After spending some great days in Malibu, we packed things up and headed up PCH to Santa Barbara. After a quick stop in the sleepy burg of Carpinteria for some lunch and some leg stretching for Eva, we headed up to El Capitan State Beach to Ocean Mesa Campground. We just happened to find out about this spot in an RV book we picked up along the way, and we were glad that we did. This place was basically a 4 star RV resort. One thing I did find out quick on this trip is that there are certain things you look for at and RV park, and this place had all of them:
-Paved Parking Pads and blacktop driveways throughout
-Free Wifi (not a work trip but still nice for downloading new music for the drive)
-Pool, Jacuzzi
-Playground (essential)
-Convenience store with a vast selection of beverages, snacks and candy
-Clean and private showers
-Clean hookups for water and power
After setting up, we walked down the trail through the woods to their sister property, El Capitan Canyon. I had heard about this place in the LA Times as well as Wallpaper and a few other yuppie monthlies. Real rustic and great design throughout. Basically a 4 star hotel except you stay in rustic tents in the middle of a pristine canyon. The Canyon Market had some great Yuppie Chow and all of the furniture throughout was awesome. The fact that they did that place and an RV park in the same vernacular was pretty solid. I would suggest it to anyone looking for a super chill getaway. Yo and I both agreed it was just like being back in Vermont.
We cooked out that night and we helped Eva roast some marshmallows and make some S'Mores. Oh yeah.
Santa Barbara was on the agenda for Thursday, so we headed in and walked State Street for a couple of hours. Yo and I had been there before, so it did'nt take long for us to get bored and head back to the park. Before leaving, I did stop by Channel Islands to check it out. Tons of great old boards in there, including a few of Curren and Slater's World Title boards and some custom boards such as Kalani Robb's Louis Vuitton all over print. Did'nt buy shit there, but it was worth it to look.
The rest of the day we did a whole lot of nothing, just like a vacation should be. Eva slept, Yo read, I slept and read, and then we chilled some more. A good day. Friday we headed out, stopping into Patagonia in Ventura on the way and then taking PCH back through Malibu and Santa Monica before heading home. The Patagonia HQ was a great old building, an old industrial building that has been completely redone to house their whole US workforce and retail. The whole place is run off of solar panels that cover the roof and the parking lots...impressive.
Patagonia HQ
Ocean Mesa
Eva's view.
We rolled back into San Clemente around 5pm and welcomed Chris and Jake into town for yet another adventure that was to take place on Saturday...
