SoCal Visit, Part 1 of 2, Oxnard

Overview
Frank and I spent a week visiting Dan and his family in Southern California October 15th to October 22nd. Carrie and "the littles", William and Irene, were in Ohio for the first part of the visit so we were able to spend more focused time with the two older girls Vivian and Lillian. We drove down to Oxnard, a coastal town about 5¼ hours south of us and Dan drove 2 hours north, so we all could experience the soft opening of Bowlero, a bowling and arcade establishment for which Dan had been the project manager. We rented a house 0.25 miles from the beach for two nights over the weekend. The following photos capture our escapades at bowling  and our beach experiences.

Friday, October 15:
Leaving mid-day, Frank and I drove south (actually Frank did all the driving while I navigated) and met up with Dan, Vivian, and Lillian at our rental house a few blocks' walk from the Channel Islands Beach. Arriving around 5:00 pm we unloaded and then scooted directly to Bowlero for a sneak peek preview before its grand opening the following weekend, catching dinner there and a fun game of ten-pin.

Dan, Vivian, and Lillian rented bowling shoes. I remarked that the girls were the first ever wearers of those child-size shoes, and I made them pose to record the event for posterity. No, the shoes are not on the wrong feet; each girl has one foot forward, Vivian's left and Lillian's right. We also asked a hostess to take a group shot of the five of us.

We usually bowl with our son Alex and then eat afterwards. Here, the food was served alley side while we were bowling. It was very cacophonous and I claim the distraction led to my poor score. Who cares! I had fun with my granddaughters and son. Frank and Dan managed to score over 100. Then I learned that these alleys use a novel string pin setting technique. Aha! I have another excuse for my poor score! Here is a one minute YouTube video of how a string pinsetter bowling alley works to clear the dead wood instead of a conventional sweep mechanism. In the video, the first ball has taken down nine pins; jiggling untangles the strings.

 

During the final frames Vivian and Lilian split this yummy dessert. Then we were all off and running – literally running – to the arcade mid section of Bowlero, sandwiched between two sets of ten lanes. I called out to Frank, "Are we on zone or man-on-man defense?"

In the center of Bowlera reception area is a 19973 vintage Mustang. Dan's company Bayley Construction is proficient at also helping with the decor of their clients' facilities. One of their employees facilitated the purchase and delivery of this classic car.

That facilitating employee just happened to be Dan and of course he took the opportunity to pose in it with three of his kids before delivery. From left to right are Lillian, William, Vivian, and Dan. They posed again once it was in situ in the lobby under the mood-inducing rose colored lighting. This time Vivian and Lillian are holding up the prizes they won playing the arcade games.

Frank and I (aka Grandpa and Grandma) also posed with them before heading back to the beach house. It had been a long, full day for all and we were looking forward to relaxing and catching up on some rest.

Saturday, October 16
We awoke next morning to a huge reminder of our plan for the day – BEACH! We could actually watch the waves lapping up on the shore in two directions from the roof. The red arrow in the aerial view points to our location relative to the beach. We ate a breakfast or two and a dinner up on the roof during our stay. We were not quite quick enough for sunrise (wrong direction anyway) but we caught a couple sunsets. It was a short walk to an access alley through to the beach and the owner of the rental thoughtfully provided some shovels and toys for sand play along with a cart that transformed into a beach chair.

The shoreline with gentle waves was just over the rise.

Dan and the girls enjoyed a lot of sand play – to be specific, sand play that was a determined, serious, and true fight against the element of the ocean.

Then there was sand sculpting as a team effort. Dan provided the source sand and then Viv worked very hard at turning Lil into a mermaid. Then she made a lounge chair for herself.

The workers then pose in repose, resting on their laurels (and shovels).

Next up was some fun play in the water. The temperature was comfortably cool and a pleasure to cavort in. 

In the final beach selfie photo of Dan and me, a "rogue" wave surged in behind us, catching us a bit higher up than we were expecting. Yikes! Dan held true and still snapped the photo. Yes, my glasses are cattywampus and so is the horizon, but he captured the emotion of the moment.

After returning from the beach we went for a 15 minute, 8 mile drive to Ventura Harbor for lunch at a highly recommended seafood restaurant. Not elegant, but Andria's Seafood Restaurant is reputed for great views with great food and consequently long wait lines.

Since we came in two cars due to child seat restrictions, Frank and I arrived first and waited in line, avoiding restless kiddos. It continued to be a beautiful day and we ate outdoors in a less crowded back area. Vivian and Lillian ate at their own table by choice, reveling in their independence. They shrieked in glee when a seagull swooped in and gulped down an entire woman's shrimp lunch when she got up to get some condiments. We had just finished up and were in the process of leaving when we overheard the hungry woman making her case to management that they should at least replace her shrimp. The seagull had preferentially ignored the fries.

After lunch we strolled around the pier. It was very picturesque and I convinced Frank and Dan to stand still for some photo op backgrounds. We admired an inlaid tile mural of an otter.

We had just finished a generously-sized fish lunch, so some of the shops that offered incredible dessert options would need to be passed by. Top This Chocolate  has an interesting concept of making custom chocolates for events or businesses. We did get each of the girls a chocolate covered Oreo cookie which they ate with relish once outside the shop.

One neon sign fascinated me and left me wondering what was a FishZookie. I did not go in and so did not find out until later. This YouTube clip explains it all. Looks yummy, but you have to have room in your tummy to appreciate it.

We headed home for some quiet afternoon and evening time. Rather than going out again, we played some games: Operation and Life with the girls and Skyjo with just the adults.

Dan ordered takeout and brought home shish kabobs for dinner on the roof. We watched the sun set as we ate. 

As a unique treat, when it was dark we watch a huge, HUGE ship pull out to sea from the nearby Port of Hueneme, less than a mile away from where we were staying. The Port of Hueneme is the only deep water harbor between Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay area. I learned it is a leading U.S. port for autos and fresh produce. Watching the passage of that huge ship was an impressive and a memorable finale to our time at the beach house. It dwarfed the houses it cruised by. The next morning, Sunday, October 17th, we would be heading south a couple hours to Dan's home in Lake Forest to continue our visit there.