Many Head Outdoors to Enjoy a Bright Christmas

Hundreds of feet above Simi Valley, mountain biker Ian Petrovskis spent Christmas morning bombing across the rutted flanks of Rocky Peak.

Miles away from home and hearth, the Brill family cast anchovy-wrapped hooks off the Ventura Pier and fished for perch.

The Holmeses--Dan and Sharlene, Mike and Steve--tooled around Los Robles Golf Course, chipping away at their annual 18 holes of Christmas golf until it was time to return home for a big barbecue meal and an afternoon of charades and poker.

And across Ventura County, singles, couples and families of all shapes and sizes reveled in the sunny paradox of a glorious Southern California Christmas.

“It’s a blast,” confided Petrovskis, 30, of Simi Valley, breathing hard during a break from biking--his cherished respite from claustrophobic 60-hour workweeks spent programming computers. “It’s snowing on folks back East, but here, the heavens are shining on us. It just couldn’t be better.”

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Farther down the trail, Jennie and Rob Winterburn took their seventh annual Christmas morning hike with their two dogs.

“It’s something to shake off the cobwebs of overeating,” explained Rob, 39, of Simi Valley. “It gets the heart going.”

Burning off Christmas was a common theme for Ventura County residents who took to the parks, beaches and bike paths in droves as the day wore on, their stomachs full and their eyes slightly glazed.

Ventura and Oxnard’s beaches teemed with strollers and cyclists, kids and dogs out enjoying 70-degree temperatures and a breeze-cleared view of the Channel Islands.

Some brought Christmas with them to the sunny outdoors.

Gus Sundverg parked his camper near Faria Beach--the fifth time for his annual Christmas camping ritual--and set up a seaweed Christmas tree.

Last year, he and his family had to hike up and down the beach to collect enough seaweed, he said, admiring the wood-framed tree draped with kelp and red tinsel.

“But this year,” he said, “we pulled up and it was just waiting for us.”

Farther down the coast, a Valencia family spread a parachute on the sand at the bottom of Seaward Avenue, set up a small Christmas tree and opened presents to the soft sound of rushing surf.

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“Sandy tries to think of something unusual to do every Christmas,” said Ron Nelson, unwrapping a black-and-white silk necktie. “And this year, she decided to get everybody in the car and drive to the coast because it was so nice.”

Sandy Nelson gave everyone gloves, while her son, college freshman J.B. Nelson, blessed his parents and three siblings with Cal Poly sweatshirts.

A few yards away, Utah resident Amy Cox basked in a bikini beside husband Larry Cox, who lay bare chested in swim trunks, strumming his guitar.

“We’re visiting family in Ventura,” said Larry Cox, luxuriating in the warmth. “It’s a low of zero and a high of 20 where we’re from.”

“It’s perfect,” Amy Cox said with a lazy smile.

Marguerite Hills ushered her dripping kids from the Pacific, where they had spent a good 20 minutes frolicking in the waves.

Seven-year-old Theresa shivered under her towel in the coastal breeze, but 10-year-old Nathan grinned and bravely pronounced the water “really warm.”

“This is the place to be on Christmas,” said Hills, 42. “I talked to my dad in Cleveland, and it’s a white Christmas there. And I told him we would never trade a white Christmas for one of our sunny Christmases.”

Across the county, golfers took advantage of the holiday lull with a few rounds at their favorite links.

Brothers Mark and Rick Grignol test-swung their clubs, lounging in shirt sleeves near the 11th hole at Los Robles Golf Course as they waited for another party to play through.

“This beats being a prisoner in your own house,” said Mark Grignol, 38. “I lived in Pennsylvania for 22 years before this, so I really appreciate this weather.”

Kim and Grant Thompson jogged down the rugged Los Robles Trail with their Doberman pinscher, Houdini. “This is the first Christmas in a while that she’s been off duty,” said Grant Thompson of his wife, a nurse.

“And I’m really enjoying it,” she said with a grin, the exercise giving her face a ruddy glow.

From Moorpark to Ojai, Fillmore to Oxnard, people walked, skated, ran, swam and biked in the warm air, treating Christmas like what it was for most--a gorgeous day off.

“You’ve got to get out and throw a line in, get the batteries charged,” said sometime fisherman Javier Godinez, 32, cleaning up the power boat that he and his sons had just spent the day filling with rockfish.

As they lashed the boat to its trailer, 11-year-old Javier Jr. and 9-year-old Roy swapped fish stories about how Dad snagged one that bent his pole double before the line snapped.

They planned to return to the Christmas scene at home, fresh fish in tow for dinner. But for now, they were happy to be outdoors.

Javier Sr. shrugged and smiled: “It’s just too nice of a day to sit around the house.”

Times photographer Spencer Weiner contributed to this story.