Groundhog Day 2016 Travel Blog
For my sixtieth birthday, aka Groundhog Day 2016, I decided to drive to California to celebrate the day at the Magic Castle in Hollywood* with dear friends. It turned into an eight day romp that included Sherman Oaks, Hollywood, Hacienda Heights, Santa Paula, Newberry Park, Ventura Beach, Santa Barbara, Isla Vista, Summerland, Carpinteria, and Palm Desert. The photo above is me at the Hacienda Heights Hsi Lai Buddhist Temple.*
Santa Paula
My friend Jon Wilkman* took me to his book signing at the Santa Paula Agricultural Museum.* I had already started reading his book, Floodpath: The Deadliest Man-Made Disaster of 20th-Century America and the Making of Modern Los Angeles.
After Los Angeles, I finished reading the book while stayed over in a hotel in Ventura Beach, right in the path of the flood waters. Read my review of Floodpath at Amazon.com Kindle or hardcover.
Above: my friend signing books after his talk.
Below: tractors of the Santa Paula Agricultural Museum. Everything I know about tractors I learned while waiting for the event to begin.
Getty Museum
View from the Getty Museum,* including the Pacific Ocean, during a storm that dropped an inch of rain on Los Angeles.
Silver Lake
A memorial reunion in Silver Lake for Kyle C. Kyle (1955-2015)* He's been gone a year, but we wanted to remember him.
Hacienda Heights
My friend Steve who took me to the Hsi Lai Temple for their vegan buffet.
With permission from the Hsi Lai Temple Museum.
The day after the storm it was windy, blowing the New Year's decorations at Hsi Lai Temple. Click here to watch a one minute video.
Santa Barbara
Next, on to UCSB to see the new library and catalog my journals going back to 1979, which are part of the UCSB Special Research Collection.
Above: the old entrance to the UCSB Library. Below: the new entrance after extensive renovation and a new wing added.
Media coverage:
KCBS FM, Central Coast Public Radio: "Librarian sees new UCSB Library as a 'game-changing' resource for students" http://kcbx.org/post/librarian-sees-new-ucsb-library-game-changing-resource-students
KCRW: "The role of a library in the digital age" kcrw.com
KEYT: "New library opens at UCSB" keyt.com
Santa Barbara News-Press (subscription required to read online): "Library renewed: UCSB officially unveils expanded facility" newspress.com
Santa Barbara Independent (cover story): "UCSB Unveils its Library of the Future" http://www.independent.com/news/2016/jan/14/ucsb-unveils-its-library-future/
The new Special Research Collections reading room, seen from the reception area.
The new Special Research Collections reading room, looking out at the reception area.
An entry I found in one of my journals, dated September 10, 2005. Now, eleven years later, they have all my journals and an agreement to inherit my copyrights when I die (a long time from now).
Surfers at the beach in Isla Vista, the college town adjacent to the UCSB campus.
A waterwheel in a park adjacent to the UCSB campus. Click here to watch a one minute video of the wheel turning.
In the evening, my friend took me for a tour of Santa Barbara and we had dinner at El Paseo Mexican Restaurant in Downtown Santa Barbara (above).
Summerland
On the way home, a stop in Summerland to see the beach, then up the hill to Carpinteria to meet the curator of the Pacifica Graduate Institute Special Collections Library. On the road home, dinner with my cousin and his wife in Palm Desert, then the final descent into Arizona, arriving home before the strike of midnight February 6.
Thank You
To my dear friends in California: L.A. - Sallie, Jenn, Gunnar, Keegan, Jon, Dave T., Justin, Suzel, Lyman, Steve, Jim S., Bill, and Blake; Ventura and Santa Barbara - Tyaga and her family, Koleen, plus Stephanie and Koleen's other friends I met, Julie, David S., Toni, Danelle, (David G., who was sick and couldn't meet us), Ed, Richard; and Palm Desert - Cousins Don and Donna. I love you all so much, thank you for being part of my travels.
