Advertisement
The RV takes over the house
This was the easiest move we've ever made by moving our stuff from the beautiful home into our mobile home.
Back in the RV
After a year and a half in a home without wheels, Grace and I are back in the RV. We've moved to Santa Barbara county while we are shopping for a home in Santa Barbara. We've moved into Rancho Oso, an old horse ranch that has 310 acres, 90 head of horses, cows,160 RVs and a big hog named Bob. Rancho Oso is still a working ranch that gives horse rides and attracts a lot of horse people. See more about it here:
Rancho Oso (Bear Ranch in English) is in Los Padres National Forest. I have some great views from my RV window – see the photos. Yesterday, Grace and I hiked around the mountain that you can see from my window. We started at 8:30am to beat the heat, but the sun is relentless here. The hike ended up being 9 long miles and we got off the trail at about 12:30 beaten, dusty and tired. The Los Padres National Forest is semi-desert and this time of year the sun never goes behind a cloud. While Santa Barbara is nice by the Pacific, we are 15 miles inland and
RV Window
Here's the view from my office window. I've seen deer, turkeys, ground squirrels, wood peckers and many other birds from this window.
behind the Santa Ynez mountains. The yuccha are in full bloom right now as the backcountry heats up and dries up.
Grace and I are really looking forward to moving into Santa Barbara. I lived in Santa Barbara from 1993-96 right after college and made satellites for Hughes Aircraft – one of Howard Hughes' companies. Santa Barbara is an amazing city nestled on a plane above the ocean and below the 4,000' Santa Ynez mountain range. The weather in SB is just about perfect with an average high of 64 in the January and 76 in August. The ocean keeps it warm in the winter and cool in the summer.
The real estate market is famous for being expensive, but Santa Barbara also goes through more extreme highs and lows than many other cities here. Santa Barbara doesn't have much industry anymore (this was the silent movie capital of the world before it moved to Hollywood) and many people come here to retire or make their second home.
When the economy drops, Santa Barbara gets hit pretty hard. The market peaked in 2007 and a 1,500 square foot house in a nice neighborhood would go for well
Major Eclipse
Here's a picture of the eclipsed sun. I haven't seen this big of an eclipse since I was a child in KC. This happened the day we moved to SB. Is it a good or a bad omen? I'm going to make it good. The top of this envelope was used as a lens and the crescent sun image is seen below the white section.
over $1,000,000. Those houses are not going for around $700,000. Most people think the market has bottomed out about 40%!o(MISSING)ff the peak and think it is a good time to buy.
World's Worst Fisherman
The Santa Ynez river runs right down the valley from us and flows into Cachuma Lake. Grace and I went kayaking on the lake the other week and then went fishing. We were cutting up mackerel for some catfish and tested our luck.
My luck failed as it has for 14 years (at least when I'm with Grace). We've been fishing a few times a year over the last 14 years and I leave empty handed every time. Grace can't remember the last time she saw me catch a fish – unless you count the ones I throw in the air and “catch”.
Regardless of the lack of fish, we still have a great time sitting by some water while the fish laugh at me. We'll take a bottle of wine and have a nice chat while Grace will catch one now and again. Last week we went out and found a particularly deep spot in the river – maybe
Grace Fishing at Lake Cachuma4' deep on one bank – and wet our line.
The bull frogs came out as the sun went down and we saw some carp that were about 2' long, but none bit. We were using the mackerel again and some salmon eggs and not getting any hits. The moon came up and we kept fishing until it was dark. I figure I exhausted the fish in the hole we camped in front of, so I went upstream and threw my treble hook in another hole, set my pole down and then went back to be with Grace.
An hour after sunset, we decided to pack up, so I walked back to get my rod and I kept walking and I couldn't find my pole. I walked back and forth and it was no where to be found. I soon realized that the fisherman's worst nightmare had happened to me. A fish ate my fishing pole – at least that is what Grace kept saying to me – mocking me. A fish ate my fishing pole!
It was too dark to go wading in the lake, so we came back the next day and found my pole
Grace on the Ranch30 yards upstream on the far side of the river – with no fish. All night I dreamed that I would have a huge carp or bass and Grace could take my picture and be proud of her man. Instead, I had to wade through the cold water just to get my pole back with the line broken. One of those big carp pulled my rod in and then broke the line. I think this can qualify me as one of the worst fisherman in the world. Let me know if you have a better story about the one that got away.
I'll be going back to Kansas City on Wednesday and then onto Chicago for the Kipp family reunion. We ahve 20 or 30 of us taking the train up to the windy city. It should be fun and I hope to see a few of you there.
Enjoy your summer,
Scott
Advertisement