On to Ventura
At Point Mugu, in Ventura County, the route turns inland following a roadway lined with eucalyptus trees and leading to Oxnard. We had a very early morning start, so stopped for a coffee break at Carrows in Oxnard. (Carrows is one of those quintessential California coffee shops.) Just north of Oxnard is Ventura.
The city of Ventura is the gateway to California's Channel Islands. Most of the northern islands are part of Channel Islands National Park. The park headquarters, at Ventura Harbor Village, has interpretive displays about the islands and their flora, fauna, aquatic life, and ecosystem. (The Channel Islands themselves can be reached by private boats or through park tours. There are beaches and hiking trails on the islands.)
At Ventura, we met US Higway 101 and the two highways merged to continue north to Santa Barbara. The joint highway returns to the coast where offshore oil rigs intermix with sandy beaches.
