We're calling this trip north the Appetizer Tour. We're merely sampling bits from each of the towns we are traveling through. There have been many proclamations to return soon. We ended Day #1 in the adorable village of Ventura, at its County Museum.

I totally have a thing for Mid-Century Modernism, the design movement that shaped America’s booming post-war era as seen through a Southern California lens, which allowed me to step back in time to a cooler and more sophisticated era of design.
This new exhibit explores the popular design movement in interior & graphic design, architecture, and urban development from 1945 to 1965. The exhibit features architectural photography, (groovy) period interior furnishings, films, paintings and pottery.
I was enamored with this house, the Lukes Residence, by architect Fred Hummel. Built in 1961, its cost was $11.09 sq ft and made of custom concrete walls. It is currently on the market, for the first time, for $595 sq ft or  $1,900,000. An outstanding design feature is the use of native rocks set into the concrete panels. Mr. Hummel selected the rocks, which were placed by hand in pre-arranged patterns in the slabs. 
This exhibition examines an era in post-war Southern California when architecture, art, music and design merged to form a modern awareness based on living well. Inspired by European immigrant artists and architects and up and coming American designers, the “cool” aesthetic flourished in the Los Angeles landscape and climate that extended into Ventura County and up through the Central Coast.

Another artifact that made me smile was this aluminum Christmas tree, a type of artificial Christmas tree that was popular in the United States from 1958 until about the mid-1960s. As its name suggests, the tree is made of aluminum, featuring foil needles and illumination from below via a rotating color wheel. The aluminum Christmas tree was used as symbol of the commercialization of Christmas in the highly acclaimed and successful 1965 television special, A Charlie Brown Christmas, which discredited its suitability as holiday decoration
The vintage ornaments, adorning the tree, brought back fond memories as these were the same ones I inherited when my parents passed away. Groovy indeed!


Malcolm Leland's Vessel cracked me up due to its prominence in a much remembered Star Trek episode. The work's goal is to "eliminate negative environmental impact completely through sensitive design." It is skillfully produced with clay, water and fire using proprietary techniques of the iconic Architectural Pottery (below).
California Cool looks at Ventura County’s contribution to the era focusing on the landmark homes and buildings and the birth of the local company, Architectural Fiberglass (began as pottery) in 1963, whose planters and benches graced many Ventura County shopping malls and commercial buildings.

"All of this informs an extraordinary exhibit that reflects not only a unique era in architecture and design, but also brings home the relevance and importance of this era on the Central Coast.”
We ended our first day on the road at a sidewalk Thai café. This was the perfect beginning for our northern adventure.

We've embarked on a much needed road trip. Who would have thought our first stop would be at a defunct mental hospital?

Now the home of California State University Channel Islands, Camarillo State Hospital was touted as the largest psychiatric hospital this side of the Mississippi when it opened in the mid-1930s. ‘From a mere 410 patients in 1936, the population grew in excess of 7,000 patients in 1957.
For many years, the hospital remained independent and autonomous from the outside world, with its own gardens, ice house, dairy, butcher, fire and police departments, hospital, beauty parlors, petting zoo, clothing store, swimming pool, and bowling alley. It even housed staff on its grounds. With its accreditation ratings consistently high in the 1980s and 1990s, the hospital seemed destined to last forever. As you can see by the ruins, things changed.

Looking for a sightseeing side trip, we were intrigued by the "Scary Dairy", located on the parcel that was a dairy farm that produced crops and housed livestock that fed the hospital community. The farm was disbanded in the 1960s and has been left in a state of disrepair, falling prey over the decades to vandals.

I suspect if you were here at night, it would be a bit ooky.

The history of Camarillo State Mental Hospital demands a more thorough explore (this is rumored to be The Eagles Hotel California). But that will be another time.



For today, just slightly veering off the set path proved exciting enough.

Some things are just so ridiculous, they demand a share. It has been years since we've frequented an Arby’s but their current direction is worth mentioning. This 55 year old 'meat factory' is now mocking the fake meat trend with vegetables made out of meat (or “megetables”).

Can it really be a decade ago that we received the first of our two wonderful daughters-in-law?

When I sent a text thanking her for marrying my boy, she wrote back, "You're welcome. Thanks for making him a family oriented man". I cried.

Our day was spent, just the two of us, hanging out at home. We awoke early, like the little kids that we are, and delighted in our quiet celebration.

Steve had intended to spend the holiday with his mom but she came down with the flu.
My daughter-in-law invited us to join in the gift unwrapping, via facetime. This is us on their bookshelf. Too cool.
Earlier in the week, Karen, her sisters and her niece brought us a delicious lunch and gave us the opportunity to catch up and feel holiday cheer. 𝅘𝅥𝅮All is merry and bright𝆔.

We spent the day before Christmas surrounded by more of my sister-in-law's creativity. She finished decorating the last of her 13 trees and wanted to share the cheer.

 

*This was written in 2004 and I feel now is a good time to share it again.

On Saturday, December 11th, members of the Temecula Sister City Association joined with an awesome group of Murrieta Rotarians to embark on a journey into Mexico. For several weeks prior, these organizations joined in a common humanitarian quest: to make Christmas happy for over two hundred students at Juan Escutia Elementary School and numerous young girls who live in the Salvatierra Orphanage, in Tecate.

The task was a challenge because so many worthy groups were also collecting toys for local children and beyond. It was heartwarming to see the outpouring of support from our community.  One group of anonymous students even had fund-raisers in order to raise money to purchase the items on the Mexican children's wish lists. The wanted items varied from simple, necessary items like deodorant and flannel sheets to baby dolls and walkman radios.  Through generosity and determination, everyone's wish seemed to come true.
Until this joint venture, Rotary was rather mysterious to me. What I found was the most caring group of people and interesting information about this great club. Rotary is a worldwide organization of business and professional leaders that provides humanitarian service, encourages high ethical standards in all vocations, and helps build goodwill and peace in the world.

The main objective of Rotary is service in the community, in the workplace, and throughout the world. Rotarians develop community service projects that address many of today's most critical issues, such as children at risk, poverty and hunger, the environment, illiteracy, and violence. The Rotary motto is Service Above Self.

The Temecula Sister City Association's primary goal is to encourage the understanding of each other as individuals and as members of the family of nations. Their mission is achieved by facilitating cultural, academic and economic exchanges that bridge the community of Temecula and our sister cities to enrich business relationships and friendships, and foster mutual respect.
What we discovered in Mexico were happy, thankful children who welcomed us into their lives and really enjoyed the numerous visitors there to share in an early Christmas celebration. Santa came with candy and unlimited, Ho Ho Hos. The presents seemed endless and the adults witnessing all of it, saw the holiday through the eyes of children.

These two very separate and unique groups were able to effortlessly join and bring smiles to the faces of children, bridge cultural and economic differences and return to their childhood for one sunny, delightful afternoon in Mexico.

Santa came early bringing me some healing help- the Combined Magnetic Field for accelerated spine fusion by SPINALOGIC®.

It looks like some kind of gaming system my boys used to play with.
Emily brought my Christmas present and taught us how to use it properly. The company has an interesting beginning. In 1978, Philadelphia Eagles’ offensive line captain Mark Nordquist and lawyer Ken Reed founded a small company in a Carlsbad, California garage. From its humble beginnings, DJO® has evolved into a billion-dollar company dedicated to enabling people to live their lives to the fullest by providing intelligent medical devices and services from injury prevention to rehabilitation. Woohoo!