For info on what to do and where to eat in Ojai, visit the Ojai Visitors Bureau at http://www.ojaivisitors.com/

We’re getting married on July 1, 2017 in Ojai, California!

We look forward to visiting with you and embarking on some of our most loved activities in a special place. We have planned a few activities below. Please consider joining us for some or all of the week as you make your vacation plans for the summer.

Ojai and the surrounding area is a special place. Kristen’s grandparents moved to Ojai in 1970 and most of her extended family still lives in the area. We will wed in the Lutheran church where her parents were also married. In fact, until this year, a picture of her Grandparents’ wedding hung in the chapel along with other past members’ weddings.

Ojai itself is beautiful. It’s the last town before the metropolitan LA area gives way to great expanses of wilderness, known as the Los Padres National Forest. Dylan’s Uncle Terry used to live in Ventura county and describes it this way:

The area is one of the nicest parts of southern California. This region ranges from offshore islands (that still look like California from 100 years ago) to a beautiful east-west trending coastline (most of the CA coast trends north-south), to some of the prettiest of the California coastal cities including Ventura, Montecito, Santa Barbara and Goleta. Inland from the coastal plain rise the mountains of the Coast Range. In Ventura County the north-south trending Coast Range meets the east-west trending Transverse Range and peaks climb to 9,000 feet.
Ojai is about 500 feet above sea level in a wide river valley surrounded by tall mountains. Most of the mountains are part of the Los Padres National Forest with abundant hiking trails, streams, canyons, and wildlife (including California Condors, Mountain Lions, and Bears….all of which I have seen in the Topatopa Mountains above Ojai).

 

Ojai is a picturesque tourist town for Los Angelinos with a distinctly arty bend. Wineries, parks, bed and breakfasts, museums, and great restaurants are common.

 

Other cool things to think about:

Santa Barbara and the Santa Barbara Mission and the SB Botanic Garden are really special.

 

Beaches are the best. Santa Claus is one of my favorites. Some of the beaches have natural tar seeps so you might bring baby oil to get it off your feet.

 

You can also drive on Camino Cielo Road on the crest of the Santa Ynez mountains above SB with spectacular views of the coast and the mountains (not for those who are afraid of heights).

 

Things to know.

Summer in Ojai is pretty warm. The coastline is usually foggy (because of the cool ocean) and the fog moves inland in the evening, sometimes as far up the canyon as Ojai. Day time warms things up and 90-100 degree days are not unusual (pretty dry heat though). It tends to be cooler in the mountains and breezier. Summer brings the classic California Live Oaks with their green leaves and the yellow and tan grass and earth. It is a beautiful landscape, it just needs to be understood and appreciated. Fall is the end of the drought but also fire season. Most of the interior looks like it is just waiting for rain. The higher you go in the mountains, the more this is ameliorated by summer thundershowers and the cooler air. Above 5000 feet the forests are mostly pine with Fir and Spruce coming in above them. Most of the National Forest closes to public access in the summer with a few high altitude exceptions.

To make things flexible and fun for everyone, please feel free to schedule your own visit. Come for as many days as you’d like and feel free to choose lodging that fits your preferences (we can provide many suggestions.) Kristen and I will be staying and eating mostly in Ojai the week of the wedding but if you want to join in some of the activities below, come along. If not, no worries. Enjoy the many other great things there are to do in the Ojai Valley, the LA area, and California. Although we have included many activities such as hiking, wildlife viewing, whale watching, and live music, we could not include everything such as the Ojai Valley Inn and Spa, Disneyland, driving the 101, visiting other parts of California, and many other activities which could be substituted.

If you book a flight, let me know your flight itinerary and I can add it to this chart. I’ll keep it updated with everyone’s itineraries so you can see when and with whom you’ll over lap. This may also help you to choose someone to carpool with to and from the airport.

Oh yeah, and if you would just like to stay in town and cook or go out to dinner with us while we watch a pink moment, we’d love to have you for that, too.

Here’s some the things that we’d like to do, in the week leading up to our wedding on Saturday, and a few of the days afterwards. Feel free to join up for as many as you like so that we can have a group go. I’m happy to add something or reschedule anything on the list. We won’t be able to come along for all them, but will be interested in seeing your photos.

Day trip suggestions:

Sounds like fun, right? Got questions or want to chat on the phone? Dylan’s number is 919 360 8198. Email DylanJamesYoung@gmail.com We have more info available and time to chat. Just email or call.