The Many Words For Insane

I am going (have gone?) insane. I sat around all day waiting for the phone to ring. Waiting for the Realtor to call and say that the buyer has accepted our counter-offer and that he will be coming around with papers to sign. Waiting ... but nothing is happening. The phone is silent.

The buyer did come by yesterday evening for another look-see with his wife. We hoped this would result in something today but ... nothing.

Crazy. Loco. Bonkers. Cuckoo. Daft. Demented. Disordered. Distraught. Maniacal. That is how I am feeling.

OK ... I was putting this post together and the realtor called. It sounds positive and we should have something signed in our hands by noon Thursday ... we hope.

Crazy. Loco. Bonkers. Cuckoo. Daft. Demented. Disordered. Distraught. Maniacal. That is how I am feeling until at least noon tomorrow.

One Step Closer ... One Premonition Come True

When we were visiting Mom in Omaha and looking for homes, Mom said that things would change in three weeks. That was seventeen days ago. Today we received an offer on the house. Way to go Mom! Makes me want to sing:


We made a counter-offer that is more formality than anything. If all goes well, and that's a big if, we will be closing escrow on the 2nd of June and we'll be moved sometime during the third week of June. (I will probably be in Omaha before our stuff.)

Thank you to all that have been praying for us to get an offer. Now it is time to shift your target from getting an offer to closing escrow. There have been a lot of incidences of people falling out of escrow so the house isn't sold quite yet. Your prayers (and crossed fingers and good thoughts) are still needed.

It would also be appreciated if you prayed for the Wife getting a job offer. We need all the moral support we can get.

A Hot Fiesta

Today was Fiesta at the Wife's school. We thought it would be appropriate to make an appearance. The fiesta served up all sorts of food, activities, and every inflatable, bouncy thing you can imagine. People were having fun listening to the mariachis and watching the dancers.

Unfortunately, today decided to be one of the hottest possible days. The festivities, food, and drink were located out in the school parking lot. An asphalt parking lot. It was hot ... a lot.

The Wife saved one of her co-workers from a cream pie in the face and instead insisted they ride the train together around the parking lot (A riding lawnmower toeing a half dozen wagons). By the time they got back from their two laps around the booths and people, the Wife was worried she'd sweated a wet spot on her shorts. Fortunately, she was wrong.

By the time we left, we were roasty toasty. We bought some plants with our remaining tickets and headed home. When we got home (10 minutes from the school) our thermometer in our back yard was reading 103.4°F (39.7°C) in the shade. The only saving grace was it was a dry heat with only 14% humidity. The heat really pooped us out. We'll probably end the day with a visit to the Outback for a steak dinner.

Walking The Art

I've pretty much been stuck in the house most of this week and our house has been a little gloomy lately. The mood has been bleak. We really need something good to happen soon. I decided what I needed was to get out of the house and get some sun. Fortunately for me, this weekend is the Ventura Art Walk. The art walk, held a couple times a year, allows artists to display their art and merchants to attract customers to buy their wares. The Wife was going to a wedding shower so this was going to be a solo excursion.

I only have a marginal interest in the art but I was curious about the three stages with live music. I parked downtown and walked around looking at the photos, painting, jewelry, pottery, and sculpture on display. There appears to be a lot of talent in the Ventura area. I wasn't that impressed with the photos as I've seen better on Flickr but some of the paintings displayed some good talent. The music varied quite a bit - some good, some not so much. There were games for the kids, Clowns, and dancers from as far as England. I watch the Somerset Stave Dancers from Somerset England for a while. They were OK.

I'd had a large lunch before I had gone downtown and I made the mistake of stopping at Palermo and buying some Dark Chocolate Gelato and a Double Chocolate Truffle. They were great - don't get me wrong - but I should have spaced out the eating a little better as now I feel a little bloaty and disgusting. I always seem to do that - no self control.

I tried to walk it off and took a few pictures before I sat down to listen to a local singer, Emy Reynolds, from Nordhoff High School. She was pretty good. The music went well with the people watching. Ventura has such a mix of people - Surfer Dudes, Money, Tree Huggers, yuppies, and ordinary people young and old filling in the gaps.

After four songs, the sun was starting to get warm so I decided to call it a day. Three hours of sun and blue skies lifted my spirits a bit. I added the pictures I took to my 2007-2008 Ventura, CA  Google Photos album.

Topa Topa Reconnoiter

I decided that I needed to clear one of the reasons hurdles excuses for not doing the Topa Topa hike that I've been contemplating since February 2007. The excuse that I was leaning on was that I could not get to the trailhead due to the bad road conditions.

Back in January I drove up to Sisar Road to see what it looked like. They looked pretty bad. Sisar road is a narrow paved road through a residential area with no parking. The pavement ends and continues as a dirt road past a pair of water tanks. The last time I was there years ago the road past the tanks was in poor condition and I ended up parking near the tanks. Back in January the road up to the water tanks was rutted and looked impassable for the Honda.

I drove up there this morning to check it out. The road from the pavement to the water tanks had been repaired since January and looks pretty good. Past the tanks the road is pretty rough but, driving slowly and carefully I managed to make it all the way to the trailhead. The excuse is now officially gone. (Phil, you were, of course, correct)

Now the only thing stopping me is my uncertainties and they are fading fast. Last hike proved I could do the distance. The only doubts I have remaining is the vertical. All I need to do is give myself enough time to rest on the way up. On my way up there this morning I timed the drive - 45 minutes. Dawn is scheduled for about 5:30 AM, about 30 minutes before sunrise so I am planning to leave around 4:45 AM. This will give me maximum daytime to accomplish the hike and give me a lot of time to rest on the way up. It will also give me some time up on the top and time to find the twelve geocaches along the way back down to the car.

I drove back through Ojai and verified that a wilderness pass was not needed to park at the Sisar Road trailhead. I think I'm almost ready.

This will be the last hike on my to-do list. I'm sure that Phil or Geekhiker can suggest some good hikes to fill in the gap between Topa Topa and our move back to Omaha.

Happy Earth Day 2008!

Happy Earth Day!

News Of The Cynical Kind

Read this on Boing Boing today. An Italian performance artist was hitching hiking across Europe in a wedding dress to spread a message of peace and "marriage between different peoples and nations." In Turkey she was picked up by a "mentally ill" person, raped, murdered, and dumped in the bushes.

There's so much symbolism there, I think I'll be sick. Says a lot about our world, don't it?

Open House And Dog Parks

The open house is over and it was a success. The Wife says that the vast majority of the comments she heard were positive. Around 30 people walked through our house, much better then the four from the first open house. Some of the comments she overheard may indicate an offer in the near future. Keep your fingers crossed.

While the Wife listened to the wonderful compliments, I was with Homer at the dog park. This was Homer's first trip to a dog park and he behaved very well. He ran around the pit bulls, mastiffs, saint bernard's, chihuahuas, and terriers of all ilk, sniffing as many butts he could stick his nose in. Eventually, I think Homer was just overwhelmed by all the other dogs and people and he just walked up to the gate and looked at me like "Can we go home now?" We spent the rest of the four and a half hours in the car - Homer sleeping in the back and me reading.

Today is ending with some good Bar-B-Que from Just-Bar-B-Que and an aura of positive feedback and hope. Feels good.

Housing Update

Time for an update on our housing situation. We decided to make an offer on the house we found in Omaha. We offered the asking price for the house contingent on us selling our California house. The sellers have accepted our offer but are keeping the house on the market. If they receive another offer, we will have 24 hours to remove the contingency and buy it or to withdraw our offer. I am not that optimistic about getting this house but there really isn't any downside for us to try at this point.

About our California house, we are holding an open house Sunday. Our realtor is spreading the word as best as he can. He has received a few phone calls that have resulted in OOOOHs when they hear our new asking price. We've had a couple walk ups who had the same reaction. Not sure if the OOOOH means "Oh my God our own house is dropping in value" or "Wow! What a deal! We could afford to buy this house." Hopefully we will find out this coming week.

The realtor also said that he needed someone to help with the open house - mainly a body to be upstairs so that things don't disappear. His wife usually does this but she isn't available so he asked if we would stay during the open house. The Wife will be helping the realtor. I feel a little weird about watching people wander around our house and I'm not sure I could handle negative comments. The Wife has the same misgivings but she has agreed to stay. She has a lot more self control than I. (I suppose this means that I owe her Jewelry.)

I haven't decided where I will be during the open house. Homer will be in the gangway beside the house. I've thought about driving out to the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve to take pictures but I'm not interested in the two hours it would take to get there and the weather is going to be chilly and windy (50s with wind gusts up to 45 MPH). I've thought about visiting the Oxnard Library. Not sure what I would do there though. I may just find someplace to park and read. That would be the simplest and cheapest alternative.

Hiking Ventura County #50: Sulphur Mountain Road

I've hike parts of Sulphur Mountain road three times before. The hike is a 10 mile section of ranch road that leads from the 33 to the 150. the 33 side is low and the 150 side is high. Twice I started from the bottom and went about three miles up. Once I started at the top and hiked about two miles down. The best way to hike this road is to drop a car at one end and then have someone drop you off at the other trailhead. I didn't have this option (The Wife was at work when I was doing this hike) so I started at the bottom and hiked as far as I could before turning around. Since I am preparing for a hike up Topa Topa and that Hike is approximately 15.6 miles, that was my goal.

I parked my car near the locked gate and headed up the road. Within the first quarter mile or so you will pass a little stream of oil along the road. When I first saw this I thought "whoever dumped this oil is an A$$hole" before I realized that it is natural seepage.

The road is flanked on both sided by private property. I'm thankful that they've given hikers and bikers the right of way on the road. There are signs all up and down the road.

The road winds up through forests, meadows, and fields of vibrant yellow mustard. The wildflowers were out in force and the meadows were green. The sky was blue, the breeze was light and cooling, and the day was near perfect for a hike. As you walk along the road the thrum of the traffic fades and is replaced by the thrum of the insects and the chirps of the bird. The views from the road vary from green valleys, oak forests, ocean, lake, islands, and mountains.

I had 20 geocaches programmed into my GPS. I ended up doing 17 - the other three being beyond my turn around point. The first one I did was in a shoe hanging from a tree branch, "1000 Stinky Badfeet". In a hollow of the tree was some PVC pipe you could assemble into a pole that let you retrieve the shoe. Very clever.

I continued to pick up caches until I got to "Stinky Mountain 8, Stealth View". I found the container in the hollow of a tree. I put my GPS down in the crook of the tree and reached in to get the container. Next thing I know I'm feeling something pinching my arm. I pulled out my arm and it was covered in big, biting ants. I took a minute to do the OhMyGodAntsOnMyArm dance before I took a closer look at the cache. The cache and the entire tree was engulfed in ants. I grabbed my GPS, rolling it in the grass to get the ants off it, took pictures, then walked away flicking ants off me. I was probably bit five or six times.

I found several more caches until I was distracted by the sweeping landscapes. At the two mile mark the ocean of mustard became almost overwhelming. I forgot to look at my GPS and I passed two caches by. I ended up getting them on the way back to the car.

At three miles there is a great view of the city of Oak View and lake Casitas. I felt pretty good at this point. Over the next three miles I slowly wore down.

I reached my limit at around 7.62 miles. I stopped at a great vantage point. From here I could see Boney Ridge, the Channel Islands, Lake Casitas, and the backside of two tree hill. (Two tree hill is a hill overlooking Ventura with two solitary trees on top. The Wife used to us it as a navigational landmark.) On the lower seven miles of the road there are no homes, at least none visible. At my turn around point I saw a bus parked on a knoll. The bus has been converted into a motor home. From that spot you would have views of the entire valley all the way down to the ocean. If I owned a converted bus and I wanted to park it in the perfect spot, that would be where I'd park it. Turning around I noticed a house on the top of the ridge line above me. All I could see were the eaves of the roof. The house didn't seem that great but the views from up there had to be spectacular.

I saw a few animals on this hike. Birds, lizards (this one startled me as I was examining a cache), snakes, and the largest animal I've ever seen on a hike ... the cow.

This was a really nice hike. The views were magnificent and the conditions were perfect. The hike was 15.24 miles - a personal best - with 1,842 feet of vertical. This hike proved that I could do the distance up to Topa Topa, but Topa Topa has a lot more vertical - 4,487 feet. Pictures of Sulphur Mountain Road can be found here.

Topa Topa is my next hike. I'm not sure exactly when I will do it. I need to psyche myself up. It will be my biggest challenge and I'm having some major doubts about if I can do it or not. One issue is simply that I can't get to the trailhead because of the poor condition of the road. The ol' Honda just couldn't handle it. Another is if I'm not sure I can handle it. We'll see.

Speaking of the ol' Honda, when I got to the car and started for home, I noticed the check engine light was lit. The car is in the shop today. *sigh*