I am finally at a place where I have reliable wi-fi service.  The last few nights the wi-fi would come and go so no posting happened.  Also, it seems that the photo issues are resolved.  I'll catch you up to date with photos then do regular posting.

Avocado trees near Ojai, CA.  Beautiful California Live Oaks in the background.

Two classy vintage vehicles at the Ojai, CA cruise-in.  I've never seen a truck like this one and the VW beetle was just like one my family took to Brazil in 1966.

Kurtiss race car at the Ojai cruise-in.  This was sleek, elegant and one of only two made for a Mexican race.  I can see myself running around town in this one!

Windmill in Solvang, CA, settled by Danish.  Solvang retains much of its architecture and heritage and is a very popular tourist area.  There are not many places only an hour or two from a major metropolitan area that can put you this close to another culture.

Danish bakery in Solvang.  Note the stork's nest on top.

  
Citrus grove near Ojai.  The southern CA area used to be covered in citrus groves, but many have gone by the wayside and now housing takes its place.

   
Having left the citrus and avocado groves of the Ojai area, we entered desert and kept climbing through some pretty rugged terrain.  At one area, not far from Ojai, we saw crude oil trickling out of the ground.  Oil wells were a common sight in some parts of the Los Angeles basin way back and crude oil still seeps to the surface at the  La Brea Tar Pits in LA.  This photo shows the rugged mountains in the area - this one an old lava flow - and Joshua Trees, the funny looking tall plants.

East of Palmdale we stopped in Pearblossom where they have apple, peach and nectarine orchards - just beautiful in the spring - looks like a cloud of pink in the distance.  This sculpture caught my eye - a cowboy sitting under a saguaro cactus.

East of Palmdale and Victorville, north of the LA basin, we entered the Apple Valley where the rock formations are incredible.  Apply Valley was where Roy Rogers and Dale Evans lived and some of their movies were filmed in the area.  I remember going to an event in Apple Valley and both of them were there to give a speech.  Roy Rogers looked so handsome in his western suit and his white hat.  He never seemed to age.  I did get Dale's autograph, but wasn't able to get Roy's.  I'll always regret that!
He was my childhood hero and I never missed an episode of their shows.

In Victorville, we traveled a portion of the historic Rt 66.  There is not much of it still intact, so it was pretty special.  While in Victorville, we stopped at El Pollo Loco (The Crazy Chicken) a fast food chain that specializes in citrus-basted chicken.  It is absolutely the best there is.  I had been thinking about that stop for hundreds of miles.  I need an El Pollo Loco restaurant in Wrightsville!!!

This little house is one of many scattered through the desert near Victorville and in other areas of the eastern portion of CA deserts.  There was a time when you could gain title to a small plot of land in the desert if you erected and occupied an improved dwelling on the land for a specified period of time.  Most of these little buildings are now abandoned and falling down, but it is tribute to the homesteading and pioneer spirit and the desire to have title to your own little plot of land.