Celebrations

Today will mark the day when I said to myself,
"It's not a booger, it's a gray hair."
Then after plucking it I lost my balance and almost fell into the tub.
Shit.

Lake town provides an outdoor adventure

Published in the CSUF Daily Titan newspaper on March 9.

(Since I can't re-publish the photos given to me by a Cachuma Lake naturalist I will post my own photos, which were not published with this article.)

Now is the time when the hippest of the hip will begin traipsing around the globe in search of the perfect party, where bellies are bare and full of beer, and whatever else can be found. It’s an upheaval of the young, and the old cannot do anything but stare.

Spring break has arrived and since academia devours money, the celebration shouldn’t leave students stranded with more debt.

For budget travelers Cachuma Lake County Park rests a mere two and half hours north of Fullerton in Santa Barbara County, and is great for those with a significant other or a solid group of friends interested in short road trips and outdoor adventures.


Lounging fireside, with a frosty beer in one hand and a marshmallow skewer in the other, may sound like a lazy alternative to the normal beat-thumping beach parties where people are dancing skin to skin, but a campsite packed with friends for $20 a night may be the perfect scene for these harsh economic times.


Plus, the waves of Santa Barbara crash only 22 miles away, so a desire for ocean pageantry can easily be fed. Also, students with a palate for wine can travel 10 miles up to Santa Ynez, home to Kalyra Winery, which was featured in the movie “Sideways.”

The lush landscape, cool atmosphere and melodic bird babble surrounding the campsites provide an ideal situation for morning hikes around the lake, which is perfect for clearing the mind of lingering campfire songs and slight hangovers.


"We don’t get a concentration of students or other people during the spring break period, like we do at Thanksgiving and Christmas," Melissa Kelly, assistant naturalist, said in an e-mail. "Cachuma entertains a lot of families and kids' groups like Boys and Girls Scouts that come for camping in a natural setting, where they can enjoy wildlife, good birding and plenty of great Bass, Trout and Crappie fishing."


Cachuma Lake is a “domestic water supply,” which means people are prohibited to swim, but why tread water while clutching a beverage when pure comfort is gliding on top of it? The marina offers boat rentals that can accommodate up to 20 people, and the prices are fair if everyone pitches in. The rental prices can range between $30 an hour to $385 for six hours or more.

The lake also offers opportunities to fish for large and small mouth Bass, Rainbow trout and Bluegill. Bait, tackle and licenses are available for purchase at the marina, and if questions arise, the kids working on the dock can be informative, although sometimes sarcastic.


Cachuma Lake is equipped with the necessities to keep everyone comfortable. Clean bathrooms with hot showers (which will cost a couple of quarters), spacious campsites, electrical hookups, fishing piers, guided lake and wildlife tours and more.


So throw the textbooks in a corner, gather the friends and start planning a legendary hurrah, a shindig with potential, because not many things beat a campsite trapped between the coast and wine country.