headed into Ventura where we had plans to eat at a restaurant called Limon y Sal (translated it means Lemon & Salt ).

Outside of the building. It looks very different now because they built an outdoor patio during the Pandemic and it remains to this day.

    We were really lucky to find parking right around the corner and we had a nice little walk to get there. We also found out they had blocked off Main Street at the beginning of the pandemic to allow vendors to offer outdoor seating and shopping and it continues to this day.

    On the weekend we were there, they had "Vintage of Main Street" where local vintage vendors sell a curated selection of vintage items. We were excited to go check everything out, but first things first, we were in need of Chips, Salsa and Margaritas!

Guacamole with a big hunk of queso fresco. Lisa had a Cucumber Daiquiri, I had the Limon y Sal Margarita blended with salt on the rim, both were delicious. They had an incredible Salsa also, hopefully there is a picture later as I didn't get a picture this time. 

    We decided to share the Chicken Fajitas because the guacamole they served was such a big portion and we were sure we could fill up just on that, but we wanted something more substantial.

    Their presentation was just beautiful! Just look at this! Along with the Fajitas, beginning in the upper left is a small bowl of refried beans sprinkled with cotija cheese; upper right...some MORE guacamole, bottom left is a bowl of Mexican Rice and bottom right is a bowl of Nopales, I'll share more about that in another photo below.

Close up of the Nopales. 

    Above is the photo of the Nopales. Nopal is Spanish for Cactus. My dad loved Nopales, so much so that he planted several cactus plants in his backyard. These looked like they were cooked and then made into a type of salad as they were cold. My dad would boil the Nopal and then he would fry it in a pan with scrambled eggs, sometimes with Chile Colorado. His looked very similar to the ones in the photo below. 

Nopales con Huevo aka Cactus with Egg

    The way that Sal & Limon served them was as a salad or side dish. The Nopal/Cactus is diced into the small green cubes you see above, then boiled in a pot with salted water for about 20 minutes, then drained and rinsed really well. While they are cooling off you dice up tomato, onion, jalapeno and cilantro, you mix in the nopal and then make a dressing of olive oil, lime, oregano and salt. It's a super healthy dish and I wish I like them, but I just never developed a taste for them, which saddened my dad to no end. 

Final photo of our food, the Mexican aka Spanish Rice and here you can see the Salsa in the background, it was fabulous!

    After paying Lisa and I walked the little Vintage Fair. We didn't buy anything, mainly we just wanted to walk some of the food off.

    On the way home we stopped at a Ross Store, which is one of our favorite stores. I bought a journal and a blouse, I can't even remember what Lisa bought.

    Our last stop was at a little fruit stand on the way home where we bought a flat of beautiful, huge strawberries and some pistachios.

    One more thing I want to share so I will always remember is the memory gift that Lisa bought me. 

    I just love this, the stones are so pretty and look a lot brighter in sunlight. I also love the four leaf clover charms so I will always have good luck! Thank you Lisa, I love you. You are my favorite sister!

    I purchased for her a coffee table book of photos of the City of Ojai that has some beautiful pictures. There is one of a beautiful sunset with the most amazing photo of a tree in black silhouette which we have already decided we are going to paint, stay tuned for us sharing our paintings sometime in the near future!

    I believe I will do one more post about the items that I bought at the Benjamin Franklin Craft store, so stay tuned for that as well. 

Ojai - Ventura Sister Trip and Dad's Memorial Trip

 

    Yesterday, May 21 2022, Lisa and I took a trip in memory of our dad who passed away on July 30, 2013.

    We took this same route in September of 2013 in order for the two of us to do something special to say goodbye to our daddy, that post is here.

    My mom and dad were really big on road trips, just taking off with all of us kids bundled up in the back seat and seeing where the road would take us. I don't believe there was ever a plan, but maybe mom and dad did plan things and just didn't tell us, we just went with the flow because we had utter and complete trust in them and their ability to always make sure we were safe. 

    I want to remember this trip and to post it to my blog in case (God forbid) that I end up with Alzheimer's which does run in our family. Having it here means my kids and my sister will have access to it and maybe they will read me these words and show me these pictures and for a brief moment I will be me again...Alicia, the documenter of her life!

    Unlike my mom and dad, Lisa and I had a plan. We took Highway CA-33 which is a winding road through the Los Padres National Forest that reaches an elevation of  7,510'. When we took the trip shortly after dad passed away, the whole trip was so beautiful because everything was lush and green and flowering. We went again a few years later and everything was dry and brown and it made us sad. I was hoping that this trip would be better and it was! Just take a look at these gorgeous photos.

Los Padres National Forest Highway CA-33

Clouds coming over the mountains

View of the cloud cover and the mountains

My beautiful sister, my partner in crime - Lisa

Obligatory Selfie! As you can tell, it was very windy!

Happy to see flowering plants!

Downtown Ojai - We just came up and over that mountain!

    Once over the mountain we had to make a pit stop as one normally does on a long road trip, we stopped in at a local Vons Grocery Store, did our business and then ogled the aisles of wine they had, quite an expensive selection. Needless to say we did not buy any there, but the day was young!

    There was a cute little liquor store in the same shopping center and Lisa snapped a picture of the name of the store, we thought it was pretty unique! Attitude Adjustment Shoppe. We didn't stop in but plan to do so next time. 

Attitude Adjustment Shoppe 

    Just by luck we happened to find a craft store in the same shopping center. It was just the cutest store and they had so many great things for crafting and art journaling plus they had ready made items you could give or purchase for yourself. I really wanted this beautiful hand  that was carved out of wood and painted red with several Zentangle patterns on it, but it was a bit above my price range for what I wanted to spend for the day. Now I regret not buying it.

    We met a very nice art journaling instructor by the name of Carolynne who was there that day for a 3-series Art Journaling Class held on Saturday. When we told her that unfortunately we were from out of town she offered to do a special class for my sister and I on another Saturday if we wanted to drive back to Ojai. While we were there it sounded doable, however on the drive back we realized that is was a long, long way away to make the trip just to take a 3-hour Art Journaling class, but we would try to find a place in Bakersfield that offers the same thing. Sorry Carolynne, I would have loved to take the class with you, you were so sweet and gracious.

     I did buy quite a few things at this shop, they were very reasonably priced and had some items that I've not been able to find at our craft stores in Bakersfield. I will do a separate post with those items.

    From there we headed to downtown Ojai to do some sightseeing and shopping. Here's some pictures from this location, it was beautiful, cool and overcast with a slight breeze and everyone was so happy and friendly, we had a great time!

Loved this hand-painted tile on the side of a building and had to take a picture with it.

There was just beauty everywhere, Lisa in front of a fountain.

Cute little shop. I want to make a string of beads list this one.

We had to do some Wine Tasting of course. Lisa had the 2021 Syrah Rose and I tried the 2020 Roussanne, both we good, but not good enough to buy a bottle.

It was a lovely place to just sit and unwind and catch up with each other.

My pretty sister and her wine. I know she will hate her hair in the picture, but it was windy!

After our little wine tasting while we were still relaxed we did some walking around and headed into the little shops on the street. 

    Lisa and I pitched in to buy our mom this beautiful hand-crafted necklace. We know she's going to love it just because it's red!

Detail on the hand crocheted flowers with seed beads in the center.

    I'm going to do a separate post also for our time that we spent in Ventura for lunch there, so stay tuned for part two. 

It's About the Journey, Not the Destination

Yesterday, my sister and I took a day to ourselves to spend the day saying goodbye to our daddy our way. We did one of the things that my dad loved to do...we took a road trip.

Beginning of our journey, my sister took this picture of us turning onto Highway 33 to Ojai.
Dad would often tell us that someday we should take this road. He and mom had taken it and loved the trip. So we took this road and dad was right as always...it was a wonderful journey to take together for my sister and me. 

Back when we were all little kids, my mom and dad used to just pack us up into the car on a Sunday and take off with no real destination in mind. The whole thing was about the journey and what we would see and discover and the memories that we were making without even realizing it.

Getting closer to the mountain. We would have to cross over this one and a few others to reach our final destination. Dad had only told us that it was a winding road, he didn't tell us how winding or how long or how beautiful it would be, but we felt that he was with us, guiding us on the way and showing us the beauty of the land and seeing it again through my eyes and my sisters eyes. 

I remember one particular trip that we took on a Thanksgiving Day. My parents didn't even realize it was Thanksgiving Day and they just packed us up and off we went. Road Trip!!!  Back in the day (when I was a child), there were no stores or restaurants or fast food places open on Thanksgiving Day. Everything was closed! Everything!

We saw so many beautiful sites along the way. This was one of the first, a little farmhouse off in the distance. I could imagine us living here with dad. He would have loved it! Dad was a farmer and we always lived in the housing provided by the farmer that dad happened to be working for and it was always out in the country. Country living is in my heart, thanks to dad and his love of the land.

So here they were, far away from home with four little kids...four little starving kids, and no where to buy food!! They had not planned for this. Luckily dad found a little store that happened to be open and they stopped and bought a loaf of bread, some bologna and some chips. That was one of the best meals ever! I can still taste the saltiness of the bologna and the chips. Dad always provided. 

That little farmhouse in the earlier picture was left far below as we climbed higher and higher. At the highest point I believe we were 3000 feet above sea level, at least that is the last sign I remember seeing with an elevation. The view was breathtaking and my sister and I kept seeing beautiful spots and stopping to snap pictures. We imagined how nervous our mother must have been to be on this winding road but knowing she was safe because dad was at the wheel.

Another time I remember Dad taking us to visit my mom's family in Arizona. They had just bought a new car. I think it was a Ford Crown Victoria. A very fancy car. My dad got it into his head to pull over at a little fruit stand to buy a watermelon. Then, to my mother's shock and anger, he proceeded to slice the watermelon in the car and give all his little chicks (us...his kids) a slice of watermelon. My mom got so angry, but dad knowing he had whetted our appetite for watermelon was not about to let his little chicks down. He withstood my mom's wrath and his babies ate watermelon in a brand new car!!!! You can probably ask my mom about this little story and she would tell you it was not one of HER fondest memories! But it is a memory that we...his baby chicks, will never forget.

We felt filled with peace when we rounded a corner and saw these big fluffy clouds and just knew that dad was with us on this trip. We've all felt his close to us since his passing, helping us to heal and letting us know that though he is gone he is still with us in spirit and we never have to feel alone.

One of my best memories of the road trips with dad was his stories. At that time I believed every word that came out of his mouth. I didn't realize that many of the stories that he told us were made up just to keep us all entertained so we didn't start trying to entertain ourselves by using each other's heads as volleyballs or whining "Are we there yet?" Dad would tell us stories of when he was a fighter pilot in the army or he would tell us about when he used to suck honey off of the butts of honey ants in Mexico. We loved his stories and we loved when he would sing. Dad would often tell people a funny story about how when I was little I once told one of my aunts, "My dad is a beautiful singer, he sings as good as the radio!" He would laugh so hard when he told that story.

We reach the top and it's time for the driver to take a little break (and truth be told, driving those winding roads sometimes with sheer drops was a little nerve-racking! I wondered out loud to my sister if my dad had been as nervous as I was, but then we said Nah...cause Dad was and is our hero and he was never scared and always brave!
Right to the very end.

We had a great day and it was just what we needed, a healing trip, just my sister and me and our Wing man...Dad. Love you dad, miss you more than words can say. . .

Another beautiful shot by my talented photographer, co-pilot and best friend, my little sister. Love you sis and will always protect you from the vampires :)