Throughout my childhood, I was confused about the name of the beach that my family often visited. To this day, I often misspell it “Carpenteria.” I’m convinced that a local flooring retailer is the root of the error.
We spent the past few days camping in Carpinteria for Meg’s birthday. We loaded up the CR-V on Wednesday night, and the next morning – filled to the brim with supplies for four days and crammed with two adults, two kids, and a dog - we set out for a long weekend in Santa Barbara county.
Carpinteria is a great destination for many Ventura county families, so it wasn’t surprising that Meg and I both had fond memories of this place. Still, it was Meg’s affinity for the beach that got us there. My in-laws, Mike and Patty, met us up there through a strange automobile arrangement that unnecessarily extended their carbon-footprint. I guess that was fitting given our destination. (WORD-PLAY!)
There was some concern about bringing Lilo along. While the campground did allow dogs, there were obvious logistical problems. Primarily, you can’t go anywhere without bringing your dog along. That taken with the fact that all of the information I found online indicated that dogs were not allowed on the beach (pdf warning) created a tricky situation. In the end, we didn’t have any other option.
After dropping off a package at the UPS Store, we took the “back way” to Carpinteria – the Old 118 to the 126. The drive went smoothly and we pulled up to the campground around noon on Thursday. To my immediate relief, the campground host informed us that there was a “dog beach” at the far-South end of the campgrounds – phew! It wasn’t smooth sailing, but at least it was possible that we might have some success.
We had initially planned to crash the beach prior to setting up camp, but the dog situation had complicated things slightly. Camp setup went smoothly. To my satisfaction, we were able to assemble our new tent without issue.
After setting up, we took a walk to check out the dog section of the beach. We parked at the very end of the campground and walked a short distance to the cliff that overlooked the beach. Joe wandered a little too close to the edge for comfort and scared the shit out of us. I wouldn’t use such harsh language if the possible consequence hadn’t been so severe. We proceeded to explain to Joe that being young didn’t make him immortal – a concept he hadn’t put together up until that point. It was a nice enough beach, and close to the tide pools to boot. Things were looking up for Lilo (and me). We strolled the trails in that area of the grounds – a little hike/walk through the surrounding “wilderness.” Not wanting to waste too much of the day, we turned around and headed toward camp.
Since we’d dropped our beach ambitions for the day, we all set out to walk the “Downtown T” of Carpinteria – we’d heard there was a farmer’s market every Thursday. The farmer’s market and craft faire didn’t have much to offer us – we thought about a flat of fresh strawberries, but quickly realized that we had nowhere to put them since our ice chests were already packed full. Before departing, we stopped by Robitaille’s – but they were all out of Meg’s favorite. Joe was able to score a balsa wood and rubber band airplane from the small toy section – thanks Papa!
While Joe and Mike tried out the airplane that they bought with great success, the rest of us started on dinner – Pineapple Teriyaki Burgers. We barbequed on the Pyromid, which is a really cool product if you ask me. The burgers were great – the only low-point was discovering that the cooked burgers had been placed back onto the same cutting board as they laid on in their raw state. Still, no one got sick.
We settled into our new sleeping bags for a good night’s sleep. We didn’t get what we were looking for – how could it have been good with a terrified baby girl, a blaring train horn, and a new sleeping bag with “vent” holes that you weren’t aware of causing you to freeze your butt off?
See you in Day Two (and Three)
P.S. Raccoons obviously like dog food…
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