Our Spring trip took us down the west cost of California, then East into Arizona and back. The trip was full of beautiful landscapes and visiting with family and friends.
We took two days to drive down to Rincon Parkway in Ventura CA, stopping in Paso Robles. We planned to be in Paso only for a night, but with high winds along the coast the next day, we extended our stay one more night. We spent the day in downtown Paso, including a great lunch at the Fish Groucho.
However, a week of dry camping at Rincon dry was what we were really looking forward to, and this time the weather was perfect!
There is just nothing like camping along the PCH, about 10 feet above the ocean, with the sound of the waves always providing a relaxing background. Yep, our happy place!
Even Lucy loves sniffing the ocean air and watching the many birds race around the surf.
During low tide you can talk a walk on the beach, then climb back up the rocks to your site. Easier than it looks.
While in the area, we enjoyed visiting some good friends who we’ve known for over 40 years. It was great to both catch up and reminisce about old times.
Like most of our trips to the area (and well-covered in previous posts), we also spent a day in Santa Barbara and Ojai.
However, we were surprised to see the Dead Sea Scrolls at the Reagan Museum, so we also planned a day there.
I loved how the exhibit provided history and context before showing the actual scrolls. They had many artifacts from the time period, as well as what they called the Jesus Boat. It is a replica of a boat found under the mud in the Sea of Galilee dating back to the time of Jesus. It is thought to be similar to one Jesus might have preached from to the people on the shore.
“On one occasion, Jesus was preaching to a crowd on the shore of Lake Galilee. A vast multitude of people was pushing to get close to Jesus to hear the word of God. He noticed two fishing boats at the water’s edge, with the fishermen nearby, rinsing their nets. Jesus climbed into the boat belonging to Simon Peter and said to him, “Let me use your boat. Push it off a short distance away from the shore so I can speak to the crowd.” Jesus sat down and taught the people from the boat. When he had finished, he said to Peter, “Now row out to deep water to cast your nets and you will have a great catch.””
Luke 5:1-4 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/luk.5.1-3.TPT
The scroll fragments were in a circular room, and I found it fascinating to learn about each one in the collection. Many of the Dead Sea scrolls were commentaries on the Bible, just like you might expect to find in an active religious community.
Here’s part of a scroll from Isaiah. I was so impressed with the technology they use to preserve and translate the scrolls. In some cases, with modern technology, they don’t even need to unroll a scroll to get a perfect image of it. You can find much more information about the scrolls here: https://www.deadseascrolls.org.il/?locale=en_US
At the end of the exhibit is a piece of the Wailing Wall, part of the retaining wall of the second temple, which was destroyed by the Romans in AD 70. To this day, people write prayer on small pieces of paper and wedge them between the blocks. The screen above the stone is a live feed from the wailing wall. It was pretty moving.
Of course we had the rest of the museum to explore as well!
Here’s a replica of the Oval Office!
I love these statues of Ronald and Nancy.
Air Force Once looks ready for take off, as it overlooks the valley below.
Here’s a short video provided by the Museum.
And with that, our time in Ventura was nearing an end. We’ll miss the beautiful sunsets, but plan to be back again soon!
For now, it’s off to Arizona and some quality time with friends and family.
Al & Deb
MobileMosers.com 
You must be logged in to post a comment.