AmLo's Great American Vacation: August 2006

Camarillo Drive

Ended up in Camarillo this morning after dropping off SeaKee at the car repair. Had the camera and decided to go up to the old street where I grew up. Took a few vids and tried not to run over and kids in the street...

Second house in the first vid is the one I grew up in, and it is not even remotely the same. The whole street has a somewhat sterile feel to it now.

Around the corner.

El Presidente

Guess whos running for president?

Where are we?

Here is the next leg... I'll add to this as we lock down the route east from Washington.

Train

Where do I start on this post.... The train ride SUCKED! We got on in Fullerton, and the speaker announces STANDING ROOM ONLY FOLKS! Travelling alone, no big deal. But with 2 small kids (one crying), it dissolves into a massive headache. And I'd personally like to thank the people on that train for not even offering to volunteer a seat for a lady with a baby - one dude had a table for 4 and just looked at us like we were crazy.
Eventually, a very nice girl gave up a single seat and CAmLo and the girls crammed in. We got to LA, and the conductor announced that we had to leave the car we were in, and find different seats for some reason. We left, and of course there were no seats to be had. When we returned to that cart, she had allowed other people to come in and get comfy. So i was talking to this guy who grew up in Oxnard, and had finished his tour of duty as a US Marine... and he was pissed off. Basically, he said screw this, i'm going in there and you follow me. He snagged 2 tables, and told the conductor that if she planned on forcing us to move, ww3 would begin right there in that car.

So here's to you, Mr Oxnard Marine train dude! (Oh and they had Arrogant Bastard Pale Ale on the train... that helped)
And for all you smarty pants out there, I took this panorama as we were approaching Simi, well after the crowd had diminished.

for higher res image, click here

What a ride indeed!! Poor little XAmLo was so tired of all the people crowding and pushing...thank the train gods that LAmLo was okay. But fortunately it all worked out and we spent the last half of the ride in comfort with good beer..;) Thank you for sure Mr. Oxnard Marine, not only were you the only guy to give up your seat to a lady with a babe in arms, but you scored a comfortable table for our family of 4! You are a gentleman.

Now we all have colds...blech!! No fevers, just scratchy throats and stuffy noses...thanks to all the germy train crowders. Oh well...we'll live...;)

So Long Beach

Heres some pics of the Ama fam.... enjoy.

for higher res image, click here

LAmLo rollin with her cousin, AtAm

next stop, Ojai.

My bro and his fam all look great!! VAm is really popping out with the new baby bump, and little A is soooo damn cute!! They are anxious to sell their house and get out to Texas, and we are anxious to get them there..:) It will be great having them close by and letting the cousins grow and play together..:)

We are taking the train to Ventura/Ojai today to see B and fam again. That is going to be great! Then we head north to other family visits and finally the trek East towards home...We are really enjoying this trip so much. More to come!!

Newport

We connected with my old buddy, Mark, at a Celtic Bar in Newport Beach. Was a brief visit but it was wonderful to see him again. Didn't get any pics with him, but we did enjoy some kick ass celtic food and guiness pints. I shot a few videos of the band which was playing.... any Pogue or Waterboy's fans out there would have been as stoked as us to find this performance!

LAmLo was a dancing machine, and XAmLo did the bouncy boogie all afternoon.

The ladies, the ladies, the ladies love the music!

We also drove around after lunch, and I tested out some new sniffing software. Found 300 open networks and was able to stay online most of the way from Newport to Long Beach.
oh, and Rick Owen of Long Beach, your WiFi is unsecured and you need to change the password to your windows XP computer!

thanks for the bandwidth, sucker!

Today we catch a train and head North to Ojai

Long Beach

heres some pics of a mid century house for sale down here (we are staying here). It has some really interesting design features, such as gyp applied to provide a reveal at the edges, and exposed plates. The board and bats are actually redwood! The unique aspect of this neighborhood, is that when you go for a walk, homeowners invite you in to their homes to see what they have done to their house. They are all very aware of what year their house was buildt, and how to maintain the Cliff May style of Architecture. The homes are very simple, but rich in history and the owners plan to keep it that way.
Backyard:

for higher res image, click here

Front courtyard:

for a higher res image, click here

Curbside:

for a higher res image, click here

Interior

for a higher res image, click here

Interior Intersection: note that the gypsum is applied outwards, which was typical of the architect, Cliff May.

Trim and exterior finish type:

Window and plate:

heres a bonus pic:

and I HAD to throw this in here too...... LAmLo learned how to use the hydraulics in her uncles truck.

Even more Hawaii pics and etc

CAmLo had some time to hit the beach... heres some pics.

LAmLo with K

There was a bit of a swell that day, and they had to punch thru a 2 footer.....

LAmLo with her good friend E - they played so well together this whole visit.

3 friends:

Everybody had a wonderful time at the Kukio Beach, just south of the 4 seasones in Waikoloa.

LAmLo got to go swimming with some girls visiting from the Netherlands.

Sponger!

One thing hasn't changed, XAmLo LOVES blueberries.

And she loves to eat sand, no matter the color it goes in the intake.

LAmLo with her friends J and J.. they know how to party.

After work one day we decided to hit the pool at the "office". note to parents, never try to dive thru your kid's inflateables... as your ass will get stuck. Almost went off the infinity edge!

Little H loved it when I would burp... wiggy wiggy WIGGY!

The last days in hawaii

The month went fast... too fast. Work was intense, but we got so much done that it was worth it. We managed to take off to Volcano Village for a few days, while family came out to visit.
Heres some pics.. i tried to keep the panoramas skinnier this time, and there are links after each one you can click on to see them larger, in a new window.

higher res image, click here
we found a cool house at the end of a long road outside of Ke'eau, which is North of Hilo.

higher res image, click here
On the way down that road, we found this Gem.

We were the first people to stay in this house in Volcano Village, at 4000 feet elevation. It was finally time to cool off in the mist.

higher res image, click here
XAmLo matched the house!

After the Volcano, we made it to Black Sands Beach, Punulu'u.

LAmLo stuck out!

Uncle S found some black sand...

little H was extra white there.

XAmLo's feet

Brackish ponds were just adjacent to the beach.. lots of birds and fish. There was also lots of cold water upwelling into the ocean, which it made it look like gasoline fumes when snorkeling. We saw alot of turtles that day.