Mugu Canyon Rest Area in Oxnard

The Mugu Canyon Rest Area is located at 5735 Pacific Coast Highway in Oxnard, at the corner where PCH veers due north near Naval Base Ventura County.

“Rest Stop for Weary Travelers”

There is a viewing platform at the rest area with a bronze dedication tablet affixed to a rock, as well as two interpretive panels.

The tablet reads “Dedicated One July, Nineteen 1975 to Professor Emeritus and Mrs. George E. MacGinity in recognition of their scientific efforts for over fifty years to preserve the vital estuaries of California and the United States as a whole, and for their leadership in the field of marine and estuarine biology. This husband and wife team exemplify the need for people from all walks of life to work together so that man may live and prosper in harmony with his environment.”

The first interpretative panel points out that the Mugu Lagoon is the largest remaining coastal wetland in Southern California, providing much-needed food, shelter and breeding habitat. Naval Base Ventura County preserves and protects this area for wildlife and bird lovers.

The second panel describes the Chumash “House of the Sea,” a tomol, or plank canoe. Chumash mariners would paddle on a tomol, built by splitting driftwood, sewing planks with cordage and caulking with tar, as far as the Channel Islands. They would fish the open waters, return to this lagoon and the nearby Chumash village of Muwu.

The Truck Escape Ramp on Kanan Dume Road at the Intersection of Pacific Coast Highway

From time to time we take Kanan Road in Agoura Hills to Malibu for quick access to Zuma Beach, Westward Beach and Point Dume State Beach as well as Escondido Canyon Park, Paradise Cove and other great outdoor spots in Malibu.

From the 101, Kanan Road is about 12 miles from Pacific Coast Highway and takes roughly 15 minutes without traffic. Something that has always puzzled me is why it is called Kanan Road all the way from its juncture with North Westlake Boulevard in Thousand Oaks to the 101, through Oak Park and Agoura Hills, down to its intersection with Mulholland Highway in Malibu and then becomes Kanan Dume Road.

Runaway Truck Escape Ramp

The southernmost section of Kanan Dume Road is particularly steep, with an 8% grade over three miles.  My kids always ask about the "Escape Ramp" at the bottom of Kanan Dume Road at its intersection with PCH.

The Truck Escape Ramp was built in 1987 after a series of crashes and resulting deaths due to runaway trucks. The escape ramp, or arrester bed, is an 800 foot long, pit in the middle lane of the road filled 2 1/2 feet deep with gravel. The allowable weight limit for trucks on Kanan Dume was also dropped in 1987 from 14,000 to 8,000 lbs.

The arrester bed was renovated in 2014 to make it wider and improve signage. Thankfully we have never seen the escape ramp used, but it is there if it is ever needed.

Tunnel Vision

There are three tunnels on Kanan Dume Road between Latigo Canyon Road and PCH built in the late 1960s to early 1980s. They are affectionately referred to as T-1, T-2 and T-3. T-3 is two-lane tunnel located at approximately 1142-1208 Kanan Road in Agoura Hills, roughly five miles from Highway 101. A short distance later, you will drive through T-2, located just northeast of Rocky Oaks Park. About 2 1/2 miles from T-2 is the T-1 tunnel, just south of the Newton Canyon Backbone Trail trailhead.

One of three tunnels on Kanan Dume Road in Malibu. This one is called T-3. (Clever, eh?)

Signage indicating approach of the truck escape ramp on Kanan Dume Road.

A closer view of the escape ramp gravel pit. My son asked if we could drive in it (in my minivan). I said, "um, no" although if our brakes gave out, sure, I would use it.

SKA-teen Roller Rink in Thousand Oaks From 1967 to 1983

Back in the day, there was a roller rink at 300 Hampshire Road in Thousand Oaks, across the street from the former K-Mart. It was called the SKA-teen Roller Rink. It opened in 1967 and closed in 1983.

Twelve years later, Roller Dome opened at 950 Avenida de Los Arboles in Thousand Oaks in 1995, where it operated until October 2010.

Now the only remaining roller rink in Ventura County is Skating Plus in Ventura.

ICE SKATING, ROLLER SKATING AND SKATEBOARDING OPTIONS IN VENTURA COUNTY

U.S. Olympic Medalists Can Be Taxed on the Value of Medals and USOC Prize Money if Their Income is Over $1 Million

Are you a United States Olympic or Paralympic Gold, Silver or Bronze medalist wondering if you will need to pay taxes on the value of your medals or U.S. Olympic Committee prize money you receive for winning said medals? Me neither.

BUT, if you ARE an Olympic or Paralympic Medalist and just so happen to be reading this, the answer as of 2021 is, only if the Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) on your tax return the year you received your medal and prize money is greater than $1 million ($500,000 if you use the Married Filing Separately filing status).

The Internal Revenue Code was amended by the United States Appreciation for Olympians and Paralympians Act of 2016. (H.R. 5946) to effect the above tax treatment. This law exempts the value of any medal awarded in, or prize money received from the United States Olympic Committee on account of competition in the Olympic Games or Paralympic Games, for prizes and awards received after December 31, 2015.

Even if your AGI is below $1 million, you still have to show the value of these awards and prizes on your tax return, then show an offsetting adjustment to reduce the taxable amount to zero.

Excerpt from Draft Schedule 1 (Form 1040), 2021 (Part I Additional Income)

Excerpt from Draft Schedule 1 (Form 1040), 2021 (Part II Adjustments to Income)

So how much does the USOC pay Team USA athletes for their medals? $47,500 for each gold medal, $22,500 for silver and $15,000 for bronze. Paralympic Games athletes are paid $7,500 for gold, 45,250 for silver and $3,750 for bronze medals.

Shakey's Pizza Parlor on Thousand Oaks Boulevard in the 1960s

Shakey's Pizza Parlor in the background at the 1966 Conejo Valley Days Parade

Back in the day, there were only a few pizza places in Thousand Oaks, including this Shakey's Pizza Parlor on the north side of Thousand Oaks Boulevard, located across the street from Jungleland (where the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza now resides). 

The exact address of Shakey's was 2361 Thousand Oaks Blvd., where Toyota of Thousand Oaks resides today.

Today we have more pizza choices than ever imagined in the Conejo Valley. Over the last several years, newcomers to the Conejo Valley pizza scene include:

• Pitfire Artisan Pizza in Westlake Village (now closed)

• Barone's in Westlake Village (now in Thousand Oaks)

• Urban Pizza in Westlake Village (now closed)

• Pieology in Westlake Village (now closed)

• MOD Pizza in Newbury Park (now closed)

• Pieology in Thousand Oaks (now closed…but coming back to the Janss Marketplace)

To name a few...not to mention Toppers Pizza, Winner’s Pizza, D’Amore’s Pizza, Butler's Pizza, California Pizza Kitchen, Pizzeria La Piccola (now closed), Tony's Pizza, Greco's Pizzeria, Parma Pizza and many others.

Shakey's Pizza was founded in Sacramento on April 30, 1954, by Sherwood "Shakey" Johnson and Ed Plummer. Johnson's nickname resulted from nerve damage following a bout of malaria suffered during World War II.  In the 1970s, there were approximately 500 Shakey's locations in the U.S. Today there are 54, the majority of which are still here in Southern California. The closest Shakey's to Thousand Oaks is 30 miles away, in Northridge.

Another scene from the 1966 Conejo Valley Days Parade. Miss Shakey's is absent! But Miss Sizzler is present!

Conejo Valley Guide Facebook Followers Come Up with One Hundred Ways to Spell Conejo

In a recent daily gift card drawing on the Conejo Valley Guide Facebook Page, we asked folks to enter the contest by coming up with an incorrect spelling of the namesake of the Conejo Valley but to keep it phonetically correct. We do have a clever fan base; in less than 12 hours, they came up with over 100 alternative spellings of Conejo. And here they are:

1. Cahnayho

2. Ca-nay-hoe

3. Caneho

4. Ca-neigh-ho

5. Co nay ho

6. Co nay hoe

7. Coe nay ho

8. Coh nay hoe

9. Coh ney ho

10. Cohn eyyy ho

11. Connayo

12. Conaho

13. Conaeho

14. Conaiho

15. Cone-a-ho

16. Cone Eh Hough

17. Cone a ho

18. Cone eh? Oh!

19. Ca-neigh-ho

20. Co-neigh-ho

21. Coneho

22. Coneighho

23. Coneayyyho

24. Coneheyyo

25. Coneighho

26. Co-neigh-hoe

27. Coneigho

28. Coneighoe

29. Cone-heigh, ho

30. Coneyehho

31. Cow-nay-hoe

32. Cuh-nay-hoe

33. Cuh-neigh-ho

34. Cunayhoe

35. Ka nay ho

36. ka nay o

37. Ka neigh hoe

38. Kahnayoh

39. Kah-neigh-oh

40. Kahnejho

41. Kanaeho

42. Kanaho

43. Kanayho

44. Kanayhoe

45. Ka-nay-oh

46. Kaneho

47. Kanehoe

48. Kanehyo

49. Kanyeho

50. Keneho

51. Khoneigho

52. Khonayhoeh

53. Khonehhoe

54. Khoneeighho

55. Khoneighhoe

56. Khoneighho

57. Kho-ney-hoe

58. Kneighoe

59. Ko Nay Ho

60. Ko Nay Hoe

61. Ko neigh ho

62. Ko neigh hoe

63. Ko ney oh

64. Koe nay hoe

65. Koenaho

66. Koenayho

67. Koenehhoe

68. Koh nay ho

69. Koh Nay Hoe

70. Koh nay yo

71. Koh ne ho

72. Kohnayeoh

73. Kohnayho

74. Kohnejo

75. Kohnehoe

76. Kohneighho

77. Kon a ho

78. Konaeo

79. Konaho

80. Ko-nai-ho

81. Konaihoe

82. Konayho

83. Konayhoe

84. Konayo

85. Kone-ho

86. Koneayo

87. Koneheyo

88. Koneho

89. Konehoe

90. Koneighho

91. Koneighhoe

92. Koneyho

93. Konheee-hoe

94. Kuhnaiho

95. Kuh-nai-hoh

96. Kuhnayho

97. Kuhneho

98. Kunaho

99. Kunayho

100. Kuneho

101. Kuneigho

Leaf Blower Guidelines in the City of Westlake Village

Yes, the City of Westlake Village has "recommended guidelines" for the operation of leaf blowers that was approved by the Westlake Village City Council on June 27, 2012.

The detailed Guidelines are available on the City's website at www.wlv.org but here are the highlights:

1. Leaf blowers are only to be used between 7am and 4pm on weekdays and 8am to 4pm on Saturdays. Sundays and legal holidays are banned from use of gas powered leaf blowers.

2. One must use leaf blowers at the lowest speed possible...if a higher speed is ABSOLUTELY needed, one must do so for no longer than two minutes.

3. Mufflers and air filters must be used and serviced/cleaned periodically.

4. One must observe wind direction when operating the blower...and must blow in the same direction of the wind (except of course if the wind is blowing into your neighbor's property, city streets/gutters or the lake, in which case you might want to stop blowing).

5. Actually, one must NOT use leaf blowers when there are excessive winds or when any doors or windows are open.

Bottom line: When the area to be cleaned is small, grab a broom or rake and have at it. The guidelines state that failure to abide by the guidelines "could result in legal prohibitions against the use of leaf blowers."

The neighboring City of Thousand Oaks has no such guideline. The general Noise Ordinance in Chapter Five of the City's Municipal Code indicates that no powered equipment such as "backpack blower" (not to mention lawn mowers, edgers, etc.) shall be used between 9pm and 7am. That should explain why you never hear your neighbor mowing their lawn at midnight.

www.wlv.org/DocumentCenter/View/207/Leaf-Blower-Guidelines---2012-revised?bidId=