Chuck E. Cheese's Was Founded in 1977 by the Guy Who Turned Down One Third of Apple

Chuck E. Cheese's was founded by Nolan Bushnell in 1977, the same year he sold his company, Atari (makers of Pong) for $28 million. The previous year, Steve Jobs, who worked briefly for Bushnell at Atari, offered Bushnell a 1/3rd interest in the newly founded Apple Computer, for $50,000. Bushnell said no...ugghh!!

Chuck E. Cheese’s is now 45 years old, with over 600 worldwide locations, including Thousand Oaks and Ventura.

www.chuckecheese.com

City of Fillmore Neon-Lighted Sign From Pre-World War II

You don't see many signs around town like the Fillmore sign at the northeast corner of Highway 126 (E. Telegraph Road) and Central Avenue.

Fillmore sign photo taken as I was waiting at the stoplight driving south on Central Avenue.

The sign was originally constructed in 1940, making it 80 years old. It is designated a historical landmark by the City of Fillmore.

The Fillmore sign is a cool green neon lit up at night

It's not exactly easy getting to Fillmore from the Conejo Valley as you either have to take the winding path of the 23/Grimes Canyon Road via Moorpark or drive out to Ventura via the 101 and take the 126 to Fillmore by way of Santa Paula. Kind of a haul but certainly fun to do every now and then.

At a total area of only 2.8 square miles, Fillmore is the smallest of Ventura County's 10 cities, and its population of roughly 16,000 places it 9th (roughly double the population of Ojai). Fillmore was not named after Millard Fillmore; it was named after Jerome Fillmore, General Superintendent of the Southern Pacific Railroad when they built the line connecting Santa Paula, Fillmore and Castaic.

Quite a quaint little place that is certainly fun to visit, with highlights such as numerous themed train rides at Fillmore & Western Railway, State Fish Hatchery and Railroad Visitor Center, along with an old town feel along Central Avenue.

Fillmore sign as of July 2022

El Tecolote Cafe in Camarillo Captured by Local Artist in Oil Painting

El Tecolote by Linda Dark of Camarillo.

Linda Dark has lived in Camarillo since 1978. For the last 12 years she has captured local scenes in oil paint. Here is her rendition of the historic El Tecolote, located at 333 N. Lewis Road, in the image above. El Tecolote serves up delicious, authentic Mexican food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

According to the El Tecolote website, World War II veteran Mike Loza opened his restaurant in Moorpark in 1946. The owls occupying the trees surrounding the restaurant were the inspiration for the name El Tecolote (The Owl).

The cafe was moved to a small house in Camarillo in 1948. It was so small that a frustrated customer helped finance a move to its current location in 1952. The restaurant is now owned and managed by the Guardado family. Visit www.facebook.com/eltecoloterestaurant or call 805.482.4318 for more information. 

El Tecolate the night of Monday, September 8, 2014.

The Ventura County Fair Has Operated at Seaside Park in Ventura Since 1914

Although the Ventura County Fair traces its roots back 145 years, it commenced operating at its current location at Seaside Park in Ventura in 1914.

Seaside Park was donated to the county by E. P. Foster in 1909 and the first Ventura County Fair to take place there was in 1914.

This ad from 1926 is for the 12th Annual Ventura County Fair at Seaside Park. Fifty cents in 1926 dollars equals about $7.25 in 2020. Back then they had horse races. whippet (dog) races, chariot races and more.

The 2020 and 2021 Ventura County Fair were cancelled as a result of the pandemic, but the VC Fair Board of Directors has announced the fair will be back August 3 to August 14, 2022!

Tortilla Flats Mural in Ventura

The Tortilla Flats Mural is located at the Figueroa Street underpass at the 101 freeway in Ventura. Created in 2008 by artists MB Hanrahan and Moses Mora, this public art project commemorates the community that lived here in and around westside Ventura in the 1920s to the 1950s, when it was displaced by the 101.

Earlier the Tortilla Flats area was known as Tiger Town, Spanish Town and/or Indian Town. The indigenous Chumash named the area "Shisholop."

(The Shisholop Village site at the south end of Figueroa Street - directly on the beach - was named City of Ventura Historic Landmark No. 18 in December 1975. Believed to have been a Chumash provincial capital, Shisholop was first settled shortly after A.D. 1000 and was visited in 1542 by Portuguese navigator Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo while on an exploratory expedition for Spain.)

The mural depicts a series of narratives of historically significant or interesting buildings and pictures of the varied cultural backgrounds in the area - Chumash, Mexican, Spanish, Asian, African American and European - which evolved into Ventura that we now know.

The images were selected from old photographs and were inspired by interviews with former residents.

The underpass is located next to Harbor Boulevard, where just across the street is Seaside Park and the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

More information at www.publicartinpublicplaces.info/public-art-tortilla-flats-2008-by-mb-hanrahan-and-moses-mora.

Purple Heart Trail Signs on U.S. Highway 101 in Ventura County Commemorate Veterans

In November 2014, Caltrans District 7 installed two signs designating a segment of U.S. Highway 101 as part of the National Purple Heart Trail — a system of signed highways, bridges and other monuments that honor soldiers who have received the Purple Heart medal.

One of these signs can be seen on the northbound 101 in Thousand Oaks, right before the Westlake Boulevard offramp. The other sign is near the Bates Road offramp of the southbound 101.

These two signs complete 240 continuous miles of Purple Heart trail in California, from Ventura County to Monterey.

Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 27 established specified portions of US Highway 101 in the counties of Santa Barbara and Ventura for inclusion in the National Purple Heart Trail.

The U.S. 101 in Ventura County is also dedicated to the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division as commemorated by "The Screaming Eagles Hwy - 101st Airborne Division" placed nearby.

The Truck Escape Ramp on Kanan Dume Road at the Intersection of Pacific Coast Highway

From time to time we take Kanan Road in Agoura Hills to Malibu for quick access to Zuma Beach, Westward Beach and Point Dume State Beach as well as Escondido Canyon Park, Paradise Cove and other great outdoor spots in Malibu.

From the 101, Kanan Road is about 12 miles from Pacific Coast Highway and takes roughly 15 minutes without traffic. Something that has always puzzled me is why it is called Kanan Road all the way from its juncture with North Westlake Boulevard in Thousand Oaks to the 101, through Oak Park and Agoura Hills, down to its intersection with Mulholland Highway in Malibu and then becomes Kanan Dume Road.

Runaway Truck Escape Ramp

The southernmost section of Kanan Dume Road is particularly steep, with an 8% grade over three miles.  My kids always ask about the "Escape Ramp" at the bottom of Kanan Dume Road at its intersection with PCH.

The Truck Escape Ramp was built in 1987 after a series of crashes and resulting deaths due to runaway trucks. The escape ramp, or arrester bed, is an 800 foot long, pit in the middle lane of the road filled 2 1/2 feet deep with gravel. The allowable weight limit for trucks on Kanan Dume was also dropped in 1987 from 14,000 to 8,000 lbs.

The arrester bed was renovated in 2014 to make it wider and improve signage. Thankfully we have never seen the escape ramp used, but it is there if it is ever needed.

Tunnel Vision

There are three tunnels on Kanan Dume Road between Latigo Canyon Road and PCH built in the late 1960s to early 1980s. They are affectionately referred to as T-1, T-2 and T-3. T-3 is two-lane tunnel located at approximately 1142-1208 Kanan Road in Agoura Hills, roughly five miles from Highway 101. A short distance later, you will drive through T-2, located just northeast of Rocky Oaks Park. About 2 1/2 miles from T-2 is the T-1 tunnel, just south of the Newton Canyon Backbone Trail trailhead.

One of three tunnels on Kanan Dume Road in Malibu. This one is called T-3. (Clever, eh?)

Signage indicating approach of the truck escape ramp on Kanan Dume Road.

A closer view of the escape ramp gravel pit. My son asked if we could drive in it (in my minivan). I said, "um, no" although if our brakes gave out, sure, I would use it.