We just got back from 3 nights at Carpenteria state beach for some camping! it was a lot of fun, here’s the photos: Carpenteria Camping
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Nice shot, honey.

On Jun 12, 2005, at 9:49 PM, deeje wrote:
So,
What do you remember of Carpenteria as a kid? I had to see the pictures before I started remembering…
It looks windy…?
Peace
deeje
Not too much.. apparently it’s changed quite a bit since we were there.
If you’re going to camp at carpenteria, here’s some observations and tips:
It’s a pretty nice place, if a little windy. June’s probably not the best month to go in, maybe july-august or so would be better. We went mid-week, which made a big difference, I think. The place started really getting a little nuts on friday as we were leaving.
Trains run almost every hour. Even the rude hours. They’re close, too. It’s loud. I mean, LOUD. By the third night we stopped waking up for them.
Bugs were almost non existent.
Wind was almost constant, so, it was a little cold, and a little hard to keep the burners on the stove going at low heat. Cooking with gas is new for us, especially so freakin’ close to the burners. First breakfast: inedible burnt eggs, nicely toasted bagels. Third breakfast: buttery slow cooked eggs, nicely toasted bagels.
The beach is pretty nice. The sand is super fine, but there’s a lot of flotsam in the sand. Lots of driftwood and sticks and twigs, etc. They were grooming the beach with a big tractor on the day we were leaving, so maybe that helps.
At the state beach, you’re literally 5 minutes walk from a super nice cute downtown area. There’s a market with 95 bad beers and 5 local ones. Bring your own, and if you need more, go local, stay away from the 2004 special edition. There’s only one beer brand they carry that isn’t like the others, you’ll know it.
Don’t bother buying and bringing firewood, they have it locally for a reasonable price. We bought it in campbell and trekked it down. I wouldn’t do that again.
bring quarters for hot showers, 2-3 bucks a pop. Wash your dishes at the sink near the bathrooms, not at the faucets on your camp site. The bathrooms and showers were clean on the tuesday we got there, and they don’t get cleaned again until friday… they get kind of icky by then.
There _are_ racoons at night. Store your food in your car. Plan on emptying your trash after breakfast if you’re leaving camp, and after dinner. Seagulls tried eating through our trash bag to get to our trash one time.
Safeway marshmellows aren’t very good. Stick to Kraft or whatever sta-puft are.
Wear lots of sunscreen, constantly.
Don’t hang out around a convulsing seal on the beach, unless you plan on helping the marine mammal guy wrassel it into a giant dog kennel carrier and _carry_ that sucker all the way down the beach and up two flights of stairs.
Watch out for tar on the beach.
Later, you asked me if I’d go back, yes, we’re thinking maybe next year.
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