Running with Painted Lady Butterflies on the Sandstone Peak Trail, Santa Monica Mountains

The Painted Ladies are back in a big way. Everywhere I look…in the backyard, driving, on the trails….I see them. I enjoyed running with them this morning on the Sandstone Peak Trail in the Santa Monica Mountains.

As we know, the Santa Monica Mountains were severely torched in the Woolsey Fire of November 2018.. The Sandstone Peak Trail gives you some perspective on the burn, while presenting plenty of regrowth and spring colors.

Other than the blackened trees and shrubs surrounding the trail, the only noticeable change is that the somewhat iconic “Sandstone Peak: Highest point in the Santa Monica Mountains - Elevation 3111 feet” sign at the base of the final ascent up to Sandstone Peak - is gone. Disintegrated. Perhaps it will be replaced.. The wooden staircase along the lower portion of that trail is also gone, and a new trail, just west of where the staircase used to be, has been cleared , leading to the top.

This is where the final ascent up Sandstone Peak began before the Woolsey Fire of 2018 destroyed the staircase and sign.

The iconic sign at the base of the staircase, before the Woolsey Fire destroyed it.

Fire or no fire…the views from Sandstone Peak have not changed.

MORE ON GETTING TO AND HIKING UP TO SANDSTONE PEAK

Annual Release of Goats to Clear the Hill Next to the Reagan Library in Simi Valley

Lucky to be at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley this morning to witness the annual release of grazing goats on the hillside west of the Library. What a sight! These seemingly endlessly hungry goats help mitigate fire danger by clearing the hill of dry vegetation.

More on the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum at THIS LINK.

New “The World of da Vinci” exhibit at the Reagan Library May 24 to September 8, 2019.

Butterflies Alive! and Prehistoric Forest Open May 25 at Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

On Saturday, May 25, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History will unveil two spectacular summer exhibits: Butterflies Alive! and Prehistoric Forest.

Monarch (Photo by Gary Robinson)

This summer will mark the Museum’s first full run of Butterflies Alive! following $20 million renovations supported by its Centennial Campaign. Visitors will be guided through a beautiful garden while nearly 1,000 live butterflies flutter freely around them. The exhibit features a dazzling variety of butterflies, from local favorites like the Monarch and Queen to exotic tropical varieties like swallowtails, longwings, and White Peacocks. Various butterfly species will cycle through the pavilion throughout the summer, so no two visits will be the same. Visitors are invited to learn about the butterfly life cycle by checking out the emergence chamber in the Museum’s Santa Barbara Gallery. There, visitors will get to see how butterflies emerge from their chrysalides and dry their wings before being moved to the pavilion.

Triceratops

Visitors who cross the Museum’s wooden bridges over Mission Creek will enter Prehistoric Forest and take a stroll back in time to come face-to-face with dinosaurs in the wild. They’ll meet a Tyrannosaurus rex, the formidably armored Stegosaurus, high-crested Parasaurolophus, and Triceratops and Ankylosaurus mothers with their young. These handcrafted moving animatronics from Kokoro Exhibits spark the imaginations of dinosaur-lovers of all ages.

Both exhibits are open from Saturday, May 25 to Monday, September 2, 10:00 AM–5:00 PM, and are included in Museum admission. www.sbnature.org

Laser Tag Places In and Around Ventura County

In 1982, a man named George Carter III started designing an arena-based, scored version of a game involving guns that emit infrared beams to "hit" members of other teams. The first laser tag arena was opened by Carter in Dallas on March 28, 1984. Laser tag at one point here in Ventura County consisted of just one venue - Lazerstar in Camarillo, which closed in March 2012. But in recent years has been on an upswing.

What I like about laser tag is that it is fun for all ages, gets you on your feet and is strategic. And it doesn't hurt when you're shot!

Well, we’re down to one laser tag option in Ventura County as of February 2023:

LazerTag Axtreme in the Wood Ranch Shopping Center in Simi Valley opened in July 2013. The facility is over 5,000 sq ft, with a multi-level arena, arcade and more.

This is the old LazerTag Extreme (formerly Lazerstar) back in August 2009 in Camarillo. This space is now a Fitness 19 gym.

Exploring the Coca-Cola All You Can Eat Right Field Pavilion at Dodger Stadium (NO LONGER AVAILABLE)

WELL, IT WAS FUN TO TRY ONCE BUT THESE “ALL YOU CAN EAT” SEATS ARE LONG GONE :(

I've been a Dodger fan my entire life, having been born and raised in the Los Angeles area and moving to the Conejo Valley in the mid 1990s.

When I was a kid, my dad would take us to the game a couple times each season. We sat in the cheapest seats and on our way there would stop by McDonald's or In-N-Out Burger and bring food into the stadium.

Today, while still fans of the Dodgers, we rarely go to games. Just too many other things going on in our life. But I decided it would be fun to take the kids on a Saturday night.

BUYING TICKETS ONLINE

Plenty of tickets are available, but I had moderate sticker shock at the prices. The cheapest seats on the Dodgers ticketing website were $28 + $6.50 "Convenience" fee (whatever that means) and a $5.10 "Processing" fee. It certainly would be nice if all online ticket sellers just have one "all in" price that clearly shows the total price.

I was amazed at how terrible the Dodgers' ticketing website is, compared to other sites like StubHub and SeatGeek. They make you run Flash and don't provide a view from the seats like the other sites do.

In any case, I reviewed multiple alternatives to the Dodgers' ticketing website and went with StubHub. StubHub adds a service fee and a fulfillment fee to ticket prices. These fees vary based on event and ticket type. For the Dodgers game, the service fees were in the 23-25% range and fulfillment fees were $2. Factoring these fees in, StubHub still had the best overall prices for comparable seats out of the options I looked at.

Save 10% Off Tickets on StubHub with code MEMORIES10

PICKING THE SEATS

I was taking three kids to the game and my cheapest alternative were seats way, way up high in the Top Deck or Reserve areas. I didn't really want to be that high up, so I looked at the alternative of the bleacher seats. 

I'm not a fan of bleacher seats as they are just that - long benches with numbered seatbacks - no individual seats. I'm that guy who is annoyed the entire flight on a plane where the guy next to me's arm intrudes on my space. So bleacher seats probably are not the best idea for me.

But on second thought, we're only talking two to three hours and the kids would enjoy it. How bad could it be, right? So I decided to look at seats in the Coca-Cola All You Can Eat Right Field Pavilion. They were about $20 to $25 more than the seats in the Left Field Pavilion, but ALL YOU CAN EAT sounded like a fun option with the kids.

The bleacher seats make you feel closer to the action IMO than the seats in nosebleed land.

THE ALL YOU CAN EAT PAVILION

If it were me and a buddy, I would not sit in the Coca-Cola All You Can Eat Pavilion because, well, I'm not big into gorging myself. But hey, I was with the kids, and thought it would be fun to just let em at it and not worry about cash. And indeed it was fun.

A few things to note. We are not talking about a gourmet selection in this deal. We're talking Dodger Dogs, nachos, peanuts, popcorn and non-alcoholic beverages (soft drinks, iced tea and water). No ice cream, churros, cotton candy or beer (though those were available for sale). And no pizza, hamburgers or other food items. One pizza vendor walked by around the 7th inning; I suppose he was desperate to unload them at that point.

Is the All You Can Eat Pavilion worth it? Well it comes down to numbers. If you were to consume one Dodger Dog (cost is $6.50), one bag of peanuts ($5 estimate) and one drink ($6 insanely expensive), you are consuming $17.50 of Dodger Stadium cuisine. Throw in one other item, like another hot dog or nachos, and you've pretty much broken even on the deal. 

Two of the three kids with me "broke even." So I had to personally make up for the third kid's under-consumption. Indeed I was hungry on the drive from Thousand Oaks to Dodger Stadium, so I was prepared for the challenge. In fact, I went for a run that morning to ensure my metabolism was raring to go.

My take: 3 Dodger Dogs (really closer to 2 1/2 as I couldn't finish the 3rd one), 1 iced tea (refilled once), 2 bags of peanuts (I brought one home) and 2 bags of popcorn. Ignoring the refill, I think I devoured about $46 retail value in food.

Of course consuming all that salty food might make one thirsty. I woke up the next morning with a very dry mouth. And I certainly got my money's worth the night before so it was worth it. Kind of.

I had fond memories of Dodger Dogs going back to my childhood. They were great back then. But these Dodger Dogs were lukewarm at best and had kind of a metallic taste to them. I find the hot dogs at Costco, for $1.50, INCLUDING drink, to be more fulfilling.

The popcorn I thought was actually pretty good for pre-bagged popcorn. The peanuts were quite salty. The nachos were meh, not particularly good, according to the kids. 

THE BLEACHER SEATS

They weren't that bad. It was fun. The crowds were pretty mellow and there were a lot of families/kids out there.

There is zero room between your legs and knees and the row in front of you, but thankfully we didn't experience too much back and forth of people passing by as we were seated towards the middle of the row.

Great view of the field. We had to twist our necks a bit to see the big video screen, but it wasn't too bad.

There's nowhere to place your food and drinks, so you have to kind of balance the food in a tray on your lap. There's no cup holder for the drink. I placed my iced tea under the bench, where it was soon joined by trash. In fact, the amount of trash left by attendees was jaw dropping.

Quite a mess under the seats of the bleacher benches.

My back was a little tweaked by the end of the game, but I survived. Though the Dodgers lost, the game was entertaining, as was the between-inning on-screen shenanigans. It was a fun night out.

GETTING THERE AND PARKING

I decided to use the Waze app to tell me the best way, factoring in traffic conditions, to get to Dodger Stadium. Without the app, the natural way I would go would be the 101 east to the 134 east to the 5 south.

Waze informed me that I would get there 12 minutes faster from Newbury Park via the 23 north to the 118 east to the 5 south to the 134 east to the 2 south to the 5 south. Yep, a bit out of the way, but it worked like a charm. A very stress-free drive, with minimal traffic.

Going home was much more direct - 5 north to 134 west, then 101 west. If you find yourself in the right-hand lane on Stadium Way coming out of Dodger Stadium, you will be forced to go on the 5 south. Whoops, wrong way! But if you do find yourself in this situation, not to worry. Continue on the 5 about half a mile and take the Riverside offramp, turn right, then you'll soon see a 5 north onramp.

Parking at the stadium is $25. DO buy a parking pass on the Dodgers ticketing website in advance for $15 to save yourself $10. www.mlb.com/dodgers/ballpark/transportation/parking

Was fun catching a Justin Turner home run in the 4th inning.

IN SUMMARY

• Dodger Stadium is just 40 to 60 minutes from the Conejo Valley and is a fun entertainment option for the entire family.

• Plenty of seating options are available. The Coca-Cola All You Can Eat Right Field Pavilion is a great option if your family enjoys Dodger Dogs, popcorn, peanuts, nachos and soft drinks.

The Annual Appearance of Ground Bees at Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa in Newbury Park

Every spring that I can remember, I’ve stopped in my tracks at some point by the annual appearance of ground bees in Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa.

Hundreds and hundreds of bees, burrowing about in holes in the ground, these are male ground bees - looking for females to mate with and foraging for nectar. But the good news is that these male bees have no stingers. The females can sting, but will not generally do so unless provoked.

Most importantly, these bees are pollinators, which is a good thing. So just…let them BEE if you come across them.

I’ve personally seen these ground bees on the Lower Satwiwa Loop Trail, near the junction of the Satwiwa Loop Trail, on the north Satwiwa Loop Trail (the one that connects to the Satwiwa Native American Center) and on the Wendy-Satwiwa Connector Trail. See map at THIS LINK.

Hillcrest Open Space in Thousand Oaks is Abloom in Mustard and Lupine

The hilly Hillcrest Open Space Preserve is covered yellow and purple in a display worthy of view. In fact, I’ve never seen this much lupine in one place in my 25+ years in the Conejo Valley. The Hillcrest Open Space main trailhead is not the easiest place to access due to the lack of any parking on Hillcrest Drive in that area, but there’s also another entry point highlighted in THIS POST. You will also enjoy the colors just driving by.

Not particularly the best trail for young kids as it is one of the hillier trails in the area. But not a problem for some. (On that note family and stroller-friendly local area trails at THIS LINK.

Lots of yellow going on around here (achoo!)

Just a small smattering of poppies in the Hillcrest Open Space.