A nice day trip in California.

On a recent trip to SolidWorks World 2010, I stayed in the area for a few days after the conference was over.  One of the things I wanted to do was take a drive in the forests and mountains.  I picked the Los Padres National Forest.  I was limited on where I could drive in the area because of cloud cover in the mountains in the area.  Here is a summary of a trip that could be done in a day.

Start in Ventura, Santa Barbara, or somewhere else in the vicinity.  To start with, you have to make a decision on what route you want to take. 

Option 1: Take Highway 101 over to Highway 154 and go by Lake Cachuma and the Bradbury Dam in the western tip of the Los Padres National Forest and on the edge of the Santa Ynez Valley.  Stop at the vista point about a mile or so before you get to the lake to take in the view. Both are great sights to see.

Option 2: Take Highway 101 through the Santa Ynez Mountains near Gaviota State Park.  On this route, you get a bit closer to some mountains.  I took 2 drives through here (once each way) while it was raining and the sun was trying to peek through the clouds.  I saw a rainbow both times.

What ever route you take, make sure you go over to Solvang, CA just west of Buellton.  Solvang is a Dutch themed village with lots to see.  Thanks to fellow blogger Matt Lorono for the tip on this little out-of-the-way village.  Spend as much time here as you want, but keep in mind, you will still need 5 hours or so if daylight to see and get thru the mountains.

Next, go west to Buellton and get on Highway 101 North and head for Santa Maria.  You may be interested in checking out the surrounding vineyards while you are here, but watch the time.

Be sure you have lots of gas, there are not many places to get gas until you are out of the moutains. 

From Santa Maria, take Highway 166 East and drive through the Cuyama Valley.  There is not a lot to see while going thru this valley, but the foothills of the mountains to the North look like oversized sand piles from the highway.

While driving through the valley, watch for Highway 33 (also known as Maricopa Highway) and head South.  To me, this section of the drive is the best part of the trip.  Here you will be driving through the Los Padres National Forest and into the mountains.  This is a winding road through the mountain valleys and along the mountain sides.  You will be cresting over 2 mountain peaks on this route, the (first) northern peak is about 5600 feet above sea level.  This route also takes you through Matilija Canyon along the eastern section of the Santa Ynez Mountains.  You may also want to check out Matilija Springs before you get to Ojia. 

Just South West of Ojia, head on over to Lake Casitas before heading home.

You can start and end this drive at whatever point you like.  This is the route I took.

Model Like A Maniac

When I was at SolidWorks World 2010, one of the technical presentations I sat in on was "Model Like A Maniac" by Mark Schneider of SolidWorks.  Mark runs the Model Mania Contest every year.  During his presentation he stated that he always learns at least one tip or trick while reviewing/checking the model entries.  He had shown some of these tips and tricks during his presentation.  This was some cool stuff to see.  When the presentation was complete, I asked of there was a way we could get the drawings that were used in the past.  I wanted these drawings to do a similar Model Mania here at work in an effort to see if we can learn tips/tricks/techniques from each other.

Mark kindly obliged, and he has included videos while creating models of some of prior contests.  He has posted them here.  When accessing these files, please keep in mind that you may not be able to see or download them if you are behind a firewall at work.

Thanks for the drawings Mark!  Your sharing this is much appreciated by the SolidWorks users!

A chance attendance at a Presidential Memorial Birthday Party

As many of you are aware, after SolidWorks Works, my wife and do some exploring in the surrounding area before going back to the cold weather in Wisconsin.  Here is an unexpected adventure we had.

We left Ventura headed toward Santa Clarita.  While driving, we decided to take Highway 23 to head down to the Simi Valley.  While driving, we spotted a sign, “Ronald Reagan Presidential Library”.  Since we have not been to one, we decided to check it out.  When we arrived, we discovered that there was a “99th Anniversary of Ronald Reagan’s Birthday” event starting within a few minutes of our arrival.  We stayed for the keynote address by Elizabeth Dole (wife of Senator Bob Dole) and the laying of several wreaths.  There was birthday cake available for everyone later.

I am always interested in new experiences, and this one is one of the most unusual “chance” experiences I have had.

Meeting the top man.

I was at SolidWorks World 2010, and for me, this event was 4 days long because I participated in the round tables on Sunday as well as 3 days of technical sessions.  Every year I look for and meet up with some SolidWorks personnel that I have met throughout the years including Jon Hirschtick, Jeff Ray, Sal Lama, Marlon Banta, and many others.  One of the reasons why I know so many people at SolidWorks is that everyone at SolidWorks is “approachable” because they want to get to know their customers, and they want to know how the customers are using SolidWorks.

I did not get a change to catch up to Jon Hirschtick until Wednesday, right before General Session started.  During our short discussion, he introduced me to Bernard Charlés (CEO, Dassault Systemes).  After Jon Hirschtick explained how I am supporting SolidWorks’ efforts with my blog, website and being an officer of a user group, Bernard Charlés was very thankful of my efforts. 

When talking with Bernard Charlés, I identified that I support SolidWorks, because of Jon Hirschtick’s philosophies when he founded SolidWorks, which was to “Do a better job” than the other CAD vendors, and “Treat the customer with respect”.  Bernard Charlés identified that Dassault Systemes shares the same philosophies.

We also spoke shortly of the relationship between Dassault Systemes (parent company) and SolidWorks Corporation where Bernard Charlés identified that Dassault Systemes is interested in seeing SolidWorks succeed.  Bernard Charlés also identified that there will be more interconnectivity between SolidWorks and the remainder of Dassault Systemes “LoveMark” brands such as Catia, Enovia, Delmia, Simulia and 3DVia.

It looks to me like SolidWorks is on very stable ground, with the strong backing of a large stable company of Dassault Systemes.  This combination has grown immensely since 1997, and the next years, both companies should grow even stronger.