California Coast

Almost three years ago, we set off down the coast on our first trip in our 19' Airstream. Wynne was just 5 months old. On the way home after about 5 days, we stopped at Refugio State Beach just north of Santa Barbara. Something about the palm trees, dirt roads, waves crashing and the humidity reminded us of our time on the Pan American Highway, only now we had a baby and a new adventure mobile. After one night, we reserved another, then another, wondering what it would be like if we didn't have to leave. As we pulled into Refugio again this afternoon, I realized that it was the feeling we'd had on our first stay - everything our little family needed to be comfortable right with us, a spot in a beautiful location and the flexibility to go wherever we wanted (or not!) the next day - that we'd been searching for ever since. Now, with our second child at 7 months, Wynne at 3 years and in a larger trailer, we're here again and have started in motion a plan to spend for the foreseeable future living the way we felt on that first visit. #airstream #liveriveted #airstreamwithkids #homeiswhereyouparkit

Snagged the last waterfront premium site just 'cause no one wanted to park in a puddle. We laid out some Lynx blocks and splashed right in so our stairs deposited us onto solid ground and set up the hammock facing the waves. #airstreamprotip #airstream #liveriveted #eno #enolife #enostyle #getalittlemudonthetires

Oh so cozy at the beach. #orisitkindaspooky #refugiostatebeach #airstream - posted by advodna_ann on February 08, 2015 at 08:06PM

At 7 months today, Mae's developing a great little personality. She's quick to smile, knows what she wants (usually momma, a particular spoon or to look at herself in the mirror) and has been sleeping like a champ (following some rough nights of sleep training in the desert). And while she doesn't yet enjoy long walks on the beach, she's happy to take in a sunset from the Airstream window. #airstream #liveriveted #airstreamwithkids #idweartheexactsamethingifitwassociallyacceptable

We eat pretty well on the road, rotating through a set of favorite recipes and quick meals, even better if we can freeze a few portions for another night. The more times we've made something, the easier it is to throw it together at the last second with a baby in one arm. We have a couple goto breakfast favorites, one we mix up the night before (that I'll tell you about another time) and homemade granola. For years (decades!), I hated granola because of all the seeds and nuts and dried fruit until I realized I could just make my own with oats, cinnamon, flax seed meal and whey protein powder mixed with coconut oil, maple syrup, honey and vanilla and baked for 30 mins at 300 with a stir in the middle. Yum, right? #airstream #liveriveted #airstreamkitchen #granola (I should also add that while stirring it, @advodna_ann dumped half of it on the oven door just like I did the last time #granolafail)

A productive little morning for us means Mae took her first nap, @advodna_ann got her workout in then gave me a haircut (only the second time she's done it but the deal is she gets to spend $35 on Zappos each time - what? I'm paying her over my usual Supercuts rate, plus tip!) and Wynne painted a buncha small rocks with her washable paint. Oh, and since everyone cleared out this morning, we booked two more nights! #airstream #liveriveted #beachfrontproperty

Sign at one beach along our bike ride. I was willing to brave the hazardous pier and wasn't even worried about the well head, but after reading warning number #3, there was no way I was going in that water.

This afternoon, we took a short bike ride down the coast towards El Capitan State Beach. While we were stopped short by a section of the path that had been eroded away (tho possibly still passable via a dirt bypass too narrow for our bike trailer), we had a nice ride and passed some popular looking surf breaks accessible only from pullouts off the highway. This view is looking back towards the point at the north end of Refugio State Beach. Don't worry, @advodna_ann, I've already #AmPrime'd a hitch for the trailer to fit on your bike too.

Go Dada, go! Not sure I'm too excited about @advodna_dave getting an extra arm to hitch that thing to my bike...😬 - posted by advodna_ann on February 09, 2015 at 08:14PM

Sometimes it's a mystery where kids pickup behaviors. Other times, not so much... Wynne got some time with a game on @advodna_ann's phone this morning because she's been fighting a cough, sore throat and fever for the past couple days, the inevitable result of getting a buncha kids together in Mojave last week (but well worth it!). #airstream #liveriveted #airstreamwithkids #homeiswhereyouparkit #toddlerlife #childhoodplugged

It's amazing what the promise of a trip to the zoo can do for a kid's energy level. A few people had mentioned the Santa Barbara Zoo as being great for kids, and they sure were right. So far we've been inches from a huge male gorilla (thick glass!), fed a giraffe, watched a giant condor fly and explored a great family playground. While traveling, we like to see a little of what the parents who live here do on a weekday morning, and today, tons of people are out with their kids enjoying a sunny February day and taking in the view of the ocean from the zoo hilltop. #santabarbarazoo

While dinner was cooking this evening, I decided to start packing a few things up for our early morning departure tomorrow. I grabbed @advodna_ann's bike and started around the back of the trailer to the bike rack when the sunset caught my eye. It was still bright, but the light was being diffused by the ocean mist. Folks were walking towards the beach with camp chairs and beer bottles or a glass of wine, settling in for the show. And then, it came to me; Wait, why are we leaving? I'd spent an hour that afternoon scouring the web for info on campsites up the coast and finding that most of them were either booked or uncertain first come first served. We'd thought we'd head to Morro Bay, well, just because it was a place we'd heard of. But why, we already had a beachfront campsite on the California coast most people would be envious of. Somehow, we'd slipped back into that mode of needing to have been to every place, to be able to talk about it to someone or even just register it in our memory banks, to keep moving, but that wasn't what this latest adventure was supposed to be about. Sure, there were places we felt we wanted to see - Crater Lake, Alaska, Nova Scotia, the Great Smokies, New Orleans - but this adventure was more about living slowly while making our way to those places. Just living our regular lives, keeping ourselves happy and healthy, and with beautiful locations out our windows. And Refugio fits that bill perfectly. Yeah, we're not leaving. #airstream #liveriveted #homeiswhereyouparkit

Four swings and one slide took up an hour of our morning. #itsthesimplethings #refugiostatebeach #neverleaving #childhoodunplugged - posted by advodna_ann on February 10, 2015 at 08:11PM

I mean, would you leave? #threemorenights - posted by advodna_dave on February 10, 2015 at 08:04PM

This morning, we took another 25 minute drive back into Santa Barbara. After fussing for a few minutes, Wynne, still fighting a bug that has her hacking like a 89 year old with Emphysema, passed out asleep in her car seat. While waiting for her to wake up, we took ourselves on a Trulia-guided real estate tour of the downtown, determining that it would take about $1.5m to break into the market. While we were happy for her nap, we knew there was about a 49% we'd find a wet car seat when she woke up; This was *not* our lucky day. On the road (and in parenting and, while we're at it, marriage) flexibility is the name of the game. 5 minutes later we were at the Old Navy we'd seen a few blocks back, and soon after, walking out with a toddler in a cute new (dry) pair of pants. And as an added bonus, we got to walk a bit on the beautiful State St. Apparently, someone forgot to tell Santa Barbara that it's not spring yet. #santabarbara #statest #codeyellow #neverforgetemergencypants

With clean and dry pants on (okay, that's gonna sound a little weird if you haven't read the previous entry), we stopped by the famous @hofarc Airstream renovation shop. A couple weeks ago, @airstreamrenovator had invited us down if we were in the area, and sorry for him, we actually took him up on it. We met Wally Hoffman (son of the father-and-son founders) and Operations Manager Lauren took us on a little tour of the projects they were working on, from full frame-off restorations where they were adding/moving windows and even increasing headroom to beautifully clean interiors using reclaimed and eco materials. Drool worthy stuff. We even caught a glimpse of @theecotravelers trailer they'd just dropped off for some work while they head to Maui. Don't worry, your baby's safe. As we were leaving, @airstreamrenovator gave us a cute set of ceramic Airstream salt and pepper shakers that we're hoping we can convince Wynne are not a toy for her before they shatter. Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to show us around! #airstream #liveriveted #airstreamrenovation #santabarbara

Genes are a powerful thing. This is actually the physical representation of how I also feel about pancakes.😂 #nomnom #sogood #spoiledrotten - posted by advodna_ann on February 11, 2015 at 07:53PM

A sign on the beach warns about globs of tar that may wash up in the surf, and my first thought goes to the two small dots ever present on the horizon (or as Wynne called it the other day, the "boat line") framed by the silhouetted trees. In the evening, you could almost say the lights on these offshore drilling rigs, two of twenty-five located on the California coast, are actually kind of pretty, like tall ships decorated for the lighted boat parade they have at Christmas in Petaluma. But, in light of spills along the Gulf Coast, you wonder if maybe one has sprung a leak and the tragedy it would be to the Santa Barbara Channel if it did. In fact, in 1969, one did create a fissure in the sea bed that resulted in a huge oil slick that blackened area beaches, considered of the first large scale ecological disasters in the U.S. and sometimes credited with the emergence of the environmental movement. But despite tensions from a disaster 45 years ago, recent attempts to ban drilling off the coast of Santa Barbara have failed, squashed by oil lobbies and representatives of the local economy who benefit from them. As I continue to read the sign, I learn that these globs of tar are not from the oil rigs but are natural "seeps" from the rich channel that have been occurring for ages and were used by the Chumash Indians to waterproof baskets, seal canoes and plug holes in abalone shells to make bowls, even traded to inland tribes. Strange to think that these little globs, used by the Indians in the same way they used other resources, sparingly and respectfully, were likely what encouraged these huge international companies to build multimillion dollar platforms to drill here. Now I think I'll get in my gas guzzling truck and pull my heavy trailer 10,000 miles next year. Oops. #conflicted #nopoliticalresponsesplease

Since we'd only planned to stay three nights, I hadn't been worried about power, figuring we could go that long easily without collecting any solar. With the decision to stay (at least) five nights, now we have to play a little catch up. Roof panels are titled (and basically facing south) and the portable panel is deployed. Despite mixed shade and tall trees between us and the ocean, we managed to gain about 20 amp hours yesterday from the roof, though because I still need to wire the portable panel through the shunt, we don't know how much we got from the portable. Of course, we also weren't being overly careful with gray water which will be a little more challenging to compensate for. #airstreamproblems #airstream #liveriveted #airstreamwithkids #eatleftoverpizzainahammock #eno #enolife #enostyle

Successful transition from napping in the car seat on the way to the laundromat to napping in the stroller at the laundromat! He's done it, ladies and gentlemen! #achievementunlocked #howtodad #glamping

Always time for one more play sesh in the sand before sunset. Where are we?? #paradisefound #sunset #cacoast

#tbt To that one time I took a picture of our dog and not our kids. #poorpup #gorilla #dogsofinstagram #airstreamwithdogs #easternsierras - posted by advodna_ann on February 12, 2015 at 07:43PM

And at just after mid day, the scores are in! 405W of tilted rooftop solar panels in mixed sun/shade: 20 amps hours collected so far, 120W of portable panel in filtered sun in the morning and full sun in the afternoon: 25 amp hours collected! For those of you planning solar installations right now, worth considering that if we had left one panel off the roof for a total of 270W, we would have typically pulled in about 15 amps at peak, enough to recover from a full 60 amp hour day of battery draw in 4 hours. Sufficient for most situations, and instead of $350 for the last 135W rooftop, we could have spent $150 more for a $500 portable 120W and would have had a much more flexible setup. There have been several times this Fall that the portable has saved us. Then again, the portable brings up issues of storage and security and/or you could spend the extra money on a generator. #worthconsidering #solar #airstream #liveriveted #zamp

In an effort to reassert herself as part of the family, Gorilla decided she would have to act more like the competition. I think it's working. #actcasual #oneofthesethingsisnotliketheother #poorpup #gorilla #airstreamwithdogs #dogsofinstagram #rvlife #liverivited #airstream - posted by advodna_ann on February 13, 2015 at 10:29PM

Even though we both forgot it was Valentines Day this morning, I don't think a day goes by that we're not happy we found each other and that we're sharing whatever adventure we're currently on. @advodna_ann Thanks to @sethkhughes for this amazing family portrait we'll remember for a lifetime! @RVLegend #airstream #liveriveted #airstreamwithkids #airstreamwithdogs #advodnaxmascard

Soooo beautiful... And yes, I *am* talking about @advodna_ann. I just love the way the black contrasts against the gray she's wearing (still Ann). #gonnagetpunchedonvalentinesday #airstream #liveriveted #airstreamwithablackeye

This morning, we reluctantly gave up our waterfront site at Refugio. A planned three night stay had turned into five which then turned into seven, requiring a little scrambling for power and gray and black tank management. In the end, the portable solar panel, collapsible bowl in the sink while doing dishes and access to the campground bathroom made it work, but we just couldn't bring ourselves to leave earlier. While this spot had always held a special place for us, after this week, getting a chance to settle in to the rhythm of the campground and explore more of Santa Barbara, it's somewhere we know we'll return to for years to come. #airstream #liveriveted #airstreamwithkids #airstreamwithdogs #yesmaeisusinggorillaasabackrest

Our luxuriously slow week meant that we had to cover some ground this afternoon to make it back up towards Petaluma where we'll be spending the next two weeks before our northern migration towards Alaska. As much as it pained us to do it, we had to bypass Hwy 1 from Santa Barbara to Monterey, arguably some of the most spectacular California coastline, which would have added too many hours to our route and possibly left us stranded without an available campsite on the Sunday night of a three day weekend. When the idea came up to join @melcarr7 at their campsite at Laguna Seca, a perfect midway between SB and home, it sounded like a perfect opportunity to meet some other parents on the road. Anyway, meeting other folks like us (particularly those with the same taste in trailers 😜) can be just as exciting as seeing new and beautiful places. #airstream #liveriveted #airstreamwithkids #pairstream