El Capitan Was Everything We Hoped For

The idea for our trip to the West Coast began when Collin, our son who lives in South Carolina, told us that he and his wife, Austin, would attend a conference in Santa Barbara in August. Helen jumped at an opportunity to plan a family gathering and include our son, Justin, and his family, who live in the Los Angeles area. Collin agreed to extend his vacation and bring our granddaughters with him. Thus, a road trip was born for two bi-coastal grandparents, BeBe, and Big Daddy.

Helen and I made reservations for Justin’s family next to us at the Sun Outdoors campground above El Capitan State Beach. We secured a cabin for Collin’s family in El Capitan Canyon Resort, adjacent to the campground. Although our trip had been fabulous up to the gathering, we anxiously counted the days until we were all together again as we moved up the California coast.

I have hundreds of pictures and moments to share about our time in El Capitan, but we’re heading home in a series of short stops, and time for blogging is limited, so I’m going to break up our family gathering posts into two segments. First, I want to outline some of our time in the campground, and then, in the next post, I’ll tell you about some of our excursions.

Food

All the adults in my family are outstanding cooks, making mealtime very memorable. We prepared meals in and out of the trailer and treated ourselves to S’mores over the campfire. Big Daddy even participated and fired up the griddle for Blueberry Pancakes and bacon. We ate well in camp.

Kids Playing Together

The most heartwarming portion of our time together is seeing our grandchildren enjoy each other’s company. At most, they are together once a year, and with their schedules becoming more active, it gets difficult to achieve as they age. Helen works very hard to set aside time for these meetups, and we both delight at watching them come together. This year was an exceptional experience for us.

Don’t Forget Mortimer

Mortimer attracts a lot of attention inside every campground we visit. A little girl in the campsite across from us came out looking for him daily. It was cute. Austin got trapped when it was playtime one afternoon. She was a good sport and let him pester her well into the evening.

Campfires – A Wonderful Way to End the Day

Fortunately, the weather in El Capitan was fantastic during our stay. The evening temperatures were comfortable, and we could enjoy time around the campfire. We quickly went through a bag of marshmallows and had to go out for more. Someone in the crew found a bag of square marshmallows created just for S’mores. Those didn’t last long, either. Big Daddy told one of his “Spider Monkey” stories, wherein all of the children become reimagined as cute little spider monkeys who find themselves in a pickle, and one of the Spider Monkeys becomes the hero who saves the others from inevitable demise. This time, Carter was the hero. I make these up on the fly. I couldn’t repeat the plot if I had to. I bowed to the applause.

Time Passes Too Quickly

All too soon, it was time to say goodbye. I didn’t think Helen would pull herself together in time to pass out hugs as everyone packed up to leave. She managed to choke it back, but it wasn’t easy. Cason helped me put another pin in the map I use to record our travels–El Capitan got a gold pin only because I didn’t have a star.

Join us next time, and I’ll take you to some area attractions, including the 100th Santa Barbara Spanish Fiesta. For now, we’re Easin’ Along–feeling loved and very well-hugged.