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.

away we go to jalama beach (glamping revisited)

a getaway was in order for october. we caravanned up the 101 past santa barbara to the coastal area of the santa ynez mountains, past cow pastures and meandering valleys and vineyards and orchards, to a place far from civilization. we wanted to take the kids camping while the adults wanted the comforts of glamping; lucky for us, there were cabins available for rent and we managed to snag a reservation--when we got there, we could see that these cabins were some of the hottest bookings around.



where else in california can one camp at the beach, hike, explore coves and caves, roast marshmallows, hobnob with hippie surfers AND get away from it all? and go glamping in your very own furnished cabin? jalama beach, that's where. it was fabulous and relaxing, in a sort of magical way. jalama beach is the ultimate hippie surfer refugee camp. and i mean a refuge from l.a., from pollution, from cell reception, directv, from noise, urban blight and miles and miles away from any freeway or mall.



just the sound of the wind whipping over sand dunes, the sound of babies and kids frolicking in the sand. that's it. that sound.




and we went with the best bunch imaginable---everyone sharing stories, playing with the kids, cooking, tending to the fire, beachcombing, grilling, gathering sticks and stones, and most of all, we shared the sunset with each other, knowing that life is a good thing, indeed.










everyone contributed--even the little ones. dylan and his buddy benito built sand castles, tunnels, and rock and seaweed sculptures--as if they were born to do exactly those things.

they even did a breakfast party dance for their babysitters, mienah and sophia.



we love camping!!



and best of all, we sort of did nothing. in a very grand, nothing, sort of fashion. meaning, no reaching for smartphones, cells, emails, internets, no burying oneself in the art of facebooking or youtubing.  none of it.

instead, we made up songs and games.



and we pretended that we were shipwrecked on a castaway island, in the middle of nowhere. we played pirate ships on the high seas.



fierce pirates land ho!



we reveled in the nothing....







and captured more ships....and treasure too. and we went to go hide the treasure in our secret limestone cave:



sophia led the way...



we buried our treasure, and then we had to go home.





it was the best time. ever.  a big thank you to our jalama surf camp crew! you guys are awesome.