We made it up to Fort Tejon this year to enjoy the 4th of July daytime celebration. This is a daytime event geared towards families. It's a great event to bring a picnic lunch and enjoy the show.
On arriving, it was fun to see that Fort Tejon had a SnapChat Filter!
They had a Standee photo op. Shannon, Brandon and Emily all participated.
The museum was open as well with displays of period weapons and clothing.
The highlight of the event was firing the fort's two Mountain Howitzers. They fired each cannon once for every state in the union that existed in 1856 when the fort was in operation. There was a lot of wind, but I managed to catch some video. Linked here from YouTube.
We took a whale watching trip with Channel Island Whale Watching aboard the "Ranger 85". The trip was facilitated by the AFS Central Coast chapter which makes this one of their standard annual outings for the exchange students visiting for the year. Since we are hosting Amane from Japan, we went along as well.
We did see some whales, but it only a small portion of the whale came out of the water.
I actually found the dolphins more interesting since they swam around the boat quite a bit more.
We also got a chance to get up close to one of the oil rigs that sit off the coast. I've always found these fascinating for some reason.
There had been a recent rain storm which brought snow to some of the mountains in the distance. It's not too often we get to see snow on the peaks in Southern California but this trip made for a special exception.
Overall, the boat was comfortable. There was enough room for everyone and there was a galley on board with food and drink. They had a grill with hot food and adult beverages as well. Downstairs was a comfortable area to eat your food.
We attended the Moorpark Blue and Gray Civil War Reenactment in Moorpark Ca. It's a great event and is said to be the largest civil war event in California. We have attended before and enjoyed it very much. This year was different since it was in a new location.
Upon entering, there were several sutler tents with things for sale.
This is the first reenactment where I saw folks doing wet plate collodian photography. The shop was called Bailey Denton Photography and they had a nice collection of tintypes for sale. This was very interesting to me because I've been wanting to learn this process for a very long time.
They had a makeshift darkroom set up which was impressively done. I doubt the fibre optic safe lights are period correct, but it is a very clever way to handle getting a safe light in place without too much danger.
A studio was set up for soldiers that wanted a portrait. The wet plate camera is covered.
After passing through the sutlers, there was a union encampment. The reenactors actually camp at the site for the entire event.
I really liked this chair. I want to make one.
The first battle started at Noon. The confederate forces marched on to the field first.
The union troops marched in to meet them.
The Confederates started firing their cannon.
Here's a video of the cannon firing.
The battle continued with cannon firing and bands playing.
The union troops advanced and overtook the confederate lines.
The confederate troops had to retreat.
This event is always fun with exploding ground effects.
Overall this was a great event and fun to attend if you can make it.
