'Tis The Season for Santa Barbara Filmmaker's "Roadside Santa" Documentary

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My kids and I always wave at Santa Claus facing the 101 freeway as we drive north through Camarillo and Oxnard. Since 2003 this 20 foot Santa has resided in the unincorporated area of Nyeland Acres, bringing smiles to the faces of passersby.

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Constructed in 1947, near the community of Carpinteria, Santa Claus was part of a roadside attraction known as Santa Claus Lane, a two-lane roadway that paralleled the south side of U.S. Highway 101, just west of the City of Carpinteria.  Between the late 1940s and the mid-1960s, Santa Claus Lane featured a thriving array of stores restaurants, motels, and a post office, as well as attractions, including a child’s train, small zoo, and pony rides, that catered both to travelers and nearby communities.

For over six years, Santa Barbara filmmaker Jody Nelson has chronicled the history of this popular Santa that will be made into a full-length film, "Roadside Santa." Through melding stories of community residents, interviews with scholars and activists, archival footage and stills, the documentary explores themes of cultural transition in California as experienced in the disparate communities that Santa has called home. “Roadside Santa” illuminates how the residents of Nyeland Acres have welcomed Santa to their neighborhood and reinvented him as a potent and positive symbol of community identity, demonstrating the adaptive capacities of new immigrant communities and American culture alike.

UPDATE Nov 2015: It does not appear that this film has been finalized as an fyi.

The video below highlights some some of the scenes, stories and interviews, as well as the popular annual Santa to the Sea Half Marathon that supports a toy drive for local underprivileged kids. Watch it! You'll learn about our own Ventura County Roadside Santa and how he brings joy to the local community.

Nelson is nearly finished with the film but is still interested in Santa Claus Lane photos, film footage and memorabilia from the 1940s to present day, Santa Claus Lane stories from people who lived/worked there and the whereabouts of the miniature train and carousel that used to reside there. She also seeks additional funding to help finalize the film and bring it to film festivals and perhaps TV.

Learn more by visiting www.nelsonfilms.com or at this Facebook page or calling Jody at 805.403.0602. She can also be reached at jgirlsb1@gmail.com.

"Thinking Dreams" This Summer by Local Camarillo Artist, Chuck Trunks

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This latest piece by Camarillo artist Chuck Trunks depicts a girl who appears to be thinking about what summer has in store for her. Or maybe it is deeper than that. Trunks calls it "Thinking Dreams." I know it was inspired by ocean views in Ventura looking towards the Channel Islands.  See Trunks' other work on Conejo Valley Guide here.

Speaking of Ventura and the Channel Islands:

The New Dinosaur Hall at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County

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On July 16th, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County premiered the all-new, 14,000 sq ft  Dinosaur Hall. It rivals the world’s leading dinosaur halls for the number of individual fossils displayed, the size and spectacular character of the major mounts, including the world’s only Tyrannosaurus rex growth series, and the way that paleontology comes alive!

We visited this past weekend and it were impressed! There are over 300 fossils and 20 complete mounts of dinosaurs on display. Since this permanent exhibit is so new and popular, you will need to reserve a time slot. We stopped by on Sunday around 3:45 p.m. and the 4:15 p.m. time slot was available. After walking around the museum, we stood in line only about 10 minutes and were soon in.

This is a must-see. If you have young kids, another highlight of the Museum is Insect Hall. While you're down there, stop by the California ScienCenter next door!

Traveling with the Kids to Las Vegas: Things to See and Do

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Last month I wrote about traveling with the kids to Las Vegas based on my recent experience taking 5 and 8 year old boys there for 3 days. The focus of that article was how to get there and get around. Now I'd like to touch on what I did with the kids in Las Vegas to keep it a fun experience.

Since I'm not a big gambler, I don't get out to Las Vegas very often, and I had never taken the kids there. But we wanted to meet up with grandma in Vegas, so off we went. So I had some research to do, namely where to stay and what to do there with the kids.

Keep in mind that this write-up is based on my one recent experience in Las Vegas and thus in no way is meant to be comprehensive. There are plenty of options there and I wanted to share what I learned. But by all means do your own research!

Our Hotel Experience

Let's start with the hotel. My primary objectives were to find a kid-friendly hotel with fun things to do, nearby other fun activities and has food that the kids will enjoy. Mind you, my kids are at the age where they get antsy sitting around and waiting in fancy places so I had to really put some thought into where we were going to stay. Oh yes, I don't want to stay at a really expensive place. Also, I wanted to stay within close proximity of the Strip.

Choosing the hotel is not easy. There are over 3 dozen large hotels on or near the Strip. After doing some research using Expedia and other online resources, I decided to ask people in Facebook, to which I received an outpouring of advice.  Hotels referred to me were the MGM, Excalibur, Circus Circus, Monte Carlo, Orleans, Red Rock Resort, Mandalay Bay, Rio, Flamingo, Mirage, Vdara and Rio.

After more due diligence and thought, I opted to go with the

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A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...But Sometimes Can Be Deceiving

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From looking at this picture of 19 month old Paxton Ferry of Camarillo, you'd never know that he was actually having a blast and giggling away down the slide at Arneill Ranch Park. But, according to his mommy, Margot, that's exactly what he was doing. Yes, a picture is worth a thousand words, but sometimes it doesn't tell the whole story. Great pic, Margot!

Need help planning what to pack for school, camp or picnics in the park? Margot's Facebook page, Little Lunches, will give you some great ideas.

Click here for hundreds of fun kid activities around Ventura County!

Throwing a birthday party? Here are 90 or so local venues.

Traveling with the Kids to Las Vegas: Getting There and Getting Around

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Recently I took my kids on a 3 day adventure to Las Vegas to meet up with their grandma and give their mom a break back home. My challenge: How to have a fun mini-vacation with my 5 and 8 year old boys while maintaining my sanity on this ultimate bachelor weekend in Vegas.


Since I only rarely get out to Las Vegas, I had to do some research and soul searching on the best way to get there, get around, where to stay and what to do. So while it's still fresh on my mind, how about if I share some of my experiences with you.

This will be done in 2 parts: Getting There and Getting Around (Part I) and Things to See and Do (Part II). This article is really long compared to most posted here on CVG, but perhaps some of this detailed information and ramblings will be useful to you in your own travels. Or maybe it will just make you feel better, knowing we all go through some travel challenges, moreso when kids are in tow.

Drive or Fly?

Living in Southern California, the first question is, how do I get there....do I drive or do I fly? From a financial perspective, it generally is cheaper to drive if you have 2 or more people. From Thousand Oaks to Las Vegas is about 600 miles round trip, which is about $120 in gas at today's prices, ignoring wear and tear on the car.

But then you think about do you really want to spend 5 hours in a car driving through the desert and do you want to deal with traffic jams, etc.  Road trips can be fun and all, but my rear end and back aren't big into long drives.  So I checked out flights on Southwest via Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, seeking inexpensive options several weeks in advanc

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