camp jalama beach 2012!!

have you heard of jalama beach yet?



well, you may never see this surf spot from any california highway (because you can't). the place may never get written about in a travel magazine (because it won't). and yet those are the reasons to love the place.



last month, the traveling band of kids, families and dogs reconvened for 'camp jalama beach 2012.' for a very short weekend, we camped out at the cabins and left all concrete worries and stresses behind. together, we shared bellyachin' laughs, and the men surfed; everyone listened to music and we feasted on each others' jokes. the kids played in the cabins and we had marshmallow smores and ate a TON of tasty vittles cooked up on the grill.

but really, we came to get a glimpse of this:



and this:



it's simple really--just a rugged, deserted stretch of coastline visited mostly by die-hard surfer types and beach rats. sitting on the sand, you're surrounded on all sides by craggy cliff, sky, flocks of sea birds overhead, sunsets and nothing more.

there are coves and caves to poke around in; and not much to see from here to santa barbara and up to lompoc. miles of farmland, where herds of cows and bands of horses roam and run freely, keeps major highways quite a distance away.



the only civilization to notice is the amtrak making its way down the tracks and the little grocery store that sells the famous jalama burger.

other than that, there is no 'there' at jalama.

















but WE were all there. all of us. and not a lot of anything else.








and that's how we'd like this place to remain.

until next year everyone!!
love to the camp jalama crew for all the great memories.

read about last year's surf camp that started it all here.

autumn days: halloween, terranea and cold season

autumn and halloween festivities came and went with a bang with parties and trick-or-treating and pumpkin patching. dylan's school hosted a harvest fest where the kids rode ponies, played with baby farm animals, and decorated pumpkins. so many events eventually will lead to one thing: colds! both dylan and john ended up with seasonally bad colds, with runny nose, cough and icky fever.

blech. we're glad that bout of sick is over.

dylan as an incredible...hand me down costumes are the best! thanks kayla! 

now that we're no longer sick, let's drum!! dylan leads a deafening drum circle.

the jalama beach crew came by to cheer us up and to form a 'chase away cold virus spirits' drum circle--all that drumming must've worked, because we've been fine ever since.

apres-drumming, the crew headed down to the bar at nelson's at terranea resort. now, this place wasn't jalama beach. (terranea is a glorified mirage of a resort with its too pristine lawns, golf course, faux spanish architecture and golf carts whisking you here and there). but the place has nicely maintained trails which are accessible to the public.

our unofficial photog, sophia, took some lovely photos of us on the trails; we checked out the remnants of the old pier at marineland and climbed down the rocks.

heseon, jesse, one tired kid, john and mienah

after a rain, you could see the clear outlines of catalina island; the little harbor at avalon looked practically like a hop, skip and a jump away.




terranea lies on the site of what was once marineland;  i remember as a little girl, my parents bringing the family here to see dolphin and whale shows and the aquarium in the 70s. i remember bringing home a plush orca whale toy as a souvenir.

that was a loooong time ago.

can you see catalina island in the distance? isn't it just gorgeous?








if you listen to the waves and look out at catalina in the distance, you can imagine for a moment that you were the only soul discovering, for the very first time, these rocky shores and dense marine life under the turquoise waters.

does anyone else remember orky and corky too, the great whales that used to perform at marineland? do you remember the old marineland?

thanks sophia for the photos!