Beach Walk #1: Goleta Beach to Hope Ranch Beach

 

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).

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

Thanks to Crystal and Jennifer for being adventurous and joining me for my first walk! 5km (3 miles down)! (I ended up doing this leg again when my friend was inspired to do her own challenge!) 

Related Posts:

Goleta Beach

Goleta Beach Playground

Hope Ranch Beach

More Mesa Beach 

More Mesa Preserve

Birthday Beach Walks

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 (July 2 reverse)
2. Canada San Onofre Beach to Arroyo Quemada (July 18)
3. Arroyo Quemada to Refugio (July 17)
4. Refugio to El Capitan (July 1)
5. El Capitan to Haskell (July 15)
6. Haskells to Ellwood (June 18)
7. Ellwood to IV Beaches (June 17)

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

9. Goleta to Hope Ranch Beach (June 5th)
10. HR to Arroyo Burro (June 19 reverse)
11. Arroyo Burro to Ledbetter (June 20)

12. Breakwater to Wharf (August 12)

13a. Wharf (July 13)

13b. Goleta Pier (July 16)

13c. Breakwater (July 16)
14. Wharf to East Beach (August 30)

15. East Beach to Butterfly Beach (June 30) 
16. Butterfly Beach to Lookout Park (June 16)
17. Lookout Park to Padaro Lane (July 3)

18. Padaro Lane to Carp State Beach (August 28)

19. Carp State Beach to Rincon (August 11)

20. Rincon Plus (as best I can tell the walks above are about 48 miles, so I might need a few more.)

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)!

Scouting Walk Gaviota May 2026

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?

Winter 2026 Snapshot

 This school year I haven't been working, but between volunteer work and home projects, I have been very busy. 

Nail Strenghtener

Favorite New Product: OPI Nail Envy Nail Strengthener

I have a nail that keeps splitting from the side, so this has been my go to thing to try to fix it. 

Life Hack: Lectio 365 App

We lost a family member in January and I have felt like my attention span is pretty limited lately.  In this season, I have been using the Lectio 365 App a lot as part of my devotion time. 

Last Book I Finished: Everything is Tuberculosis 

This was a book totally written for someone like me! I love non-fiction that can be told in a story type format. I was amazed at how much history was impacted by this disease and how much it continues to impact lives today. 

Life Project: Ducluttering

Again, life has brought another round of decluttering with a new season of life, a death in the family and 8 (!) years in this house. 

What we are eating today: Avocado Salad

In my house, we refer to this as "Spain Salad" because it was created as a simple meal at the end of a travel day. When we travel, we often eat a simple breakfast and then lunch out as we are exploring. When back at an AirBnB at the end of the day, we have simple meals like this salad. Made of chopped avocado, cherry tomatoes, black olives and cheese, it is best in summer and fall when the produce is at its best. 

Related Links:
Fall 2023
Summer 2023
Fall 2022
Spring 2022
Winter 2022 Snapshot
Fall 2021 Snapshot
Summer 2021 Snapshot
Spring 2021 Snapshot
Winter 2021 Snapshot
Fall 2020 Snapshot
Summer 2020 Snapshot
Spring 2020 Snapshot
Winter 2020 Snapshot
Fall 2019 Snapshot
Summer 2019 Snapshot
Winter 2019 Snapshot
Fall 2018 Snapshot
Spring 2018 Snapshot

Eastside Sites

There a number of fun little spots you could make a morning adventure on the Eastside of Santa Barbara. We have been hearing about the frog wall for a long time and finally went to see it. It is located on Paterna Lane which is located just off Alameda Padre Serra (APS) via either Lasuen Rd or Drover Rd. There is a lookout spot at the junction between Paterna, Lasuen and Drover that is the perfect place to park. 

Frog Wall Parking

Walk less than a black down the path on Paterna Lane to the Frog Wall. Take 5 minutes to enjoy the variety of frog statues there. 

Nearby you can visit nearby Franceshi Park via the Mission Steps while you are there (just short walk down Dover Rd). 

Franceshi Park has many paths and a lovely view of the city with the ocean. The dilapidated old house has an interesting history. It has amazing views of downtown and the ocean. 

If you follow Lasuen Road back to APS, you will find Orpet Park on Lasuen Rd and along APS. It has lovely walking paths, landscaped areas and grassy areas for dog running. My girls remembered being here many years ago and recreated the picture they took back then. 

Between the two sides of Orpet Park, there is a historical site. I have driven by this covering and wondered what it was for. It is the last standing streetcar stop from the network of cars that existed in the late 1800's and early 1900's. 

Just down APS, you can visit the Mission Rose Gardens and Old Mission Reservoir or the Mission itself.  

Related Posts:

Santa Barbara City Parks and Open Spaces

Natural History Museum

Eastside Neighborhood Park

Franklin Park (School)

Eastside neighborhood park

Orpet Park

Support for the Goleta Mom work

Do you love to get notifications for events in our area on Facebook and Instagram? Do you love looking up a park on the blog to see if it had bathrooms? Consider supporting the work I do by supporting some things I love! (I do get a small kickback or benefit from these, but I only recommend things that I have tried and truly love.)

Online Cooking and life skills classes for kids & teens:  https://sl290.isrefer.com/go/vip/rdupar/

Fashion and Color Analysis with Created Colorful

Online Pilates and wellness with Lindywell

Favorite checklist tool: Trello!