From Oxnard to Malibu, our route was only 30 miles. As we were heading out from the hotel this morning, we passed a pickup truck with a UVA sticker on the back bumper. When we stopped at the stoplight, we signaled for the fellow to roll his window down. I shared that I, too, was a UVA post-grad. He indicated that he was from Virginia Beach and had gone to Cox High School, my alma mater – small world – “6 degrees of separation”.

As we left Oxnard, we cycled past the Naval Base Ventura County while the National Anthem was being played.

I felt like I was back at GBE! This base designation encompasses many smaller bases – from Wikipedia “Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) is a United States Navy base located near Oxnard,California. The base was formed in 2000 through the merger of Naval Air Station Point Mugu and Naval Construction Battalion Center Port Hueneme.

NBVC is a diverse installation comprising three main facilities—Point Mugu, Port Hueneme and San Nicolas Island—and serving as an all-in-one mobilization site, deep water port, railhead, and airfield.” Wow, that is a lot of land, a lot of activities and a lot of personnel.  As we passed by the Air National Guard part of the base, Bill took a photo of the airplane on display at the gate (for our grandson).

Security quickly drove up and said, “No more photos!” Another mile down the road, we came across the Missile Site, similar to the one near Langley on Mercury Blvd. and there were plenty of planes to photograph there.

We also cycled past the military shooting range  as the shots echoed loudly through the canyon. “If the red flag is flying, it is dangerous due to practice shooting.”

Once we cycled past the military installations, we were back on a coastal route, the Pacific Coast Highway, bordered by the rugged Santa Monica Mountains. The next highlight was a “split rock” at Point Mugu, quite an interesting geological formation.

As we reached Point Mugu, many emergency vehicles began to pass us. We cycled for almost 10 miles before we came upon the scene of a horrific crash… some type of vehicle had gone off the cliff and ended up at the base of the boulders with wheels up – not sure whether it was a truck with trailer, or a camper, or car or pickup. (News report – car and 1 fatality).  I felt sorry for all the emergency workers that have to deal with situations like this much too frequently on this highway. Made me more alert for the rest of the ride today.

We have stopped at the Malibu Country Inn for the day. Photos below are views from and of the room.

Malibu is sure a pricey place to live. I couldn’t believe the size of all the cliffside and oceanside mansions or the price$. Oh my, not my cup of tea – or coffee.

Tomorrow we cycle mostly along the Pacific again through the outskirts of LA to Long Beach.