Boney Mountain Ridge Fifty Years Ago and Today as Seen From Newbury Park

Walt Dibblee began providing high quality photography for Ventura County in 1949 when he opened his commercial studio in Ventura. As Ventura County grew, the demand for aerial photography expanded. Walt bought a plane, learned to fly and for the next three decades photographed the cities of Ventura County from above.

His son Steve continues the tradition today with over 30 years of professional experience. Steve has shared some of Walt's work from the mid 1950s to the late 1960s at VenturaViews.com.

West Hills Hunt Club on the way to Sycamore Canyon in Newbury Park in 1955 (Photo Credit: Steve Diblee, VenturaViews.com)

Steve has provided this amazing shot members of the West Hills Hunt Club nearly 60 years ago, headed in the direction of Sycamore Canyon/Rancho Sierra Vista, with Boney Mountain in the background. The shot was taken from somewhere in the vicinity of Highway 101 at Wendy Drive, looking south.

And here is a more recent photo of Boney, without horses, in more recent times, taken from "Rabbit Hill" in Newbury Park. I guess it pretty much looks the same, eh?

The Historic Crowley House is Home to Conejo Valley Neighborhood for Learning

Ventura County Historical Landmark No. 109 is the Crowley House, located at 2522 Pleasant Way, Thousand Oaks. This five bedroom house was built in 1910 for newlyweds Frank and Mae Casey Crowley on the Newbury Ranch. The Crowley house was nicknamed "Mother of Thousand Oaks" as in the 1920s it was converted into a real estate office for the first Conejo Valley housing development.

Subsequently the house became a convalescent home and later was the home of Louis and Kathleen Goebel of Jungleland fame. It is now owned by the Conejo Recreation and Park District and is used by Conejo Valley Neighborhood for Learning to promote school readiness and services for children 0-5 years.  Crowley House is used for pre-natal classes, early parenting groups and serves as CVNfL's administrative office. Learn more about CVNfL at www.conejovalleynfl.org or by calling (805) 496-9035.

Children Eating Lunch at British School Surprised by Opera Performance

Sacla Italia, an Italian pesto and pasta sauce brand, served up a great surprise at a Buckinghamshire, England elementary school were served up lunch and an operetic surprise when four opera singers broke into a selection of works from Verdi, Puccini and Rossini. Fun to see the reactions on the kids' faces! 

You Never Know What May Slither By You in the Trails of the Conejo Valley

This morning around 7:30am I came across what looked to be a long stick lying on the trail in the Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa area.

But upon closer inspection it looked a bit too curvy to be a stick.

Yes, on my morning run I came across what looked to be a beautiful, three foot long gopher snake slithering across the trail. Of course, one could become anxious upon coming across such a snake out on the trails, but as I kept my distance, I noticed no signs of a rattle. It appeared to be a gopher snake, on the lookout for a morning snack.

Here's a link to some key distinguishing features between a rattlesnake and a harmless gopher snake.

As we finished our mutual admiration, Jake the Snake slithered off into the wild, dry, brown, drought-ridden yonder.

For over 50 area trails and hikes in and around Ventura County, click this link.

A Visit with the Thousand Oaks Cobra at the San Diego Zoo Last Weekend

It was nearly one year ago that Thousand Oaks made headlines for a venomous white monocled cobra caught slithering around local neighborhoods over Labor Day weekend.

After a massive snakehunt, the unusual looking leucistic (mostly white, but not albino) snake was found and brought to the Los Angeles Zoo.

Subsequently the snake was transported to the San Diego Zoo, one of only two zoo facilities in the U.S. with proper anti-venom for the species.

This lovely female Monocellate Cobra was subsequently named Adhira ("lightning") and appears to be doing quite well at her permanent home in the Reptile House at the San Diego Zoo.

We stopped by to visit Adhira last weekend. While admiring her, we bragged to other onlookers that she came from our city, Thousand Oaks. They gave us this, yeah, uh huh, sure, look. "Do you live in Southeast Asia?" to which I replied, "Seriously! This cobra was found in Thousand Oaks and has its own social media accounts on Twitter and Facebook!" They had moved on to the next snake.

Firefighter Cyclists Passing through Malibu Today for Cancer Awareness Ride

Suzy Demeter of Suzy Demeter Photography happened to be on PCH in Malibu today when these firefighters came cycling by from the north. They were escorted by a fire truck from Malibu Fire Station #99, the westernmost fire station in Los Angeles County.

This was a group of firefighter cyclists that are part of the National Fire Velo Cycling Club that were on a one week ride from San Francisco Bay to Los Angeles as part of a "Fire Service Cancer Awareness" ride. Today is the final day of their ride, which ends at the Santa Monica Pier.

Visit their Facebook page to learn more, or visit www.firevelo.com.