The Conejo Valley Guide "Welcome" blog covers a wide range of topics, local information, highlights of local things to do, compilations and other items. Focus is on information relevant to Ventura County and surrounding areas, including Thousand Oaks, Westlake Village, Newbury Park, Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Malibu, Simi Valley, Camarillo, Moorpark, Somis, Fillmore, Santa Paula, Ojai, Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Santa Barbara and Moorpark.
The Conejo Valley Guide® "Welcome" blog covers a wide range of topics, local information, local things to do, holiday event compilations, announcements and more.
The Satwiwa Native American Indian Cultural Center is located in the Rancho Sierra Vista/Satwiwa hiking area in Point Mugu State Park.
The Center hosts year-round cultural workshops and programs every other Sunday, including arts and crafts, music, storytelling and much more. Visit www.nps.gov/samo/planyourvisit/rsvsatwiwa.htm for more information.
The City of Thousand Oaks celebrates its 50th Anniversary this year! As part of this celebration, the City is hosting a parade on Saturday, September 27th with the theme "Remembering the past, honoring the memories." The parade will take place from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Thousand Oaks Boulevard from Duesenberg Drive to Erbes Road.
The Thousand Oaks 50th Anniversary Parade will honor the past with a down home feel. There will be vintage (1964 and older) cars, the Ventura County Sheriff's Department Mounted Police, antique fire engines, local Conejo Valley area high school marching bands, equestrians, floats and much more. The parade is FULL, with over 100 entries!
A special edition to the parade is the 9/11 Angels, five Camaros dedicated to those who lost their lives on 9/11. Each Camaro displays every hero lost on 9/11 by name in gold lettering. There is an Angel vehicle for each of two Trade Towers, First Responders, Pentagon and Pennsylvania Flight.
The Parade begins at 9:00 am with a military flyover and Color Guard, followed by City officials, VIP’s, Cub Scouts, Girl Scouts, some of the original mayors who helped form the city, local school bands and drill teams, local service clubs, antique autos, police service units, floats from various organizations, horses, fire trucks and much more.
John Short, well known locally for his role as President of Thousand Oaks Little League for 12 years and other community endeavors, has been designated as
Challenging Route to Take the World's Top Cyclists Across More Than 700 Miles of Striking California Terrain During America's Premier Professional Cycling Race May 11–18, 2014
FINAL STAGE OF RACE TO RETURN TO THOUSAND OAKS ON MAY 18TH!
LOCAL ROAD CLOSURE INFORMATION AND MAPS FOR MAY 18TH
The Amgen Tour of California returns to Sacramento for the start of the ninth edition of America's largest cycling race. The eight day stage race will return to a route traveling north-to-south from May 11-18, 2014 along more than 700 miles of scenic roads through some of California's most picturesque backdrops. Considered America's largest and most prestigious cycling event, the overall start of the Amgen Tour of California will begin in front of the state's Capital Building and travel through 11 host cities during the eight day event including Folsom, San Jose, Mt. Diablo, Monterey, Cambria, Pismo Beach, Santa Barbara, Santa Clarita, Mountain High, Pasadena and Thousand Oaks.
The first day starts and finishers in Sacarament. The following day, the Individual Time Trial (Stage 2) will see racers competing against the clock in the former gold rush city of Folsom. For Stage 3, the peloton will return to San Jose (the only city to have participated in all nine editions of the race), for a stage start before traveling more than 50 miles north, gaining altitude as the route winds up Mt. Diablo for a mountaintop finish.
Stage 4 start in Monterey, where the race will traverse approximately 100 miles south to finish the day in Cambria. Stage 5 kicks off in Pismo Beach as the route continues south to Santa Barbara for the Stage 5 finish. Santa Clarita will host the Stage 6 start, before riders head to Mountain High for another mountaintop finish. The peloton will return to Santa Clarita for the Stage 7 start and will finish that day in Pasadena.
The eighth and final stage of the 2014 Amgen Tour of California will start and finish in Thousand Oaks on Townsgate Road, between Westlake Boulevard and Lakeview Canyon Road.
Each 20-mile circuit will pass through Westlake Village, Agoura Hills, past the Rock Store at the foot of the climb, and then a very technical descent of Westlake Boulevard.
Amgen returns as the race's title sponsor for the ninth consecutive year, continuing to leverage the event to raise awareness of the important resources available to people affected by cancer—from prevention through survivorship—through its Breakaway from Cancer® initiative. (For more information, www.breakawayfromcancer.com)
The 13 Host City partners for the 2014 Amgen Tour of California include:
• Stage 1: Sunday, May 11 – Sacramento
• Stage 2: Monday, May 12 – Folsom (Individual Time Trial)
• Stage 3: Tuesday, May 13 – San Jose to Mount Diablo
• Stage 4: Wednesday, May 14 – Monterey to Cambria
• Stage 5: Thursday, May 15 – Pismo Beach to Santa Barbara
"Beam Me Up" by local artist Chuck Trunks
Doesn't matter what time of year...there's ALWAYS something to do in and around Ventura County. Here are links to some of our favorite types of events and activities.
And there's movies, museums, theaters, community classes, pilates, kids eat free, skateboarding, shopping, volunteering, bowling and so much more! Have fun!
There were over 21,500 finishers at the 2014 Los Angeles Marathon, including 559 finishers from the Ventura County area and adjacent cities. The marathoners highlighted below ran, jogged and walked 14,646 miles last Sunday at the 29th annual event over a cumulative time equating to approximately 124 days.
Special mentions go out to top age group finishers, Thomas McMahon of Newbury Park, 9th in the 30 to 34 age group and 51st place overall, not to mention top finishing Ventura County resident; Ben Atkins of Thousand Oaks, 9th in the 40 to 44 age group and 57th place overall; Jose Lastre of Camarillo, who finished 74th overall; Mike Malinzak, 10th in the 50 to 54 age group; Gabriella Brignardello, 4th in the 19 and under age group; and Courtney Novak of Oak Park, 9th in the 19 and under age group. Elizabeth Duran, 25, of Simi Valley, was the top placing woman from all of Ventura County and 75th female overall. Way to go!
Next year's event is March 15, 2015. Learn more at www.lamarathon.com.
Please, don't tell my kids that there's a new LEGO Store at the Westfield Topanga Mall in Canoga Park! I've lost track but I believe my house contains a college education's worth of LEGOs!
Yes, for several weeks now, the newest and now closest LEGO Store to Ventura County has been open. It is located on the first floor of the Topanga Mall near Target and across from the Baby Gap store. Store hours are 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m on Sunday. Call 818.884.8597 or visit stores.lego.com/en-us/stores/us/topanga for more information. The mall is located at 6800 Topanga Canyon Road.
Previously, the closest LEGO Store to us here in the Conejo Valley / Greater Ventura County area was at the Glendale Galleria. My kids have an insatiable appetite for LEGO sets and nearly every room in the house shows signs of LEGOS.
Roughly 1% of the LEGOs in my house.
But wait...you can celebrate the grand opening of the LEGO Store at Westfield Topanga on September 27-29, 2013 with a huge LEGO Master Build event!
Join in and help a real LEGO® Master Builder construct an 8-foot tall model of Yoda™ completely out of LEGO bricks! You'll receive a free Certificate of Achievement for participating! This event will take place on Friday, the 27th from 11am-7pm, Saturday from 10am-6pm and Sunday from 11am-7pm.
Be one of the first 300 people each day to make a qualifying purchase at the LEGO Store and you will receive one of the following giveaways:
Offers valid while supplies last only. *T-shirts are available in child sizes only.
Interesting and Amazing Facts and Tidbits About LEGO® Blocks
Since 1998, the annual Ride to the Flags event has taken hundreds of motorcyclists on a well organized ride to the Pepperdine University 9/11 Waves of Flags Memorial Display. This is a charity event that raises funds and donates to persons and organizations affected by the tragedy of 9/11.
Between soccer games and errands, I was able to catch the 2013 Ride to the Flags the well organized calvacade at the corner of Lynn and Reino Roads in Newbury Park on its way to Potrero Road. Quite an impressive, patriotic sight! For more information about the event and to make donations, visit www.ridetotheflags.com.
And speaking of the Pepperdine University 9/11 flag display, if you haven't seen it, you have to! It is on display this year until September 23rd.
Conejo Valley Guide covers events, activities and things to do throughout Ventura County and surrounding areas.
Conejo Valley Guide® covers thousands of events, activities and things to do throughout Ventura County, California and surrounding areas.
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