Turtle Tales: Day 11 - The Great Lighthouse Hunt

After a very rainy and gusty weather evening, we awoke this morning to sunshine, less wind and cool temperatures. Attended Palm Sunday service at the base chapel. After church, Jim cooked waffles and bacon and we were out the door to seek our first lighthouse of the trip - Point Hueneme located at Port Hueneme, Oxnard, California. We found it in quick order, but the distance was a little far for Jim to walk due to circulatory issues with his legs, so I hiked about a mile and took the picture for our records. It was so windy and cold walking towards the lighthouse, but the walk back was with the wind at my back, and that was so much better!

After a trip to the commissary on the Naval Base for food supplies, we headed back to the RV for lunch and to pick up the girls and headed to Santa Barbara, California to find our next light house - the Santa Barbara Lighthouse (how original is that?) For those of you that have never been to Santa Barbara, it is quite an eclectic community. A very artsy community - in fact, there were many vendors on the beach selling their arts and crafts. There were many outside cafes and many had signs that said they were "Dog Friendly". However, like every place we have been in this state, the traffic and drivers are crazy! And they don't care that they are driving a Porsche, BMW, Lexus or Mercedes! Guess they figure they can replace them fairly easily - no problem! Goodness..........And the traffic was bumper to bumper - on Sunday!

Due to the wind and cold front, the surf was up all along the coast. There were several surfers braving the twenty to twenty-five foot waves!

We found the lighhouse fairly easy, but because it is owned by the Coast Guard, it was not open to the public. Jim walked the fence and got pictures and we are glad we were able to do that! Sometimes it is difficult to get pictures on secured property. For more information on these lighthouses, click on our Lighthouse Friends link on this blog - the lighthouses are listed under the state where they are located..

I might mention that we did stop at the fruit stand this morning on our way to find the Point Hueneme lighthouse, and brought a pint of strawberries! My friend Susie is right - they were the best tasting strawberries we have ever eaten! The strawberries were huge and we took some pictures to share with you, but they really don't do them justice! Yummy!

Tomorrow we head north to an RV park at Vandenburg AFB, which is located in Lompoc, California . There is a lighthouse located on the base and a couple in the area located off the base. The military RV parks are really nice and half the price of other campgrounds off the military installations.

As with any trip such as this, we have found that it is the people we meet along the way that make it so interesting and special! What a blessing it is to share our stories with them, and to find out that we have so much in common after all! For instance, at the Caverns of Sonora one of the Tour Guides is also a dog show person, and after talking with him for some time, we determined that he knows our friend/dog judge Karen MacFarland from Kansas City, MO! Yes, it is a small world after all! I think God puts people in our lives at the right place and time for a reason!

Be blessed, and enjoy the pictures!