The Beach House

It was that time a year again- the annual Rowland/Stroup week long camping trip at El Capitan State Beach. El Capitan is located 20 minutes north of Santa Barbara, CA. It is a great place to stay! There are several levels of campsites at the park with lots of shade! Not to mention the beach is right there!

This is our extremely large home away from home. We decided the night before we left camping that it was time for a new tent. So we got one at 9PM the night before we left. When we looked at the picture on the box, it didn't look like it was as large as it turned out to be. We had the largest tent of anyone on our camp site, and after we finally set it up (which took a really long time), we felt a little awkward about its size. After we moved in with our new double layer air bed, we quickly got over this feeling and enjoyed having so much space. We even started making bigger plans for next year. We will add the landscaping, two car garage and electricity next year, so that we will not be outdone by anyone who wants to keep up with the Mykytiuks.

The Beach is only two hundred yards from where we camp so all week long we could hear sea lions at night and also watch Dolphins play in the water. Here's what our week looked like:

Morning runs on the beach (Aaron would wake up at sunrise and want to jump out of bed to go running. I would lay very still hoping I could catch a few more minutes of sleep before we would get up by 6:30AM and run. )

Followed by the best breakfasts ever! (We fixed pancakes, breakfast burritos, french toast-mmm!)

Around 10:30AM we would make our way down to the beach. The guys would body board or raft (see picture below) the girls would lay out in the sun.

The girls were shopping the first day the guys went out in the raft; I wish we could have been there to capture the first pictures of them trying to get into the boat!
After the daily beach excursion, we would have to take a nap- the sun and water make you tired This was followed by dinner and a campfire.
The only exceptions to this daily schedule were the occasional trip into town for dinner or a movie- and the girl's shopping trip to Santa Barbara!
We had a wonderful time this year! We were able to relax and enjoy ourselves. The two families we camp with (the Stroups and Rowlands- Michelle's family) have been so kind to let us tag along every year! Each year is unique and interesting. This year there seemed to be a common theme of indecency. Not on our part- but others. We saw teenagers walking out of a shower together (boy/girl) a older boy running naked down the beach, people walking around in their underwear! It was very strange... We decided we should create a code of conduct for camping and share it with the other campers.
We are glad to be home though and sleeping in our own bed! (And not having to hike to the bathroom in the middle of the night is nice too!) Although, our stay at home is short lived as Aaron and I will be leaving again next week. Aaron will travel to Colorado to spend time with the family. I will be driving in a cross-country adventure with my BFF Michelle, as we move her to South Carolina. She's already mapped out the best shopping for me to check out while I'm in South Carolina. Isn't shopping enough "sight seeing"?

We'll keep you updated as we return to normal life this week... and recover from really bad sunburns!