The Good Stuff

Kenny Chesney has created some really good videos. This is one of my favorites. Press the arrow button to start video, then kick back, and enjoy.

Just Cruising

The weather in October has been absolutely fantastic! This is pretty typical of fall weather in Oxnard. The Santa Ana wind comes in October and November, and we enjoy warm, dry weather and glassy ocean conditions.

Gigi on Tiki Bike

Here are Gigi (photo above) and Christine (photo below) with Mandalay Bay and Shell Island in the background. We're cruising around the Harbor and having fun.

Christine on Bike

Builders dredged out the harbor and built this new section of Mandalay Bay (back bay of Channel Islands Harbor) just for us to have a fun place to hang out. It is right in our backyard, and we love it. We're amazed because just a couple of years ago, this was all strawberry fields. Map (below) is a pre-construction rendering of the area, and it doesn't show the prominade too well. Basically, we can ride our bikes all around both islands and in front of the two marinas and shopping center on the prominade.

Map of Coral Island and Shell Island

Uni For Dinner Tonight

Jon Sears lives in Florida, but we get to spend some time with him a couple of times per year when he is operating his Sea Urchin/Sea Cucumber Dive Fishery. He has a nice Radon Boat (of course), and he dives using a hookah dive system. Whenever we are in the mood for sushi, food is fresh for the taking here!

Jon Sears and Urchin

Tonight we're in the mood for uni, so Jon just brings a few of them home to sample.

Sea Urchin in Jon's Hand

Fun urchin facts... This animal's sharp spines spear food and protect the urchin from predators. Between the spines are hundreds of tiny, sticky, tube feet. Using their spines and teeth, urchins burrow slowly into solid rock. Because they grow as they dig, they sometimes end up trapped in holes, where they're stuck waiting for food to drift their way.

Gigi and Urchins

The Radon Boat you see in the background is not Jon's boat. Jon's is a bit bigger, and it has a cabin.

Gigi, Bonzo, and Urchins

Bonzo doesn't like uni. He would rather have chicken and rice. But, the urchins are still alive and moving, so they are interesting to watch. The urchins are still alive and moving when Jon cracks them open. How mean you are, Jon!

Jon Preparing Urchins

Check out my sticky tube feet... An urchin's soft feet are always busy. Some hold the urchin to rocks, while others pass kelp and other food to its mouth. An urchin also "breathes" through its tube feet — that is where gases are exchanged, instead of in gills or lungs.

Got kelp? Urchins love to eat kelp. Sometimes they eat so much that they destroy the kelp beds. But, sea otters love to eat urchins. A healthy sea otter population prevents the number of urchins from growing too large, and helps keep the kelp forest healthy. The black stuff inside the urchin is the kelp. The orange stuff is what we eat.

Closeup of Inside Urchin

Road Trip

We're finally accepting the fact that summer is over, and so... what a better time than to take a little road trip to Laughlin, Nevada with our friends, Tommy and Christine. Pack up the cooler, girls... Road trip!

Gigi and Mickey in the Colorado Belle Casino

We actually stayed at the Golden Nugget. However, we visited other casinos, including the Colorado Belle. The Colorado Belle had a nice New Orleans type band playing. Tommy felt right at home!

Tommy and Christine at Wheel of Fortune Slot Machine

Gigi Found the Starbucks (Go Figure!)

A wise man once told Gigi to "follow the light"... Hey it works... there is my favorite store!

Christine and Gigi at Joe's Crab Shack

The Golden Nugget has a couple of nice restaurants, and we ate at both. Joe's Crab Shack is outside dining at the river's edge. The nice steakhouse called the Saltgrass.

Gigi (Self Portrait)

We had a nice time, but it is sure nice to be home to hear no more constant ringing sounds of the casinos.

Rejoice! Lobster Season has Opened!

Tim, Two Lobsters, and Commercial Lobster Trap

Lobster season has just opened here in California, The T-ANN and other commercial lobster boats are raking in tons of beautiful lobsters like these. Tim Armstrong (shown above) is a seasoned fisherman, and he is already enjoying a good year catching these delicious bugs! The guys let me and Bonzo pose with a live lobster (see photo below). Lucky for them that Spiny Lobsters don't have the big front pinchers like the American lobsters.

Gigi, Bonzo (the dog), and One Live Lobster

Other fun facts... Also known as California Spiny Lobster, Rock Lobster, Red Rock Lobster or Crayfish, and Kreef California. Spiny Lobsters are distributed all along the California coast. California Spiny lobsters live in a variety of habitats on the coast, in water from 1 foot to approximately 600 feet deep,ranging from shallow rock pools, out to the continental shelf. There is no evidence of mass migration of the California Spiny Lobster; however, movements of up to 89 miles have been reported, as well as shorter distances from inshore to deeper offshore waters. In many locations Spiny Lobsters show little movement. California Spiny Lobsters are carnivorous and eat molluscs, small crustaceans, echinoderms, and other benthic invertebrates. Major predators of both adult and juvenile California Spiny Lobsters are octopus, gummy sharks, fish such as southern rock cod, flathead, wrasse, morwong, conger eels, lingcod, and me!