Hearing a good signal at the start point, we plotted out our bearing that put it out over Lompoc.  We headed out, with my aversion to traffic, we decided to go Highway 1.

 We stayed on Highway 1 until Oxnard where we headed inland to the 101.   We heard no signal until we came around the bend by Point Mugu.  The signal still indicated to our original bearing. 

 We turned off of the 101 Refugio Road exit (FR-5N12).  Shortly afterwards we saw Mike k6SNE dash by us towards the 101.  He did not slow or stop so we proceeded into a thick wooded area until we came upon a stream that went under the road.  The signal was very strong along the rock wall.  There were a number of niches or holes in the wall and in one of these holes we found a transmitter.  We later discovered that a transmitter had died and Mike and David were rushing to its aid when we saw them go by us.

 We continued on into the Los Padres National Forest up towards Santa Ynez Peak.   As the signal got very strong we could see the top of the antenna from the road.  We had found the “main” transmitter.

 We heard no other transmitters on the mountaintop or towards the other side, only back from where we came.  But we wanted to make sure, so we went to the top of Santa Ynez Peak and a short ways on the other side.  We agreed that there was nothing else to be found this way, so we went back down the mountain the way we came. 

 We stopped and briefly talked with Don & Steve, they had passed the rock wall t and had not found it.  Strange, why did they not hear that one? 

 We got back onto the 101 north until we came to the Gaviota State Beach turn off.  We exited and did not enter the State Beach, but rather took the high road.  We shortly parked in a large turn out and walked across the road to find the “tressel” t.  A really neat location in amongst the burnt brush, above the ocean and along side the railroad.

 On to the next transmitter, back onto the 101 north, until we got to the Highway1 interchange.  The “lion” t seemed to be coming from the right of us just before the off ramp.  We turned on to a small road and went to a parking area for a day hiking area.  We stopped along the freeway and searched a while long there, but not to be found.  We then thought it was on the other side of the 101.  Right along side it in fact.  We saw no road on that side by the freeway.  I determined that if it was there, we did not want to get it now, because we would have to back track a long ways to get back here to continue to find yet another transmitter that we were hearing down Highway One.  As I looked harder across the 101 I saw a road or 2, but it did not seem to come close enough to the 101.  We decided to go on towards the next transmitter and see if the road on the other side of the 101 would lead anywhere towards the “lion” transmitter.  We drove a ways on the 1 from the 101 and finally saw a road that went off the 1 back possibly towards where we thought the “lion” t was located.  We took the road to the end and the signal to indicate we were close.  There was a gate with a warning about mountain lions.  Yes, were hot on the trail of this “lion”.  After a short walk on the trail we found the transmitter on a fence by a tree.

 Back to Highway One onward towards Lompoc, where we had heard another transmitter that led us this way. Just before Jalama Rd the signal for this T was west.

  We turned on to Jalama Rd and a short distance down it we found what I call the “trashy” t.  There was a lot of trash including animal(?) waste in the area of this transmitter.

We found our sixth transmitter on the side of a bridge abouth 10 miles in on Jalama Road.

 On we went towards Jalama.    Last year Lisa and I were on an antique car tour, that went off onto a private ranch in this area.  As we approached the entrance to the ranch on our left, the road turned to our hard right.  We had stopped a few thousand feet back and determined it was down at the next level of the road.  Shortly after the turn in the road, we stopped and found our seventh and final transmitter.

 Where was everyone?  We had stopped and talked with Wayne and Don way earlier on Refugio Road and passed Doug there also.  We were hot on Jippy’s trail according to the sign in sheets at a couple of them along the 101, as close as 25 minutes at one of them.  But then he no longer was signing in at the transmitters.  My guess was he went into Buellton to Anderson’s.  It was tempting to make the 3-mile drive from the intersection of Highway One and the 101 for a meal.  But we were on a roll.  Uh oh.

  I have a bad feeling about this one.  We seemed to have done most everything right.  We even seemed to be finding the t’s in the correct order.  Uh oh.