Santa Paula, CA

Date: Sunday, March 25, 2012

Starting Point: Riverside County, California

Destination: “Haunted” Glen Tavern Inn, Santa Paula, California (Where??? We had never been their either)

Total Miles: 246 miles (round trip)

Attendees: DarDar and Heather and friends

Where is the road?? The storm blew in after we hit the road. We spent a night in the haunted Glen Tavern Inn.

The Hotel reminded us a bit of Faulty Towers…..

Santa Paula VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Jane Austen Evening 2012

Pasadena is less than one tank away….

 

The Event VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

The Society to Manners and Merriment hosts the Jane Austen Evening every January. After a five year absence, we tried it again.

 

The Gowns VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

After two months of sewing, we were finally able to wear our gowns. My Grecian Goddess and Dar’s Recycled wedding dress were both reimagined dresses. Mom and Hellen’s were new.

 

The Location VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Pasadena Masonic Hall. Parking inadequate, but the building was pretty.

 

The Hair VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Thanks to Torrin Page (here in YouTube) for the tips on Regency Hair styles. I think we did ok.               I suddenly want to grow my hair long again.

 

Thanks for looking!

New Orleans

While “Naw-leens” is considerably outside of our One Tank radius, we applied One Tank Rules once we arrived.

Quickly, here are a few highlights…(Please note that I have a filter on my camera to protect the lens. I did not have time to edit the cut off corners out. Be warned: this is me with no makeup. What we are willing to forsake for science...C’est la vie. )

Best Tour Guide VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Best Tour Guide :Jasmine of Laura Plantation

We wish we could have combine the views of the Oak Alley with Jasmine’s personality. The two together made the perfect tour.

Best Location With Beauty and History VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Best Location With Beauty and History: Oak Alley Plantation

The Mint Juleps were not bad either.

Best Beignet VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Best Beignets: Café Beignet (Sorry, Café Du Monde)

We tried and tried them again and again just to be certain.

Best Dinner Entertainment VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Best Dinner and Show Deal: Steamboat Natchez

 

Best EVP Session VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Best EVP Session: St Louis Cemetery #1

Of course I dragged the EVP kit all the way to Naw-leens. I choose to give up taking makeup and a few other things in order to fit the EVP experiment in the bag. You should have seen the look on the airport screeners when they tried to figure out what a Faraday cage was on the screen. We completed several sessions. We received the best results, including disembodied voices at St Louis Cemetery #1. We also played messenger for several friends and family who wished to make a request of New Orleans Voodoo Queen,  Marie Laveau. I understand that at least one of these requests was granted! I did NOT graffiti my name on the tomb.

Best Fried Chicken and Groupon VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Best Fried Chicken and Groupon: Fiorella's Cafe

Best Views VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Best Views: Swamp Tour with Cajun Tours

The bus drives and tour guides were fantastic. They work hard, please  tip them well.  We did not rate the company  the best tour company because of the negative contacts with their customer service staff.

Exploring the City VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Best Bourbon Milk Punch, period:

Bourbon House

Naw’Leens or bust

We are heading to New Orleans.

While not strictly within the One Tank guidelines (way more than one tank of gas to get there!), we shall apply one tank rules there.

P.S. I have lovely pictures of  San Diego and our post Halloween dinner. I will get to post those soon…

Now, if I can just get everything in one carry on….

Olivas Adobe, Ventura

Date: Saturday, October 8, 2011

Starting Point: Arcadia, California

Destination: Olivas Adobe Ventura, California

Routes taken: CA-134, CA-210 and US-101

Total Miles:  150 miles (round trip)

Attendees:  Jeanette, DarDar and Heather

 

The Olivas Adobe, located in Ventura, California, is an adobe built in 1841 by Raymundo Olivas. Olivas received, in recognition of his service at the Presidio of Santa Barbara, approximately 2,250 acres (9 km2) as part of land grant from Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado in 1841, which he named Rancho San Miguel. The land had originally been part of Mission San Buenaventura, but was appropriated during the secularization of the missions. (Excerpt from Wikipedia.)

 

 

To keep costs down, we opted for a picnic lunch on the beautiful grounds of Olivas. Little did we realize that Olivas was the place of choice for every wedding photographer between Ventura and Ojai. We were surrounded by wedding after wedding after Quinceañera after Quinceañera.

 

 

Docent,  Ross Goodman,  and staff, Lola Lynch, regaled us fascinating adobe history. Here a few tidbits that we  learned:      *This is the premier site of California’s  Rancho period of history.  *As a couple, Raymundo and Theordora had 21 children who all lived.   *The Rancho survived during the gold rush when the Olivas family diversified and sold cattle to the miners.     *Max Fleischmann, the  yeast king, bought the adobe and restored it. He turned it over to the City of Ventura.

 

Olivas Adobe VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

One Tank Gang (L-R)

Jeanette, DarDar and Heather

We missed you Anthony and Jenny.

PS The world’s oldest flowering fuchsia is pictured over Jeannette’s right shoulder.

RIP TomTom

Here lies my nine day old TomTom GPS/SatNav.  Today it suffered a nervous breakdown (in other words, the hard drive crashed and wiped out all the maps, see no maps).

Really, the trip to LAX was  not that big of deal. Really!

Stu 2 Linda Vista Hospital, Los Angeles Aug 6, 2011

Stu 2 Conference at haunted Linda Vista Hospital, Los Angeles

What Stu 2 was:

·         Fun.

·         Full of personalities.

·         Interesting.

·         In an awesome active setting.

·         Worth trying again, providing you heed the items below.

What Stu was not:

·         Organized: We received seven different answers from Stu “Staff” to the same question…all of them incorrect. The “Wayne Poe Theater” was set up in a place that could not be accessed (with the threat of being kicked out of the event) due to filming.

·         Professional: Ticket sales were kept in a coffee can. Directional signs (e.g. “Speakers”) were ripped out of a notebook and written with a black sharpie pen.

·         Adequately stocked: Few bathrooms (the few that we had were cut off due to filming), no toilet paper, no towels, and no food vendors. (They did flag down a roach coach and an ice cream truck.)

·         Clean: See note on toilet paper above. We got in the car and drove to Starbucks.

Linda Vista Hospital is an awesome investigation location. Across the street is apparently Quinceañera central.

The One Tank Gang