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the camping ritual of the mchale/mart duo
2008.10.10
look! ocean!
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look! ocean!
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on the road.
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on the road.
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LLAMAS!
pointing out livestock is also a noteworthy activity of the trip.
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LLAMAS!
pointing out livestock is also a noteworthy activity of the trip.
3
momma with the neighbor's tent in the background. that puny thing is nothing compared to our palacial polyester dwelling, which has three rooms. i didn't take a picture of it and i really should have.
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momma with the neighbor's tent in the background. that puny thing is nothing compared to our palacial polyester dwelling, which has three rooms. i didn't take a picture of it and i really should have.
4
the flora of the area.
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the flora of the area.
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picking blackberries is mandatory. even if they are half unripe and half dessicated on the vine, with poison oak interspersed.
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picking blackberries is mandatory. even if they are half unripe and half dessicated on the vine, with poison oak interspersed.
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los pelicanos!
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los pelicanos!
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the texture of the pelican's feathers are a curvilinear echo of the texture of the planks of weathered wood in the pier.
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the texture of the pelican's feathers are a curvilinear echo of the texture of the planks of weathered wood in the pier.
8
we thought about eating this fellow for dinner, but decided that trader joe's tofu tacos were much more appealing.
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we thought about eating this fellow for dinner, but decided that trader joe's tofu tacos were much more appealing.
9
kelp, you were the bane of my existence at the beach when i was a child. not only did you attempt to bind me to the bottom of the ocean by twining around my ankles, antagonize me by brushing up against me in the post-wave upheaval and convince me that you were really a large carnivorous fish, and generally gross me out by wrapping around my body while i was swimming in the surf, but you also piled up in nasty mounds and accrued kelp flies in your mouldering windy heaps.
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kelp, you were the bane of my existence at the beach when i was a child. not only did you attempt to bind me to the bottom of the ocean by twining around my ankles, antagonize me by brushing up against me in the post-wave upheaval and convince me that you were really a large carnivorous fish, and generally gross me out by wrapping around my body while i was swimming in the surf, but you also piled up in nasty mounds and accrued kelp flies in your mouldering windy heaps.
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13
this is a sedimentary rock formation, pushed up by upheaval in the earth's crust.
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this is a sedimentary rock formation, pushed up by upheaval in the earth's crust.
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the rock was compressed and heated to become brittle, and as it has been exposed to the elements over the millenia, it has shattered away in angled, jagged fragments.
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the rock was compressed and heated to become brittle, and as it has been exposed to the elements over the millenia, it has shattered away in angled, jagged fragments.
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it has been worn away by the tides.
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it has been worn away by the tides.
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and it has become a fertile environment for the growing of algae and moss, limpets and anenomes.
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and it has become a fertile environment for the growing of algae and moss, limpets and anenomes.
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nasturtiums grow in the crevasses where runoff from the bluffs has eroded the deposits of sediment.
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nasturtiums grow in the crevasses where runoff from the bluffs has eroded the deposits of sediment.
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the stupidity of the winery was a dark spot on the trip for me. even my mom said the woman running the tasting room didn't know what she was talking about.
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the stupidity of the winery was a dark spot on the trip for me. even my mom said the woman running the tasting room didn't know what she was talking about.
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the laconian wish-object.
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the laconian wish-object.
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the steaming lagoon.
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the steaming lagoon.
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mother selects a shell imported from indonesia or somewhere as a memento of our trip. i don't know if i pointed out to her at the time that these shells are not native to the california coast. i doubt she would have cared much, since i think she just liked these better than the ones you would find that were locally harvested. the harvesting of interesting shells is also probably illegal in california. like everything else.
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mother selects a shell imported from indonesia or somewhere as a memento of our trip. i don't know if i pointed out to her at the time that these shells are not native to the california coast. i doubt she would have cared much, since i think she just liked these better than the ones you would find that were locally harvested. the harvesting of interesting shells is also probably illegal in california. like everything else.
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the bluffs protrude like fingers into the churning Pacific.
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the bluffs protrude like fingers into the churning Pacific.
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this is the best part of summer: camping with my mom, relaxing by the fire, cooking outside on our ancient gas cookstove. the smell of smoke permeates my hair for weeks to come, and though the combination of dry burnt air and damp oceanside nights made my throat hurt so much i wanted to go home, i find the memories of camping don't cause quite so much discomfort.
our camping trips have become ritualized: we drive up the coast from LA, always the coast route even if it's longer. when we see the ocean at Oxnard we always say "Look! Ocean!" We always comment when we pass through Mariposa Reina (Queen of the Butterflies, in English). We whine at the slowdown through Santa Barbara, we get off the 101 at Los Osos Valley Road and drive past the agriculture and modular churches (really, there are modular churches - made out of smaller pieces that can be carted away to a different location on a flatbed 18-wheel trailer at moment's notice) and into the mist-shrouded tunnel of eucalpytus trees planted as a bad gamble at the turn of the 20th century by some entrepreneurial settler wanting to get into the lumber industry. it's a good thing his choice of tree was not the best suited in the end for commercial logging, since such rape of the land would ruin the natural beauty of the area. montaña de oro state park is, undoubtedly, one of the most beautiful places in the world. according to me.
