Sand Sculpture Contest at the 2012 Hueneme Beach Festival Was a Hit!

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The 14th Annual Toni Young Hueneme Beach Festival took place the weekend of August 18-19, 2012. I had the opportunity to beat the Conejo Valley heat and head out to the festival on the 19th. What a treat it was!

While not the largest festival around Ventura County, the Hueneme Beach Festival sure is one of the more engaging and relaxing festivals around town. Like other festivals, there were vendors, a fun car show (lots of low-rider cars on display), great entertainment and family fun with games and rides.

View of the Hueneme Beach Festival from the beach.

To top it off, the 4th Annual Sand Sculpture Contest was a blast! As you can see below, competitors carved away as we watched them work their magic in the sand. With the Hueneme Beach Pier in the backdrop, attendees were able to enjoy cool ocean breezes while gazing upon these master sandcrafters.

The Hueneme Beach Festival generally takes place the 3rd weekend of August each year. The event is now dedicated to Toni Young, former Port Hueneme Mayor and city councilman for 16 years, who passed away after a sudden illness in December 2008. This is a wonderful event in her honor and definitely worth going out of your way for.

Conejo Valley Clouds on a Balmy, Slightly Humid, Mid-August Morning

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We're slowly but surely coming off of a summer heatwave in this week as the early morning cloud cover makes its way in to the Conejo Valley. It is still hot out and the humidity in the air makes it feel slightly more hot. In any case, these clouds make for some dramatic scenes in the early morning Thousand Oaks sky.

View these and other scenes around Ventura County on the Conejo Valley Guide Pinterest boards at pinterest.com/conejojoe/ventura-county-views/

The World's Most Valuable Car, the 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, on Display Again at The Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard

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The world's most valuable car, the 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, is on display again at The Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard. The 57SC Atlantic is on loan to the museum from its unnamed owner, who purchased the car for somewhere in the range of $30 to $40 million in 2010. There is some interesting information about the 57SC Atlantic at www.supercars.net/cars/2705.html. The Mullin Automotive Museum is a "must see" activity for anyone in the area. The cars in the museum are historic works of art and you can see them in person right here in Ventura County. Trust me, you won't regret it.

 

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Views of the Conejo Valley on a Warm, Cloudy August Saturday Night

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The heatwave continued today throughout the Southland today, with temperatures topping off around 95 degrees in Thousand Oaks with humidity in the 60-70% range. So it was a bit sticky out there. But the good news is that these weather conditions make for great scenes of the Conejo Valley!

What's Not to Love About the Ventura County Fair!? 137th Edition Now in Session!

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The 137th Ventura County Fair is off and running! This year's theme is "Rides, Ribbons and Rodeos" and visitors will certainly find plenty of that...and much more!  Some of the things you'll find here...games, rides, contests, music, rodeo, motor sports, mariachi, pony rides, goats, bunnies, chickens, vendors, kids' crafts, gems and minerals, agricultural exhibits, educational exhibits, every type of fair food you could imagine, photo opps and everything in between! Visit www.venturacountyfair.org for a complete event lineup!

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Former NBA Greats Pippen, Rodman, Grant and Others Played in Taiwan on Sunday

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A buddy of mine surprised me with these great photos from an exhibition game played in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. NBA legends Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman, along with other popular retirees including Horace Grant, Jason Williams, Mitch Richmond and others, put on a show against the Taiwanese All-Star team this past Sunday, July 21st.

This team of old-timers looked great! The NBA Alumni team beat the locals by a score of 104 to 89 and the crowd thoroughly enjoyed the show! Rodman, who is now 51, played with gusto, according to my friend. In fact, he dove for a loose ball and ended up in some courtside seats. His effort was impressive. And of course, as you'll see below, he was as photogenic as ever.

Local Photographer Jonathan Stewart Captures Humpback Whales in Santa Barbara

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On a recent whale watching trip to the Santa Barbara Channel via Channel Islands Packers (Condor Express also does whale watching trips) Conejo Valley based photographer Jonathan Stewart and others witnessed more humpback whales than could be counted, a solitary blue whale, an extraordinary number of dolphins and sea lions, and countless other sea creatures as they made their way towards the Channel Islands.

Stewart shares some fantastic shots below. For more of these, visit his website at www.jonathanstewartphotos.com or go directly to his Anacapa Island Whale Watching Album.

This is the head of one of the humpback whales they saw.

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