Carpinteria CA State Beach also known as HEAVEN

Five years ago, we happened upon Carpinteria, CA and we've been addicted ever since. We've made an annual trip back (yes, even during my pregnancies and even during the summer my husband was on crutches.. you must understand that camping and beach walking on crutches is basically impossible, but this place was worth it!  and that's saying a lot...)

I kind of hate advertising how to book this campground because it fills up fast and the more who know about it, the less chance we have of going back to our favorite spots.  But I'm gonna spread the word because it's just too amazing to keep to ourselves. Really, we've been to a lot of beaches and this is top-notch.. and apparently, the safest.

my thirteen year old son makes the prettiest mermaid.

Address: 205 Palm Ave, Carpinteria, CA, 93013
Phone: (805) 968-1033

http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=599

http://www.californiasbestbeaches.com/carpinteria/carpinteria_camping.html


Where to book:  http://www.reserveamerica.com/  You'll need to enter in Carpinteria SB CA (it's outside of Santa Barbara.)  Our favorite loop is the Santa Cruz.  Best spot is site 37-- it's isolated and huge and shaded and right on the beach.  But we love 28 &29 (awesome if you book together and go with another family.)  And really, all the sites on that loop are good.. This last time we were able to show up the day of and book a GROUP site for the price of an individual site because it was open.  We stayed in Plower and it was amazing.  The back side of the Plower site has a bridge and river that flow into the ocean, super fun for the kids!

When to book: 7 months in advance, the month opens up at 8 am.. yes, you need to be on the site early enough to book because they fill up.  But campgrounds open up, so check back often if the week you want is booked!  Also, if you want to go last minute, they do open up the campgrounds the morning of and have a "lottery".  We've ALWAYS been able to show up and get a good spot... however, we go during the week.  Weekends are busy and weekends during the summer are probably not available.  Off season weather is still awesome!  We've been in March, May, June, August and September.  It's basically 80 degrees year around.  The best water temp was in August or September, but our whole family was in the water in March and it was fine!

Cost of the campgrounds: $45-$55 per night.  Beach front are $55 and we love them, but have been equally satisfied with our $45 campsites.  There are flushing toilets, warm water, sinks for bathing babies, coin operated showers, bike trails, fire pits, camp hosts, very close to supermarkets, restaurants and cute shops.. Downside-- there is a train that runs during the day and into the even hours.. it's right by the campground, so that could be annoying for some people, but it was a highlight for our kids.. they love the trains!

The beach is so great that it's worth the $10/day just to park and visit, even if you don't stay the night.  There are plenty of picnic tables on the sand and awesome views of the sunset, year around.  We love the soft sand, tide pools and mild temperatures.  This place has really become our little slice of heaven.

This tree is right where you check in and just at hill of campsite 28.  The picnic table under this tree is where we like to make dinner and watch the sunset (or just hike up and sit to watch it.)  We've done several silohette pictures under this tree over the years..  It's always there to greet us when we arrive and the sunsets are always beautiful, year around.  

Delicate Arch hike at Arches National Canyon

Best advice I have for anyone taking kids up the Delicate Arch--

1. Pack snacks.. or even a full lunch to eat at the top.  And obviously water too.,

2.  Plan for about a 4 hour round trip.  We didn't really stop for breaks and it took us about this long.  

3.  Sunscreen.  We went on a cold day, everyone had jackets.  But we still got sunburned.

4.  Take it slow and easy... you can totally do it!  It's hard, but so worth it once you get to the top.  We loved this hike and all want to go back real soon!

we went to the visitors center before the hike and it was pretty cool.  We decided to watch the 20-minute intro video about erosion. I thought it was kind of dramatic with scary music and thunder, but my boys liked it.  We looked around the gift shop and signed the kids up to be jr rangers before heading up to the Delicate Arch.

the hike was hard-- almost all uphill.  Our little ones did great, but I wish we would have packed more snacks and water.  Everything we brought got devoured at the top and we even had to share with others who didn't bring anything but needed something (low-blood sugar isn't something you mess around with!) so more snacks or a full on lunch would have been smart.

We wouldn't let Roma bring her doll Sally on the trail but we lost the battle when it came to her purple doggie/balloon.  Poor Luke had to carry it in his hood on the way down because she was done with it after an hour or so.  Love this cute family of mine.  

This 5 year old was incredible.  He stopped once for a break and I had to capture it.  He kept telling himself "Never give up.  Never stop moving."  Towards the end, I asked him how he was able to hike so well.  He responded, "When I would get tired, I would tell my brain to send energy to my legs, and then I was fine."  I am telling you, this boy knows something the rest of us are still trying to figure out about listening and talking to our bodies.  He is in tune!

Roma was carried for about 5 minutes on Aaron's shoulders and about 30 seconds on mine.  It was that difficult and uphill that we couldn't carry her for much longer.  She was a trooper, for sure.  especially in that outfit.. a dress, tights and snowboots.  Left her tennis shoes at home.  Oops.  

The 3 mile trail was perfect for this teenager.  He was in front the entire hike and could have lapped us if we would have let him do it twice.  

Luke was amazing with Roma and got her to push it when she didn't have any energy left.  they found a cheetos wrapper on the trail and filled it with sand for her to carry down.  Who knew that's what she needed to keep her excited...? Luke did.

Luke at Zack at the top of the world.  (you can view the delicate arch from this tiny arch on the hiking trail..)

Bedtime convo with my 5 year old about two weeks after the hike--
Simon: I've got this feeling like we really need to go back to the arch.
Me: you think so? 
Him: oh ya. When I turned the corner and saw it standing on that cliff, I was like, "Dang!" Me: It was pretty cool, huh?
Him: yes. It was like I had the best feeling in my heart at the top. 
Me: I felt that way too. You were an amazing hiker that day.
Him: I know, I was. I've just gotta go back.

the majestic Grand Canyon

I don't even think I can put words together to describe the Grand Canyon.  Maybe our expectations were low after leaving Moab..  And maybe at first when we drove up to the visitors center/watch tower in the Grand Canyon, we were kind of like, "Okay, that's cool, but not that cool."  But then the longer we stayed and the more we drove, the more majestic it became.  The loop through the Grand Canyon is what? 30 miles?  And it never stops!  It's just right there for you to pull over and gawk at and even though we already pulled over a dozen times to look at the view, it was like we couldn't help ourselves but get out and be blown away again.  It was so amazing and so unbelievable.  Pictures do not do it justice.  We spent several hours there and didn't hike at all-- it was cold and snowy and we all bundled up with hats and gloves and we had such an unbelievable time together.  The lodge and gift shops were fun.  But the Canyon itself was just.so.Grand and amazing.  I would go back in a heartbeat.  tomorrow, if I could.  

Bedrock City (Williams, AZ)

About thirty minutes south of the base of the Grand Canyon (where highway 180 meets the 64) you will find BEDROCK CITY-- an old rustic campground that totally ROCKS!  You can explore faux-stone buildings, the Flintstone and Rubbies houses, slide down a brontosaurus' tail, visit the beauty parlor, gas station and police station with a jail. It's all rather old and some of the recorded messages on the statues are starting to fade away, but we'd love to go back and have more time to explore.  (obviously, before we do, we'll have to introduce our kids to the Flintstones because they've never seen an episode.)

I LOVED being able to talk to the owners... this little campground/city was started by a single family, a mother and father with 5 daughters.  All of the girls were raised on the grounds and it's still currently owned by their grandchildren. Enjoy the pictures and check out their website if you plan to see it yourselves.  (or just visit... you'll have a gay-old time walking through the Flintstone memorabilia in the gift shop.)

our first bump in the road

Let's start off the journey document with the negative..  Because then the only thing left to tell you about will be rainbows and happiness and sunrises.

But there was this one morning that was SUPER stressful for about five minutes.  I wish those five minutes would have been on video but we were just so stressed out to think about anything other than breathing in and out.  It was Ben and I who were freaking out..  My responsible teenager is just so cute.

Okay, so Ben has a few more months of braces.  When we moved, we figured we'd just finish them up with a new orthodontist in Utah.  But because they were paid for in Vegas and because every new ortho wanted $3K to finish up, we figured it would be worth it to drive back down to Vegas every 6 weeks and party with our friends there.  According to Ben, every six weeks he has to be tortured so the rest of the family can have a vacation.  We're all so grateful to him :)

Anyway, Ben had an appointment at 8 in the morning.  The bus is NOT the vehicle we want to take on short errands, but the office is super close to our house and really, it was no big deal.  Ben and I got up early, had plenty of time to drive slow and enjoy the ride :) but as soon as we got on the road, we knew there was a problem.

I thought it was a flat tire at first.  We were slowly creeping along and heard the loudest clunk every time the wheel turned over.  I think we passed 2 houses before we pulled over and got out.  I was really stressed before looking at the tires because these are basically brand new tires and they are kind of pricey.  So Ben and I walked around the bus and couldn't find any problems.  Phew.  No flat tires.  So we get back into the bus and drive another 2 houses and still!  The same loud sound.. now I start really freaking out because it's something worse than a flat tire... like the axel is about to blow up or something!  

So Ben gets out of the bus to watch while I drive and we can see what is making the sound.  I can see him from the mirror, in the back of the bus.  Right away he flags me down and says, "You are not going to believe this.  There is a HUGE bolder stuck in the middle of back tires.  It's huge.  And it's making a dent in the road when you drive!"  So, I pull over and Ben runs to grab Aaron and a hammer.  We had a couple of small pieces of wood in the bus so I grabbed those and tried to pry the rock out.  It was so stuck, I knew we needed Aaron's help.  

Luke stayed home with the girls and Aaron, Zack and Simon came to help.  Aaron tried to pound it out with the hammer and a little bit of it did chip off, but it would have taken a hour to try to get it out that way.  I am not sure how Aaron had the idea to use the force of the bus to pry it out with the piece of wood, but that's exactly why I needed him!  I actually didn't even know what he was doing.  I was just behind the wheel reversing back and forth and doing what he told me to do.  And really, I was just having a good time.  After I realized it was a rock and that we would be able to get it out, I thought the whole thing was totally entertaining.  

Okay, so here's the video.  It took about 20 minutes to get it out.  This is the last minute and a half and I wish Ben would have been able to get Zack and Simon's reaction when the rock came out (hugging and jumping up and down!)  But he did a great job overall... he was filming, telling me what to do and trying to narrate to tell you what's going on.  So cute.  

I don't know what the chances are of backing up at just the right spot for just the right size of a boulder to get stuck.. but really, there's no way we could have prepared for this kind of drama.  What cracks me up is that the desert across the street from us seemed like the perfect place to park the bus!  Also, it's not in the video, but the first time Aaron put the 2X4 behind the rock and had me reverse, the piece of wood went THROUGH the hard desert dirt.  So he had to use another rock to prop it up and keep it from sinking in the ground :)

We got Ben to the ortho okay... we had to reschedule it for an hour later and it was no prob.  Walking into the appointment, Ben took a big sigh and said, "That was a little bit stressful, but actually... kind of fun."

All in all, I loved the whole experience.  It was not a big deal, but it was a small taste of what we will do when something wrong happens.  Aaron came to the rescue and I tried to stay as lighthearted as possible.  The kids got into it and each contributed.  And it was just a little bump in the road on our journey.

The other "bad" thing happened on the drive home.  We stopped at a flooring store to figure out what we want to do with the remodel and all the kids were super hot waiting.  So afterward we stopped off for drinks and slurpees and Roma spilled hers all over... I mean, a huge slurpee all over our clean floor and inside one of Ben's shoes.  Luckily, we had a stack of clean towels and we were able to clean it up (relatively) easy while Aaron was driving.  Luke stepped in it and tracked sticky feet everywhere so it was annoying.,  But that really was at the end of the trip and everything else was so blissful.  Rainbow and sunset documentation coming up next..  but guys!  Maybe not for a few days because life is crazy right now!