I always feel a bit strange writing about good weather in mid-January, especially when a lot of people are suiting up in cold-weather snow gear before they open the door. But it's days like this that I am forgiving of the annoying aspects of living in Los Angeles and feel grateful to be close to the Pacific Ocean at this specific latitudinal juncture.
We took advantage of the beautiful weather to end the long Martin Luther King Jr. weekend by heading to Leo Carrillo State Beach just north of Point Dume in Malibu.
In the tide pools, my oldest son spotted a vacated shell of an urchin. Mussels blanketed the rocks like a nubby quilt. Caves were explored (free of pirates, Eric assured our youngest son).
Next time, I'd like to be at the beach all day and night. It is the rare moment in CA when you can roll up to a camp site at a state beach without reservations. These are the benefits of winter.
And a super sunny warm day makes it all that much more sweet.
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When I was much younger, my baby sister, who was the last of eight kids, wanted a family camping trip for her graduation from high school, having missed all the family camping trips but hearing about them all her life. So we all arranged time off together and drove down from the bay area to McGrath State Beach, which if I remember correctly is between Oxnard and Ventura. Once my brothers showed up, they promptly fell in love with Ranger Stacy, who was on deck at check-in that day (we heard a lot about Ranger Stacy that week). Since most of us were paired up at that point, it was kind of a big crowd- my sister and I had arrived first and found a spot with two camp sites back to back, but otherwise cut off from everyone else by bushes, so all the tents were pitched within these two sites. We stayed up late and drank and played Balderdash and nearly fell in the fire laughing. One night my brother-in-law produced cigars and we all went to the beach to watch the sunset and smoke cigars. It was without a doubt one of the best times of my entire life and a very precious memory, probably because my dad had died recently and we became closer as a family because of his death. This trip was really healing for all of us, and a happy experience.
ReplyDeleteYou need to camp on the beach. Everyone does.