The Conejo Valley Guide "Welcome" blog covers a wide range of topics, local information, highlights of local things to do, compilations and other items. Focus is on information relevant to Ventura County and surrounding areas, including Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Newbury Park, Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Malibu, Simi Valley, Camarillo, Moorpark, Somis, Fillmore, Santa Paula, Ojai, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Santa Barbara and Moorpark.
The Conejo Valley Guide® "Welcome" blog covers a wide range of topics, local information, local things to do, holiday event compilations, announcements and more.
Beautiful skies tonight, Sunday, November 27, 2022, at the end of the first weekend of holiday season shopping in Ventura County. Though it was such a beautiful weekend, many of us spent time outdoors, away from the hustle and bustle.
View from the camarillo Premium Outlets
View from near Thornhill Broome Beach in Point Mugu State Park (Photo Credit @bradli.mp3 Instagram)
It was not a planned visit.
My son and I were cycling from Carpinteria to Santa Barbara for the first time, enjoying a relaxing ride on Via Real/Lillie Ave, paralleling the 101 on the north side.
We passed a sign that said "McLeod Parrot Menagerie" and I heard birds, squawking birds. I said, let's check this out!
Little did I know that co-located at the Menagerie is the Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary.
Squawkless in Summerland!? Heck no! Lots of squawking and talking going on at this place!
The Sanctuary is a non-profit organization founded by Jamie McLeod that rescues and rehabilitates parrots that are unwanted, abused and orphaned. The organization also finds homes for these beautiful animals.
The Sanctuary is home to over 60 of birds, some of which are ready for adoption; others may have conditions that prevent adoption.
We got the chance to chat with Jamie, who is 1984 graduate from the America's Teaching Zoo at Moorpark College. She showed us the Skylar Learning Center, where children can learn more about these interesting, long-lived, intelligent creatures.
And of course we visited with the birds and had meaningful conversations with many of them. We heard words and phrases like "hello," "knock knock," "how's it going," "I love you," and so on. Quite entertaining. And we caught a few cool head bobs too!
We also learned that the McLeod Parrot Menagerie provides grooming and boarding, toys and other parrot-related products and services.
The Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary is a must see and less than an hour from central Thousand Oaks. Walk-in visits are available 10 am to 3:30 pm Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Fees for non-docent tours are $10 for adults and $5 for 12 and under and 65+ seniors. Donations are welcomed (and tax deductible) as they help towards caring for and feeding the parrots. Docent-led personalized tours are also available with at least one week’s advance notice. You may observe the birds, but do not touch or feed them or their cages.
These fellows were quite entertaining.
To learn more, visit www.sbbird.org or visit their Facebook page at www.facebook.com/sbbsbirds or call 805.565.1807. The street address is 2340 Lillie Avenue, Summerland.
Built in 1892, the Camarillo Ranch House is a grand, three-story, 15-room home built by Adolfo Camarillo in the Queen Anne Victorian style. It was named to the National Register of Historic Places in February 2003. The home features seven bedrooms, a grand staircase, tower bay, wooden refrigerator, wrap-around exterior balcony, hardwood floors and turrets.
The exterior and interior of the Camarillo Ranch House were restored by the City of Camarillo and Camarillo Ranch Foundation in 1999-2001.
The White Horse Stables were built in 1966 for the famed Camarillo White Horses. Breeding of the horses began in 1920 when Adolfo Camarillo acquired Sultan, a Spanish stallion, and bred him with a Morgan mare. The White Horses are now owned by members of the White Horse Association. Learn more about the White Horses at www.camarillowhitehorses.org.
Renovation of the historic 1905 Mule Barn at the Camarillo Ranch was completed in 2009.
Today the Camarillo Ranch is owned by the City of Camarillo and operated by the Camarillo Ranch Foundation. The Camarillo Ranch House operates as a museum, featuring rotating exhibits, along with historic home and school tours.
The 3 1/2 acre site is host to a number of community events each year and is available to private parties for weddings, parties, fundraisers and other events. It is a beautiful setting, shaded by historic trees planted before 1900. You can't miss these trees as you drive by on the 101 freeway.
Docent-led tours of the house are currently (as of September 202) offered on Saturdays and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. (last tour starts at 1:30 p.m.). House tour fees are $5 per person (cash only). Children 12 and under are free. The grounds are open every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and are open to the public.
The Camarillo Ranch House is located at 201 Camarillo Ranch Road. Visit camarilloranchfoundation.com or call 805.389.8182 for more information.
We had several days of these pretty clouds blanketing our local skies last week. The view above is from the top of the Conejo Valley Botanic Garden, looking towards Tarantula Hill. A beautiful sight.
I was running (literally running) around Agoura Hills, in the vicinity of Agoura Road west of Chesebro Road, when I looked up and saw this distinctly vintage "Agoura" sign displayed at the corner of Agoura and Lewis Roads. While I've driven that stretch of Agoura Road hundreds of times over the years, for whatever reason I never really noticed this interesting sign.
I wondered how long this sign has been there. City of Agoura Historian Cim Castellon was able to help put some of the puzzle together by contacting Brian Rooney of R7 Media, who provided the image below.
This photo shows two women posing for the camera with the Agoura sign and Agoura Market and Gas Station, owned by Harold Neale, in the background.
Photo Credit: R7 Media (www.r7media.com)
On the east side of Lewis Road road is the old Agoura Post Office at 28249 Agoura Road, Agoura Hills. Brian thinks the Agoura sign was put up about the time the post office opened.
The sign is located adjacent to what used to be Center Stage Music, in a building that originally was Fitzgerald's Market in the 1920s and later Agoura Market in the 1940s.
For more local history, be sure to stop by the Reyes Adobe Historical Site, the first home built in Agoura Hills back in 1850.
As a resident of the Conejo Valley for over 20 years, a long distance runner and a father with active kids, I've run, walked, hiked and rolled over thousands of miles of trails within and surrounding the Conejo Valley.
Over the years I've noticed interesting, old items on the sides of the trails. These relics from the past always make me wonder how they got there and why they remain. I've attempted here to document these automotive blasts to the past on the trails of the Conejo Valley.
Read MoreYou don't see many signs around town like the Fillmore sign at the northeast corner of Highway 126 (E. Telegraph Road) and Central Avenue.
Fillmore sign photo taken as I was waiting at the stoplight driving south on Central Avenue.
The sign was originally constructed in 1940, making it 80 years old. It is designated a historical landmark by the City of Fillmore.
The Fillmore sign is a cool green neon lit up at night
It's not exactly easy getting to Fillmore from the Conejo Valley as you either have to take the winding path of the 23/Grimes Canyon Road via Moorpark or drive out to Ventura via the 101 and take the 126 to Fillmore by way of Santa Paula. Kind of a haul but certainly fun to do every now and then.
At a total area of only 2.8 square miles, Fillmore is the smallest of Ventura County's 10 cities, and its population of roughly 16,000 places it 9th (roughly double the population of Ojai). Fillmore was not named after Millard Fillmore; it was named after Jerome Fillmore, General Superintendent of the Southern Pacific Railroad when they built the line connecting Santa Paula, Fillmore and Castaic.
Quite a quaint little place that is certainly fun to visit, with highlights such as numerous themed train rides at Fillmore & Western Railway, State Fish Hatchery and Railroad Visitor Center, along with an old town feel along Central Avenue.
Fillmore sign as of July 2022
Conejo Valley Guide covers events, activities and things to do throughout Ventura County and surrounding areas.
Conejo Valley Guide® covers thousands of events, activities and things to do throughout Ventura County, California and surrounding areas.
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