Beach Walk 2: Goleta Beach to Isla VIsta

 The next segment from Goleta Pier to the end of Isla Vista was broken up into sections because I have a few people who would like to do a smaller section with me. The more the merrier! The California Coastal Trail has been helpful in planning this one (Santa Barbara Section 7).

 On June 8, my mother and I set off from Goleta Beach Pier to Campus Point just after low tide. The tide was +0.8 on this day. Goleta Beach had a lot of debris including a large amount of rocks at the beginning of the grassy area. We chose to go across the rocks to stay dry (but that didn't last long!).  We did have to wade at the large rock at the end of Goleta Beach (it would be fine at a 0 or negative tide). The beginning of Campus Point Beach has quite a bit of seaweed which made us move up to the higher part of the beach to avoid the water. It is exactly a mile to the steps up to the bluff. After that it was an easy walk to Campus Point, where we walked back along the bluff. The buff path is closed in many areas because of erosion and threat of erosion. The beach portion was 1.25 miles. 

Grandolly 

Goleta Beach

Steps to Campus Point

On June 9, I set out with my daughter G to walk the beach from the end of Isla Vista (Camino Majorca) to Campus Point and back. The tide was not a very low one (+1.1) and this is a very narrow section of beach, so we got wet. We were sad to see that several of the steps we went down during our beach summer 2020 have eroded and are unusable, but enjoyed the caves again.  I was glad to have brought birks as this was easier to walk barefoot. Close to Campus Point we enjoyed sea anemones and lots of pelicans at the point. G also explained to me that this location was called the toilet bowl because of how the water swirls through with the waves. On the way back, we tried to walk the beach, but the tide had risen, so after 1.3 miles we went to up the stairs at Camino del Sur to walk the rest of the way back to the car. The beach was far tar-ier than either section leaving Goleta Beach.

Broken Steps

Campus Point

Caves

The Point

Thanks to Dolly and G for braving the waves. 10 km (6 miles down)!

Related Posts:

Goleta Beach

Goleta Beach Playground

Campus Point 

Isla Vista Beaches 

Isla Vista Parks and Open Spaces

Beach Walk 1: Goleta Beach to Hope Ranch Beach

 

Goleta Beach (past the slough) on a typical June Day

To start the journey, I chose a more predictable section of beach and a lower tide. Based on my estimations and the website of the California Coastal Trail, I predicted this was about 3 miles. Jennifer and Crystal set off with me on June 5th just before low tide (this one was 0 feet) from Goleta Pier at Goleta Beach.  

It wasn't long before we hit our first challenge. The Goleta Slough was deeper than expected. I have crossed it plenty of times when it was low, but this day it was calf deep and we needed to take off our shoes to get through the water. After regrouping and drying our feet (and adding a towel to my list of items to bring), we continued on. There are several places where you need a tide like this (0 feet) or lower to navigate around the points. Several times we had hustle to get around the point when the tide was out or scramble over the rocks. 

More Mesa Beach is known for being a nude beach, but during this early part of the the day, we only saw one other person (clothed). There are some impressive "rock formations" along here that are actually made from tar. Hope Ranch Beach was 3.2 miles from our start! 

Challenge number 2 came at the end of the walk when we tried to exit Hope Ranch Beach. There isn't a clear way to exit and we had to wait for a car to come through the gate to leave when they came through. There was a lot of laughter as we dashed to and through the gate and a moment where I thought one of use would make it leaving the others trapped. We all made it our and a prearranged ride picked us up. (I texted from the beach which had coverage but I didn't have coverage on the road outside).

Thanks to Crystal and Jennifer for being adventurous and joining me for my first walk! 5km (3 miles down)!

Related Posts:

Goleta Beach

Goleta Beach Playground

Hope Ranch Beach

More Mesa Beach 

More Mesa Preserve

Birthday Beach Walks

Gaviota May 2026

There's another big birthday coming this year. If you have been following me for a long time, you know I had a whole list of things to accomplish when for my 40th birthday. I may do some of those same things (but more ;) this year. One of the things I did was to train and do a sprint triathlon--not quickly, but I did it! I trained mostly by myself and when it came to my next big birthday, I chose to walk 45 miles with friends in the days around my birthday. Much more fun! 

These the things on my bucket list for the year: 
1. Walk or run 500 miles this year 
2. Give away 50 things
3. Try 50 new recipes

4. Read 50 books 

5. My big plan is to walk 50 kilometers of coastline with friends! (Measured by Strava/Garmin)

I have been thinking about this last one for months. It much harder to plan than one would think. You need a low tide (less than 1 foot is best and a negative tide is better) at the right time of day (and hopefully a friend available to walk)! Maps of the area don't give milage for the coast and the right distance (probably 3-5 miles) is important. I tried to have ChatGPT plan this for me and found a task to simply could not do.  It wildly underestimated distances and told me to walk at 2:30 AM. It has taken planning and I still will probably find surprises along the way. Last week I finally found a helpful website (after much research and planning) from the California Coastal Trail. 

While this is still a work in progress, these are the segments, I have planned so far:

 1. Gaviota to Canada San Onofre Beach
2. Canada San Onofre Beach to Arroyo Quemada
3. Arroyo Quemada to Refugio
4. Refugio to El Capitan
5. El Capitan to Haskell ?? (Still figuring this one out)
6. Haskells to Ellwood
7. Ellwood to IV Beaches

8. IV Beaches to Goleta Beach (June 8 and 9)

9. Goleta to Hope Ranch Beach (June 5th)
10. HR to Arroyo Burro
11. Arroyo Burro to Ledbetter
12. Ledbetter to East Beach
13. East Beach to Miramar
14. Miramar to ?? (Still figuring this one out)
15. ?? to Carp State Beach (Still figuring this one out)

As a mom, I will still be working on some of the Choose Your Own Adventure items that we haven't done before and hope to post that too (as the gals get older, it gets harder to coordinate this)!

Related Posts:

40 Year Old Bucket List

40 Year Birthday Update/ 6 Month Update
Yearly Reading Challenge 2020-2024 and 2025 and Beyond

Screenagers 5/3/26

Screensavers is a documentary created by physician and parent, Delaney Ruston. It is designed to bring together teenagers, parents, teachers and community members to inspire conversations about what healthy technology habits look like today. The movie examines smart phones, social media,  video games and overall screen time in today's teens. Not content to just state the problem, Delaney focuses on finding balance in teen technology use both personally and at a systemic level. The film is designed for to spark conversations between parents and children regarding digital literacy and healthy habits. (63 mins)

 Screenagers Trailer

More info

https://www.screenagersmovie.com

Book Discussion Questions The Deeply Formed Life

One of my book groups is reading The Deeply Formed Life by Rich Villodas.  Since I am creating questions for our times together I though I would share here for others to use! 

Introduction
How have we been disciplined into superficiality? xiii
What aspects of the external world make us shallowly formed? xv
How was the redwood root analogy good (or not) to parallel the Christian life? xxiii

Chapter 1 & 2 Contemplative Rhythms
What are the problems of modern life according to Villodas? 1-6
What is the anecdote (of the problems of modern life)? 7-19
How does monastic life counter this? (What parallels do you see in Theodyssey?)
Villodas gave silent prayer, Sabbath, the slow reading of scripture and the shared life…
Which one feels like something you want to try? Which one feels the hardest? 20-42
How is silent prayer different from silence? 22-28
Why is Sabbath-keeping so hard? 29-37
What is the hardest part of lectio divina for you? 37-41

Chapters 3 & 4: Racial Reconciliation
How does the gospel help us to define racial reconciliation? 49-52
Is there any new information you learned about systemic injustice? 52-56
How did the Old Testament prophets speak about justice? 59-60
Which misunderstanding is most difficult to overcome? 60-63
How do we practically go about examining our habits and being better listeners?
How have you seen lament or reconciling prayer work or how would you like to see at work?
How did you feel about renouncing whiteness?

Chapters 5 & 6: Interior Examination
P94 gives a definition of interior examination. How is this like other spiritual formation practices? Different?
How is his perspective on the Psalms helpful? P 96
Villodas lists several things to examine on 100-101. What would you add to this list?
What enemies of examination are most difficult for you p 102-106
How have you cultivated interior examination in the past?
What aspects of the examination seem most helpful to you from chapter 6?

Chapters 7 & 8: Sexual Wholeness
How was Villodas’ idea of sexuality more holistic than what we are used to?
How can we seek healthy connections in life?
What practical advice he gave in chapter 8 was most useful to you?
How does touch transform the way you think of social relationships?
How do we cultivate healthy sex lives?

Chapters 9 &10: Missional Mindset
Pg 172 mentions that this mindset is about becoming a particular person before taking a particular action. Do you agree or disagree? How is this a different perspective for you?
How have you seen doing without being play out in your life or other people’s lives? P174
On page 177, Villodas describes the dance between Father, Son and Holy Spirit. How does this description help you understand God's movement in the world through us?
How can we practically look for where God is moving to join in with his dance? P181-185
How does Villodas’ posture fit with your experience of Christians? P 185-188
How can we view hospitality as more than inviting people into our homes?p 190-196
How does the Hebrew word for justiceMi potDescribe How to act in the world for others? Page 196-204
How do we need to change our mindset to become mission people at all times? p 204-210
How does the rule of life mentioned in the afterword mirror the trellis idea of Theodyssey? What are aspects of your rule of life right now?

Support for the Goleta Mom work

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Fashion and Color Analysis with Created Colorful

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Favorite checklist tool: Trello! 

Book Discussion Questions: Present Over Perfect

My spiritual formation group is still meeting and reading together. Our most recent read was Present over Perfect by Shauna Niequist.  It is written as essays and is autobiographical. It is available on Hoopla as an ebook and on Audio through my Goleta and Santa Barbara libraries. We split the book into 2 3 section chunks. 

Parts 1-3
- What aspects of Shauna's life change resonated with you? (Or didn’t.)
- Shauna talks about the idea of “Fake resting?” (page 35) Is this something you are prone to? Why or Why not?
- On page 37, Shauna lists some fundamental questions. “Am I loved? Does someone see me? Do I matter? Am I safe?” Which question jumped out for you?
- Page 49 reads “If you're not careful with your yeses, you start to say no to some very important things without realizing it.” How does this cause you to reflect on your own life?
- On page 74, Shauna shares the analogy of pouring out the vinegar before you get to the oil. Is this how you pray instinctively? Or do your prayer habits look different?
- On page 83, Shauna mentions that each church can only be “half the pie.” What gaps have you found in your church experience?
- Page 106 reads, “In seasons of deep transformation, Silence is the greatest guide. Silence will become the incubator for your new spirit, keeping it safe, growing it steadily. Has this been your experience with silence? How so?
- Page 128 reads present over perfect is about rejecting the method every day is a new opportunity to prove our worth and about the truth that our worth is inherent, given by God, not by hustling.
- There are a lot of stories we tell ourselves about what’s required of us. (“I’m a hard worker.”) And a lot of stories our culture tells about what’s required of the moment. (“Carpe diem!”) What story are you telling yourself about what constitutes “the good life” right now? Is that story particularly gendered or Christian? Does it matter? *
- What practical ways are there to reshape the life we live? 

* Thanks to Kate Bowler's question list

Parts 4-6 

Other places to hear from Shauna: Kate Bowler and Emily P. Freeman