Simi Valley

 We liked the beauty of the Simi Valley when we were there a few days ago and, as there were other places for us to visit in that area, we returned there yesterday. Our first stop was to see John's cousin and his wife in the town of  Moorland. After that we toured California Lutheran University in Thousand Oaks. It was easy to find the chapel as it is the  tallest building on the campus. The chapel, built in 1990, has a 75 foot spire which is topped with a 7 foot cross. It is quite a modern edifice. We were fortunate that the doors were open and we were able to tour the sanctuary, which we found to be quiet simple in design.

The campus has a beautiful setting in the valley with a ridge of mountains off in the distance behind it. Wildwood Park, located in those mountains, is where we stopped next. We had heard that the canyon is quite beautiful and has one rather large waterfall.

The hiking paths in the canyon are rather challenging with some very steep slopes.  But I, probably more so than John, was determined to see Paradise Falls. The sun overhead was quite warm but the air was cool in the lower levels of the canyon. We were hiking  along a river trail when we eventually heard the sound of falling water. Soon we saw a series of small waterfalls which cascaded down the rocky slopes of the canyon  into a 30 foot drop of thundering water. No question about it, it was worth the hike into the canyon.

By the time we hiked out of the park the sun was setting. We were still determined to take the scenic trip  through Simi Valley to the coastal town of Ventura. We ended up having our New Years Eve supper at a seafood restaurant on the Ventura pier. It was a wonderful way to spend our last day of 2011.