Beach Camping, Part I

Our weekend started out well when we were able to speak to Stacey's Nan, who was back at her home after spending the previous week in the hospital. She had suffered a minor heart attack the weekend before, but the doctors believe no surgeries are needed and that medication will handle the situation.

We spoke to her in the hospital on several occasions, and she sounded upbeat and, as usual, told us all not to worry about her. It was a big relief to talk to her again, back at her own home.

Then, we finished loading the car and were on our way to Refugio State Beach, just north of Santa Barbara, where we joined our good friends Colleen, Rigo, Lucas and Liana.

They have a travel trailer, and a couple of months ago invited us to join them for the weekend with our tent. We've never stayed in our tent in a campground (!) but the it sounded like a great idea.
You can see, the kids enjoyed playing in the tent once we got it set up.

After lunch, we took a short walk down to the beach. The weather was decent, warming up as the afternoon went on and the wind died down.

At one point, a cool-looking plane with Navy insignia buzzed us, thrilling everyone on the beach. It went back and forth a few times, seemingly posing for photos.

The kids got along so well all weekend, and had fun together building sand castles. Lucas and Cora both have active imaginations, and it's been fun to watch Liana and Violet's relationship blossom over the past few months.

 Back at the camp, Stace was disappointed he forgot his guitar, but Rigo let him borrow his harmonica. Stace played some tunes, and the little girls sang along.

 After our quintessential campfire meal of hot dogs and hamburgers, we toasted marshmallows and made s'mores.

Then, it was time for bed... Because Violet has never made it through the night when Stace gets the tent out in the backyard, we brought along her playpen. But, for a couple of days, she had been promising (unbidden) that she would sleep well. "I won't cry, I won't scream, I won't say, 'I need to wee,' I'll be a good girl," she told us repeatedly.

And sure enough, within minutes of being tucked in, she was asleep. Missing a nap didn't hurt either!

We were all awoken about 5:30 Sunday morning when a freight train rumbled past - it seemed to go forever! Thankfully it was the only overnight train to pass by; the tracks were very close to the campground.

Stace cooked up English bacon and eggs later in the morning, and Rigo made pancakes. We ate very well all weekend!


Who needs toys/electronics when you have a good friend, and towels hanging on a clothesline?

More to come, but for now it's time for bed...