I am in Love: With a Place

The surf is high today; the ocean roaring. Waves, long curls, are catching the sun and becoming transparent turquoise with sand, surfers, sea birds and seals showing in the light before they crash into the shore in long white spuming lines, like piano scales, all 88 keys, made of foam and light.

We have been camping at Carpinteria State Beach for one week, plus the day we spent here before LA. It was that first day here when I knew I had fallen in love with this place. It is not only the expansive and accessible beach, the tide pools that appear and disappear, the sunsets that are different and exquisite every day. It is more than the opportunity to watch the sunrise from my bed in the camper on the beach, or wake in the night and see the moon and stars through the sky light. There is something about this place. I have never before experienced this sense of being just where I am meant to be. I can only describe the feeling as love.

Rosco Digs the Beach

I guess it is fair to add, that beach vacations are a key part of our happiest family stories. Whether Goa, Florida or the Oregon Coast, our family loves the ocean and the sand. Also, our family history is steeped in the love of all things citrus, so I think I was predisposed to love being here - but still, what I feel is more than just happy vacation.



This beautiful beach park is incredibly well planned and maintained (even hot water sinks for washing dishes!), and our beach front spot is truly prime real estate. But even beyond my love of the beach and the sun and the water, I am crazy about the town. There is everything we need here.  A library where we go to charge our laptop, read our mail and check out the newspapers; an artisan bakery with bread worth driving a thousand miles for, a great big Albertson’s where they grill tri-tip steaks, steam your sea food, and sell vodka! A farm cart loaded with the most delicious organic mandarins, ruby lettuce and avocados.  There is a great second hand book store, and when I needed help with a knitting project, there is a shop for that as well. There are charming shops and lovely restaurants and fabulous places to walk.

On a rainy day (yes there have been some, (I celebrate them for the good of this thirsty state) we were close to Santa Barbara and an afternoon spent looking at expressionist and Asian art at the Santa Barbara Museum of Art.

If all of this were not enough, there is sunset Tai Chi and Chi Gong on the beach, as well as a groups of plein air painters out this morning. However, what has taken me completely by surprise is the neighborhood – a short walk across the railroad tracks is like finding Bizarro Rivergrove (my town). It is all the same, except with different plants in the garden. It is the oddest feeling, but the neighborhood, the age and design of the houses, the lot sizes and layout, the cars in the driveways, the power poles on the corners, the feel of the streets, even the colors look exactly like my neighborhood – and I feel right at home.

Because the weather is so glorious, we spend lots of time walking – the beach of course at sunset, and all afternoon for sunning and playing in the water, but in between, I can’t resist wandering around the streets, imagining my house here, with an orange laden tree, and a lemon tree and a sprawling avocado, and several enormous aloe and cacti plants in place of my apple and pear trees. I am enchanted, and by the way, so is H. We know we will move on, and perhaps find another magical connection, but not just yet. The weekend promises perfect weather, and as everyone I meet says, it doesn’t get better than this.

LA: A little bit La La and a Long Day

So, to continue ... LA, and our destinations for parts and repair, were still more than 100 miles down the road. It was quite warm and very sunny. I hated to leave our glorious beach. The van was definitely struggling on the hills (I think I can I think I can) but H stayed calm and after several hours, we arrived in Los Angeles. Along the way we kept reminding ourselves that if we broke down, we were getting closer to the repairs at Galpin Motor - the Ford repair place highly recommended.

We were not sure where we would stay that night- and arrived in Van Nuys, in late
afternoon to ask if you could camp on the Ford lot. H came out of the place looking bemused. Days earlier, he had spent several hours on the phone - giving details about the van, the VIN number, the problem, the potential parts we might need, and more. Several times he offered to email the information, but the woman on the phone insisted on taking all info by phone - repeating and repeating the details. After all of this, and our very long drive, Galpin Motors informed H that they would not work on the van - its too old! This was not good. In fact, H the unflappable was pretty pissed.

However, some luck was on our side. A quick google map search showed that we were just minutes away from LA's "Largest and Safest" RV park. I called and our spot was waiting. I
have spent very little time in Los Angeles, but this RV park fulfilled my stereotypes perfectly. Entering the camp office I was greeted with warmth and affection by a very chatty man who immediately began to tell me , in detail, about the "community." 

Naturally occurring miracle in a tree

" We are in the middle of the movie industry", I was told. "Lots of people who work in the studios live here in their trailers and campers. Why, there is an author, very famous, who has lived here for a year, he says he can't write at home because his wife drives him crazy, so he lives here.  Also, traveling nurses and doctors, so feel safe."  Okay. 

Then, he pointed to two Emmy awards on a shelf above his head. Won, apparently by community members! Also, photos from TV shows .... on and on. I was hot, tired and stressed, but totally amused. He led us to our campsite, chatting all the way about the accomplishments of community members. "I am giving you Jesus," he said. I was too tired to ask ...

In our travels we have been to many and many different RV camps - but this was indeed unique. Lovely hand-painted murals of animals and nature appeared on walls and fences around the place. The bathroom was beautifully tiled and decorated with plants, and we were led to our site, (next to Jesus) and guided into position, had our connections set up by the local handyperson, and were repeatedly greeted by residents. Not the usual experience.

In the morning we set out to find a muffler place to help us diagnose and fix the van. There were several in the area - our second stop turned out to have been influenced by our miraculous positioning the night before. A small owner run shop raised Shelly (the van) onto a lift, tapped on the catalytic converter and determined that there was something loose rolling around, HAD THE REPLACEMENT PART ON HAND!!!!!, did the work, did a few other odd welding jobs for H, and had us back on the road, fixed and perky, in time for lunch.  Truly, a miracle. So, once again, the message is clear ... things work out - but Galpin Ford is deserving of a scathing YELP review.

We were back at Carpinteria State Park, walking on the beach and reveling in the beauty of the sun setting amid clouds, by 4 pm - with a deli lunch in our bellies. It felt like we had been gone a month.

Now, we plan to stay here, on the beach for at least the next week. I am quite in love with this place - the beach, the camp and the town, the library, the cafes, the farm cart,  the trees laden with citrus and avocados, the scents of sea, eucalyptus and guava, and the chance to see the sun set and the sun rise, from our mobile beach house.

Then, as H likes to say, "we'll see."